Let’s improve on ease of doing business
EDITOR — I am on an African business tour and have noted that here in Kigali, Rwanda, it takes a day to register a company and takes less than a day to register a broker or an insurance agent.
All processes are electronic, including payment to all government agencies. A response usually comes within a few working hours. The cost of registration is amazingly low. Regulators are not there to raise money or revenue, but the cost is directly linked to the cost build up in the registration process.
Being a Zimbabwean doing business overseas I could not help, but realise how over-regulated business is and how difficult it is to get any form of approval in my country of birth.
A high ease of doing business ranking means the regulatory environment is more conducive for business.
We must not make regulation a revenue-raising initiative. It must not be difficult for people to register and create employment for themselves and for others.
We become responsible for creating unregistered entities and promote so-called illegal activities through strenuous registration processes.
Thompson T, Kigali, Rwanda.