Doing Business in Kenya 2012

Subnational Data

Select a city Eldoret Garissa Isiolo Kakamega Kilifi Kisumu Malaba Mombasa Nairobi Nakuru Narok Nyeri Thika

Select a topic Starting a Business Dealing with Construction Permits Registering Property Enforcing Contracts

Author: Subnational Doing Business
Published: June 26, 2012 (1459.3 KB PDF)

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Overview

Doing Business in Kenya 2012 is the second subnational report of the Doing Business series in Kenya. In 2009, quantitative indicators on business regulations were analyzed for 11 cities: Eldoret, Garissa, Isiolo, Kilifi, Kisumu, Malaba, Mombasa, Nairobi, Narok, Nyeri, and Thika. This year, Doing Business in Kenya 2012 expands the analysis to 2 new cities (Kakamega and Nakuru), updates the baseline for the 11 cities previously measured and documents progress across the nation.

Main Findings

• Over the past two years, all 13 cities have improved business registration processes while 2 cities expedited the approval of construction permits. Joint reform efforts by the national and local governments have reduced the average time to start a business by 22 days and the average cost by 5%.
• Mombasa is the city that saw most improvements across 3 out of the 4 areas measured. Due to a broad based business reform program, starting a business is more than one month faster today than in 2009; while the opening of a specialized court in September 2011 paved the way for more efficient commercial dispute resolution.
• Malaba, Narok, and Thika continue to lead in the aggregate ranking.
• While no single city performs well on all four indicators collectively, it is easiest to start a business in Thika, deal with construction permits in Malaba, register property in Mombasa and enforce a contract in Garissa. It is more difficult to start a business in Kisumu, deal with construction permits in Nakuru, register property in Isiolo, and enforce a contract in Nairobi.
• Cities can learn from existing good practices across the country to become more competitive nationally and globally.

Doing Business in Kenya 2012 was produced at the request of the Government of Kenya with support from the Kenya Investment Climate Program funded by the World Bank Group, the Department for International Development, the European Union, and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Nairobi.