Regulatory Reform Workshop in Tanzania and Kenya

FIAS, the Investment Climate Advisory Service of the World Bank Group, organized a Regulatory Reform Workshop on August 29, 2007, in cooperation with the Business Regulatory Reform Unit of Kenya and the Better Regulation Unit of Tanzania. The organizers thank the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID), the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) and the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs for their support.

Workshop background and purpose

The workshop brought together seventy Tanzanian and Kenyan regulatory policy makers, reformers and private sector participants to share experiences and best practices on regulatory management and reform – in particular business licensing reforms, regulatory impact assessments, and institutional drivers of reform. Through presentations by experts with real hands-on experience and lively discussions, the participants were able to catch up and exchange ideas on regulatory reform initiatives in Tanzania and Kenya, as well as international trends.

The spirit of the workshop continued over the following days, when Tanzanian officials held bilateral meetings with their counterparts in the Government of Kenya and the Kenya private sector.

The organizers and supporters hope that the success of the workshop will be carried over in future regional intergovernmental interactions and serve as a precursor for a possible East African Conference on Regulatory Reform to be held in 2008.


Contact information:
Tanzania’s Better Regulation Unit: Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Bede Lyimo, E-mail: bedelyimo@fastmail.fm.

Kenya’s Business Regulatory Reform Unit: Principal Economist, Mrs. Josephine Kanyi, E-mail: jkanyi@treasury.go.ke.

World Bank Group (FIAS): Peter Ladegaard, E-mail: pladegaard@ifc.org or Lars Grava, E-mail: lgrava@ifc.org.

FIAS/World Bank Group Press release

Workshop Background Note and Agenda

Presentations
Building A Better Investment Climate: How to Get Started
Bede Lyimo, Tanzania Better Regulation Unit

Licensing Reform and Regulatory Governance for Private Sector Development
Ben Mussau, Kenya Licensing Committee

Regulatory Impact Assessment in Tanzanian Policy & Law-making
Fiona MacCulloch, FIAS

Curbing the Flow - Improving New Policy Proposals through RIA
Robert Nyaga, Kenya BRRU

Institutionalizing Drivers of Reform:Benefits and problems of Legislative Mandate for Regulatory Reform Institutions
Bede Lyimo, Tanzania Better Regulation Unit

Institutionalizing Drivers of Reform - How to Ensure Sustainability of Reform Without Imposing Rigidity and More Bureaucracy?
Christine Agimba, Kenya State Law Office

Institutionalizing Drivers of Reform - How to Ensure Sustainability of Reform Without Imposing Rigidity and More Bureaucracy?
Peter Ladegaard and Lars Grava, FIAS