City Council of Nairobi Reforms helps Kenya achieve high ranking in World Bank Survey

August 17, 2011: Kenya has some of the most business-friendly regulations for dealing with construction permits. Globally, Kenya was ranked 35th (World Bank Doing Business 2011 report) on the ease of dealing with construction permits. Kenya ranked better on all counts than an average Sub-Saharan country.
The exercise in a series of annual reports comparing business regulations in 183 economies, Doing Business 2011 measures regulations affecting 10 areas of everyday business activity among them starting a business, dealing with construction permits (Procedures, time and cost to build a warehouse), employing workers among others.

Since early 2011, the City Council of Nairobi has been undertaking massive reform initiatives that includes enhanced use of IT for revenue collection and administrative approvals. The Construction Permit initiative in partnership with the International Finance Corporation (IFC). is intended to see the automation of all approval and administrative processes associated with Construction Permits. (See Link Construction Permit Management System)

By December 2011, Nairobi motorists will be able to pay their parking fees electronically.

Nairobi Town Clerk Phillip Kisia elated at the World Bank recognition says
“Reform isn't just about restoring systems and being on time. It is about creating systems that care about people. Nairobi is not made up of building and roads. It is made up of people. Hardworking people and families who work daily to make the best of what they have. They needed a system that can work. However, we couldn’t do this while choking under old debts and carrying on with systems that don’t work. Our task was so clear. We needed to stop debating reforms and to start dealing with them” (Full response on Message from the Town Clerk).

The outcome of this initiative is to be a software system that automates the application of construction permits, the review of these applications, the issuance of construction permits, the monitoring and enforcement process thereafter and finally the application and issuance of occupancy permits (See Link Construction Permit Management System)

In a stakeholders forum to validate improvements recorded for the Doing Business 2012 Report, Nairobi City Council said that the Technical team now meets twice in 30 days to evaluate new applications which are then released within two weeks, before the second sitting when the committee reviews any resubmitted applications of building plans that had not initially complied with provided guidelines. (See Link Construction Permit Management System)

Two years ago, the process of obtaining construction permits in Kenya was rated among the world’s most cumbersome with property developers having to go through a raft of procedures before they get necessary approvals and connectivity to trunk services such as water and sewerage and electricity. The process usually took a total of more than four months to complete. The new automated initiative at City Hall has reduced this process to a month. (See Link Benefits of Construction Permit Automation in Nairobi)

The Ease of Doing Business Index is an index created by the World Bank. Higher rankings indicate better, usually simpler, regulations for businesses and stronger protections of property rights.