NAIROBI - Kenya’s business environment has slightly improved according to an index report released by the World Bank. Ease of Doing Business 2015 - which compiles investment climate data from 189 countries - ranks Kenya at position 136 up from 137 last year.

In the ranking, Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda have remained in their positions as at last year - 46, 131, 150 and 152. A similar ranking on the Global Competitiveness Index by the World Economic Forum improved Kenya’s ranking to position 90 this year from 106 in 2012.

Speaking while receiving the World Bank report, Kenya’s Industrialization and Enterprise Development Cabinet secretary Adan Mohamed said while the country has improved from last year’s rankings, the report had not captured most of the ongoing reforms in many government agencies.

“These latest results do not capture the reforms undertaken by the government in the last 12 months. We see an improving business climate as result of the reforms that various government agencies have undertaken but more needs to be done,” said Mohamed.

Mohamed however said the government is committed to ensure that the mentioned challenges still facing investors are addressed going forward.

“A lot of activities that you would have seen have not been reflected because of the timing of when the survey was done. So it is really a very ‘historic data’ that was used to come up with some of these particular activities,” Mohamed noted.

Without dismissing the report Mohamed said some of the reforms by the government, for instance reducing the period for electricity connections and business registrations, have not been adjusted in the report.

“Starting a business, it shows here that it takes 30 days to register. But today if you go the AGs (Attorney General) office and try and register a company, we are able to register in 24 hours. Getting electricity has been highlighted as taking 158 days. But you all know the reforms that are going on in the energy sector and today we are able to connect within 20 to 30 days on average,” Mohamed said.

Other reforms includes the launch of the National Electronic Single Window System in May this year, launch of the Mombasa Community Port Charter, digitisation of land records, digitization of company records, online i-Tax system, reduction of weighbridges on the Mombasa-Malaba corridor to four including Mariakani, Mlolongo, Gilgil and Malaba.

Posted on : 30 Nov,-0001