Uasin Gishu County has leaped five places from sixth position it held in 2012 to top Kenya’s list of favourable investment destination, according to a World Bank report released on September 12, 2016.
It only takes 20 days and costs 20.4 per cent of income per capita to start a business in Uasin Gishu County.
In a nutshell, it takes an investor the shortest time to start a business in the county, according to the report.
Kisumu has also been named as the most investor-friendly county.
The World Bank’s Doing Business in Kenya 2016 says it’s easier to obtain a construction permit in Kisumu, compared to the other 46 counties.
By comparison, it takes 21 days to start a business in either Kiambu or Machakos, with an average cost of 19.1 and 20.9 per cent per capita income respectively.
Meanwhile in Busia County, you will have to undergo 15 procedures to obtain a construction permit, 17 in Nyeri and 15 in Isiolo.
In Nairobi and Kiambu counties investors wait for 160 days to get construction permit compared to 98 days in Kisumu, 72 days in Busia and 75 days in Isiolo.
Mombasa County on the other hand takes the shortest time to have property registered at 41 days; followed by Uasin Gishu, Busia, Nyeri, Kisumu, Narok, Kiambu, Machakos, Kakamega and Isiolo.
The World Bank said that county governments, under scrutiny, lacked consistency on key indicators they performed well in, like Nairobi which in 2012 topped in business registration but had dropped to position five in the latest survey.
The Bank also indicated that devolution was good for investment as resources are readily available.
“The new initiatives in Kenya are encouraging, but challenges remain,” Augusto Lopez Claros, director of global indicators at the World Bank said.