The Nakuru county government has rolled out a Unified Business Permit regime following in the footsteps of Nairobi, as part of broader reforms aimed at easing the cost of doing business.
Nairobi County introduced a similar single licensing platform for traders in January 2024.
Business operators in Nakuru City and other towns in the county will only need one license to operate unlike in the past when they were required to obtain multiple permits.
Nakuru Trade and Tourism Executive Stephen Kuria confirmed on Monday that the county has begun issuing the Unified Business Permit following amendments to the Finance Act.
“Nakuru County has already rolled out the Single Business Permit regime after amending the Finance Act. The aim was to reduce the heavy burden of many requirements for businesses. We have ended the era of requiring businesses to have over five business permits,” revealed Mr Kuria.
The new regime eliminates the need for multiple licenses which have been a major bottleneck to ease of doing business and a risk for revenue leakages.
“The Unified Business Permit combines business, fire, food, health and advertising licenses into one. This simplifies compliance and lowers the cost of doing business particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises,” he added.
Previously, traders had to secure various permits including county business licenses, fire inspection certificates, food handling certificates and hygiene compliance documents.
“We must ease the process of doing business in Nakuru to attract more investors. Let our entrepreneurs focus on growing their businesses instead of spending excessive time chasing multiple licenses,” he said in an interview.
The reform is also expected to improve Nakuru County’s Own Source Revenue (OSR) performance by sealing leakage points.
In the 2023/2024 financial year, the county collected Sh3.3 billion in local revenue and officials are optimistic the figure could reach Sh4 billion under the new licensing regime.
To cushion traders during tough economic times, the county recently granted a one month grace period between April 1 and April 30 for the payment of the Unified Business Permit.
The reform had long been called for by Members of the County Assembly led by Shabab MCA Macharia Wathiai who last year urged the administration to harmonise the various licenses to reduce barriers and ease administrative processes.
Governor Susan Kihika has previously said that the licensing reform is just one of several measures her administration is undertaking to position Nakuru as a top investment hub in the country and across East Africa.
“My administration is taking deliberate steps to reduce the cost of doing business and position Nakuru as a key investment destination. We are committed to actively pursuing interventions that will make Nakuru the economic powerhouse of the region,” said Governor Kihika.
The county’s latest move comes amid growing concern over multiple taxation at both county and national levels, which has been blamed for discouraging enterprise across Kenya.
In Nakuru which is an agricultural and trading hub, traders and farmers have decried the burden of multiple levies including cess fees, particularly those charged across county borders along major highways.
These charges have eaten into profits and raised the cost of doing business for many small-scale producers and transporters.
The county government has pledged to review and streamline levies and taxes that have long been viewed as punitive and counterproductive for investors.
Nakuru, often referred to as the food basket of the Rift Valley, is also looking to attract investment into its agricultural sector which remains one of its strongest economic pillars.
The county is a leading producer of potatoes, carrots, milk and vegetables among other crops.
Officials believe there is a huge opportunity in value addition and direct export of agricultural produce to regional and international markets.
The county hopes to attract agro processing plants and logistics investors to take advantage of this untapped potential.
Economic survey reports by various institutions show Nakuru is rapidly emerging as a preferred destination for both local and international investors.
A study by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) released last year revealed that it is easier to start a business in Nakuru town compared to other populous urban centres in Kenya.
According to the study, Nakuru scored 89 in the tax sub-cluster, the highest among major towns. It was followed by Eldoret (78) and Machakos (67). The bottom three were Kisumu (64), Nairobi (56) and Mombasa (54).
The IEA report also highlighted Nakuru’s untapped economic potential estimated at Sh200 billion across key sectors including agricultural value addition, manufacturing, geothermal energy, tourism and real estate.
