Kenya plans to accelerate business reforms in order to boost the private sector, a senior government official said on Monday.

Cabinet Secretary in the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Cooperatives Adan Mohamed told a media briefing that the government has already undertaken reforms under ten key indicators including property transactions, getting electricity, paying taxes and enforcing contracts.

“The aim of the reforms is to make it easier for businesses to open and expand their services in Kenya,” Mohamed said during a private sector forum on business reforms in Kenya.

The 2017 World Bank Ease of Doing Business ranked Kenya at 92 out of 190 countries surveyed and also showed that Kenya was the third most improved country in the world in terms of business reforms.

Mohamed said that Kenya’s target is to be in the top 50 countries in the world in the ease of doing business.

He said that Kenya’s journey for business reforms has been fruitful but a lot more needs to be done.

Mohamed noted that the country is committed to the removal of bottle necks that made it difficult for the private sector to undertake transactions.

He said that the government has also rolled out alternative dispute resolution mechanisms which are more effective and efficient as compared to the normal judicial processes.

“At no cost, parties who have a commercial dispute can reach an agreement within 30 days,” he added.

The CS said that as part of the reforms, businesses can now use movable assets such livestock and crops as collateral to access credit.

Source: Coast week

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