Kenya improves on 'Ease of Doing Business' Rankings

The Government's efforts to improve the business climate have begun to bear fruit. According to the 2015 Ease of Doing Business index released by the World Bank Group earlier today, Kenya has slightly improved its ranking.

This year, the World Bank also unveiled a revised ranking methodology. The reviewed procedures saw a number of countries fall in the rankings. Under the revised methodology, Kenya was Ranked 137th last year and this year is ranked 136th .

A similar ranking on the Global Competitiveness Index by the World Economic Forum improved Kenya’s ranking by 16 positions to 90th this year up from 106th, two years ago.

Speaking after receiving the 2015 Ease of Doing Business Results released by the World Bank, the Cabinet Secretary for Industrialization and Enterprise Development, Mr. Adan Mohamed and the CEO of the Kenya Private Sector Alliance Ms. Carole Kariuki appreciated the ongoing reforms across many agencies in Government and expressed confidence that the country was on the right path.

“These latest results do not capture the reforms undertaken by the Government in the last 12 months. For example, registering a company now takes 1 day up from 32 days a year ago.We see an improving business climate as a result of the reforms that various government agencies have undertaken over the last 12 months but more needs to be done and more continues to be done. We are optimistic that going forward, and, given the Business Environment Delivery Unit launched recently, we will see our country ranked even higher in coming years," said Mr.Mohamed.

On her Part, Ms. Carole Kariuki said, "This report sends a clear signal of the Government’s commitment to improving the business environment --- a critical necessity if we are to attract investments and grow our economy. Kenya has recently become the leading destination for global scale investments with major global companies choosing to locate their African Operations through locating their headquarters in the Country, an achievement we are proud of”.

The Ministry of Industrialization and Enterprise Development is leading the business climate reform agenda, and is working with various government agencies and the private sector, through KEPSA, to drive these reforms whose progress is monitored at the Presidential Round Table that the President chairs.

The World Bank's Ease of Doing Business report compiles business information across 189 countries. Over the next two years, the World Bank group will make extensive changes to its ranking procedures.