When processes are done online; time is saved, queues reduced, distance barriers and human elements like corruption eradicated. The internet is ubiquitous and an ideal technological platform to make life easier for all of us.
This also applies when you want to start your own business. A lot of effort has been made by stakeholders to improve the ease of doing business in Zimbabwe through online operational-centric reforms. The question is how far have these changes yielded tangible results for the end users?
According to the World Bank Doing Business Report our current ranking as at June 2017 is 159 out 190 countries. Ease of Doing Business in Zimbabwe averaged 162.60 from 2008 until 2017, reaching an all-time worst of 171 in 2011 and a record best of 153 in 2014. A higher ease of doing business ranking means the regulatory environment is more conducive to the starting and operation of a local firm. In simple terms this means that if this was a soccer league Zimbabwe would be a perennial candidate for relegation.
Do these dismal ratings really reflect on average citizens when they want to start and formalise companies? Also which areas can we still improve on to maximise online efficacy?
This analysis will be on four generic business formalisation processes (chronologically) that every firm goes through regardless of line of business or stature.
Ultimately;
These timeframes might differ from the entities’ officially claimed service lead times, because these are on-the-ground based averages from personal experiences and information from various people who have done these processes before. I know some will argue that consultants can get you a company (not a shelf company) in 2-3 days but this summary is for the ordinary person not experts who have “trade secrets” at their disposal not privy to most, if not anyone else.
These processes cannot be done concurrently, it’s a stage after stage process. Hence for someone to complete this generic formalisation process (before fulfilling other council and sector based statutory permits and licenses) it will take them an average of 21 working days.
Based on this exploration an average of only 39.6% of the procedures are done online which shows that as a nation we still have more to do to improve.
Writer: Mavin Mutandwa is a marketing professional who works for the Scientific and Industrial Research and Development Centre (SIRDC)
Comments
One response
While the argument is sound, we can’t be concentrating processes to be internet reliant when we have the following situations:
1. Concentrated internet usage (focus on urban areas)
2. Concentration risk on internet access to Liquid Telecom (ref: Internet blackout 05-Dec-2017)