State shifts approvals for big-ticket permits to single digital portal

The system under the Kenya Investment Authority (KenInvest) aims to ease the regulatory burden for domestic and foreign investors by integrating business registration, compliance, and approval processes into a single digital portal.

“It will be an ecosystem where investors get a real one-stop experience. You can go to the system, do everything and on the back end we have integrated with other institutions and investors don’t have to go to two places,” John Mwendwa, the CEO of KenInvest, told the Business Daily.

“The one-stop centre is the value proposition we give all investors to ensure we lessen their burden of compliance, licensing etc.”

Some of the State agencies that will be integrated include the Business Registration Service, the Kenya Revenue Authority, the National Environment Management Authority, the Directorate of Immigration Services, and the National Construction Authority.

KenInvest currently runs an in-person, one-stop shop for foreign and domestic firms to register their businesses and directors for taxation, get their firms connected to electricity, and workers to get work permits.

The businesses are required to provide proof of a minimum of Sh1 million for domestic investors and $100,000 (about Sh12.93 million) for foreigners to get investment certificates and get facilitation from KenInvest.

The services currently offered at KenInvest do not, however, include crucial permits and licences at the county levels since the systems are not integrated. Investors have to further separately apply for other crucial permits such as environmental impact assessment approvals from the National Environment Management Authority.

The development of the one-stop digital system by UNCTAD is largely been funded by the Dutch government, while the World Bank Group has been on-boarded through the $150 million Kenya Jobs and Economic Transformation Project project.

“We are having all partners come together as a way of making this ecosystem work. We want to offer the real ‘Ease of Doing Business’ through a one-stop centre,” Mr Mwendwa said.

“The aspect of being technologically agile is that you bring certainty in terms of procedures that are applicable, and the processes become finite, including the time it will take.”

KenInvest says the system that Kenya is developing has been done by other countries such as Estonia, Ireland, and New Zealand.

Read: Kenya taps UN to develop one-stop e-investor shop

Generally, companies in Kenya need nearly 20 permits and licences to comply with various regulatory requirements, but this varies depending on the nature of the business.

Some of the permit's businesses need to comply with include those on business registration and licensing, calibration, premise safety, environmental standards, food and beverages processing, waste management as well as water and sewerage rules.

Others are noise and vibration licenses, construction regulations, cess requirements, specialised materials certificates, controlled substance regulation as well as conservancy fees.

The firms have also cited overlapping duplicative roles performed by the Kebs, Nema, and the Department of Weights and Measures in approving standards, labels, and calibrations for products.

Other State agencies that have been cited for performing overlapping roles are the Directorate of Occupational Safety and Health Services (DOSH), NCA, Nema, and counties in approving premise safety and health regulations.

“Although some applications can be completed online, the lack of integration among systems adds significant barriers for investors and entrepreneurs,” UNCTAD wrote in the World Investment Report 2024. “There is a pressing need for enhanced facilitation to elevate investment levels sufficiently to address interconnected economic, health, security and climate challenges.”

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