Business Licensing and Regulatory Governance

Examples of Our Work

Kenya

In Kenya, at the government's request, FIAS’ work expanded to a full-fledged regulatory reform program including regulatory streamlining and capacity building. Kenya is ranked 72 overall in Doing Business 2008, compared to 83 in the 2006 report. The government is in the process of establishing an e-registry for licenses. Based on the lessons learned from this and the program in Croatia, the team is rolling out comprehensive business licensing initiatives in Madagascar, Rwanda and Zambia.

Madagascar

In Madagascar, FIAS helped the government conduct the country's first-ever comprehensive national inventory of business licenses. Preliminary estimates indicate that the new inventory will remove $10 million per year in administrative burden to businesses and significantly shorten the waiting time per year. As a result, the Malagasy government has embarked on a mission of broad-based reforms and committed to a 30 percent reduction in the overall administrative burden of the licensing regime by the end of 2009.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Business permits and licenses have long been identified as key obstacles for businesses in Bosnia and Herzegovina, particularly in the Republika Srpska. In May 2006, Republika Srpska established a Regulatory Reform Council and asked FIAS to conduct a top-down, fast track review of business formalities, licenses, and inspection measures which was performed by FIAS over a six-month period in 2007. During this process, 332 formalities (including licenses and other business regulations) and 2,500 inspection related measures were reviewed, half of which were either removed or significantly modified.