Dialogue any time, but campaign later, President Uhuru Kenyatta says

President Uhuru Kenyatta. [PHOTO: STANDARD]

On Friday, I hosted a huge delegation from the Kenya Private Sector Alliance for our quarterly roundtable. For the whole afternoon, we engaged in intensive discourse over a wide range of issues, and received reports on a multiplicity of initiatives aimed at making the business environment more conducive to greater productivity and competitiveness.

At the core of these discussions is a metric that employs parameters, which gauge the ease of doing business in Kenya. Everything we do at the macro and micro-level legislation, policy design and the state of national institutions to the cost of electricity and the time taken to complete formal processes like licensing and other transactions, have a strong bearing on the country’s attractiveness as an investment destination. The way this world works is such that ease of doing business attracts the most sought-after investors. Improving the “doing business” rating, therefore delivers a double dividend. First, strategic, policy and institutional frameworks in place improve to a level that guarantees stakeholder satisfaction and effective, transparent governance. Second, national competitiveness rises to a level that creates more jobs, raises incomes and lowers the cost of goods and services.