In conjunction with the United Kingdom, Kenya has launched a Business Regulatory Toolkit to help local and foreign businesses access information on business regulations in the country. The toolkit is a free online resource that will help entrepreneurs understand changing regulatory requirements and also give advice on what regulations are applicable to them at different stages of development.
This development is part of Kenya’s effort to promote ease of doing business in the country, particularly after seeing the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on SMEs last year. The toolkit includes resources to help entrepreneurs plan, launch, manage, and scale their businesses, from market information on different sectors to support agencies.
Kenya ranked 56th in the World Bank’s Doing Business Report 2020, a significant leap from its 136th position in 2014. Within the six-year period, the East African country ranked the third-most improved country for three consecutive years (2015, 2016, 2017). According to the Doing Business Reforms Milestones Report implemented in 2014, Kenya has registered over 600,000 new firms since 2014 and has 12 million small businesses in operation.
“We have so far implemented over 47 legal reforms in the past 6 years, and this toolkit is a transformational addition to further broaden the scope and reach of businesses to better understand the regulatory environment,” Cabinet Secretary of the Ministry of East Africa Community and Regional Development, Adan Mohamed, said.
“Regulation is important for entrepreneurs that are looking to grow and scale up their businesses. This is an area that can prove to be confusing and overwhelming for entrepreneurs whose main focus is to run their businesses. The Toolkit has focused on those areas and the sectors identified by businesses as most important,” said Julius Court, Deputy British High Commissioner to Kenya.
Other technical partners involved in the development of the toolkit includes UK Aid, Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCC&I) and Kenya National Innovations Agency (KENIA).
