UNCTAD INVESTMENT
FACILITATION PROJECT FOR
KENYA
Moses Ikiara, PhD, MBS
Managing Director
Kenya Investment
Authority
December, 2016
Introduction to Investment Facilitation Portal
•
UNCTAD has over the years supported KenInvest in development of policy and promotion
documents, technical support and capacity building. Examples include the Blue Book on best practice
for investment promotion and facilitation (2005), An Investment Guide to Kenya (2012), Investment
Policy Review (2005 and 2012) etc.
•
In March, 2015, UNCTAD with the support of Netherlands government launched the process of
development of the investment facilitation portal (kenya.eregulations.org) for Kenya.
•
The eRegulations portal outlines the administrative procedures faced by investors and entrepreneurs
e.g. starting a business, getting work permits, paying taxes, land and property on a step by step
basis.
Home page: Kenya.eregulations.org
Features of the Kenya.eregulations.org
•
Maps out the investment application procedures; giving out a clear picture
of the business registration requirements.
•
The system guides the investor/entrepreneur on the following:
•
•
•
•
•
•
office to go to,
who to see,
required documentation,
cost,
the legal justification for the requirements, and
in the event of a challenge or a problem, the system guides on who to complain to.
Benefits of the Kenya.eregulations.org
•
The Portal has created increased transparency, and enabled a faster and more
accountable process of dealing with investment applications in Kenya.
•
Readily provides salient information to investors enabling them to make quick
investment decisions.
•
Reduces the number of steps required to start and operationalize a business
undertaking.
•
Assists governments to identify and resolve policy gaps.
•
Enables access to online services by investors e.g. business registration and
payment of services.
•
Has contributed to improvement of business environment for Kenya.
Samples of documented procedures
Samples of documented procedures
Portal Interaction Feedback
Between December 2015 when it was launched and 30th November, 2016 the site has
recorded 70,052 sessions, 49,800 users and 215,620 page views with an estimated 2,000
visits per week. It has become the best in Africa.
Investment Facilitation - the international policy dimension
UNCTAD's 14th Ministerial Conference and the fifth World Investment Forum, held in Nairobi, Kenya, in
July 2016 endorsed UNCTAD's Global Action Menu on Investment Facilitation.
Best practices by Kenya, in terms of international policy making cover different levels of policymaking:
National: Kenya is developing the National Investment Policy that is envisaged to be a comprehensive
and harmonized policy to guide attraction, facilitation, retention, monitoring and evaluation of private
investments. UNCTAD is providing financial and technical support. Kenya is also developing an new
International Investment Agreements model, addressing aspects of investment facilitation for future
treaties, e.g. transparency of laws, regulations and investment policies etc.
Bilateral: some of Kenya's existing BITs contain provisions on transparency with regard to laws and
regulations and new developments in investor responsibilities (e.g. Kenya-Slovakia BIT, 2011)
Regional: EAC and COMESA processes (recent review of the CCIA and development of an EAC model )
can offer guidance for promoting and enhancing investment facilitation and good business practices.
Multilateral: Kenya regularly contributes to UNCTAD's expert and inter-governmental meetings,
discussing IIA reform and investment facilitation; most recently, the high-level IIA Conference at the World
Investment Forum in Nairobi on 19 July 2016.
OTHER AREAS OF COOPERATION BETWEEN UNCTAD AND KENINVEST
•
UNCTAD and KenInvest entered into a six month cooperation agreement since October, 2016 to extend
capacity support to KENTRADE (Kenya Trade Network Agency) in the development of a Trade Information
Portal; i.e. kenya.tradeportal.org.
•
UNCTAD is also supporting KenInvest in the development of an e-opportunities module. The system will be
used to present online investment opportunities, first on public-private partnerships and progressively on
private projects.
•
KenInvest has developed a draft National Investment Policy with technical support from UNCTAD and World
Bank. The Draft is currently being subjected to stakeholders for comments and ownership before publication.
•
UNCTAD has supported Kenya government officials involved in negotiation of International Investment
Agreements(IIAs), to review and reformulate the existing IIAs to address current challenges, such as the
absence of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) dimensions.
•
Government of Kenya, through KenInvest, appreciates UNCTAD’s support and looks forward to
further technical support as we position Kenya as a global leader in investment attraction and
retention.