By JAMES ODONGO
The 2018 World Bank report on the ease of doing business in Kenya based on the parameter of acquisition of building permits and development approvals ranked the country at position 124, below Rwanda (112), Botswana (59) and Namibia (107).
The poor ranking was attributed to the long processes and lengthy periods needed to acquire a development permit with some applications taking up to 156 days.
A recent survey conducted by the Architectural Association of Kenya (AAK) indicates that while Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu counties had e-construction permit systems, users still face a myriad of challenges including frequent downtimes and delays in processing of applications.
The average time taken to acquire a building permit in Nairobi ranges from between three months to two years. The delays a largely due to the human interaction with the portal. These delays not only impact negatively on investor confidence and ease of doing business in Nairobi, but also serve as a precursor to the construction of unauthorized structures and urban sprawl.
The Central Bank 2018 fourth quarter report revealed that real estate developers were the biggest loan defaulters at Sh44.4 billion, a 15.8 percent rise outpacing non-performing loans by manufacturers (11.7 percent) and traders (7.3 percent)…Read more>>
