Brela finally cuts red tape

Dar es Salaam. Investors will from next month find it much easy to register their businesses in Tanzania, thanks to a new online platform set up by the Business Registration and Licensing Agency (Brela).

Brela said on Tuesday that it was putting final touches to its online business registration system and that the platform will be ready on February 1.

It is expected that the platform will be a big boost to Tanzania as far as ease of doing business is concerned, including improving its positions in globally-respected reports, including those compiled by the World Bank.

Tanzania is ranked 137th position in the World Bank’s Doing Business Report, which examines the ease of doing business in 190 economies across the globe.

Starting a business, which also entails registering a business, is among key factors considered. The country is ranked 162nd in the aspect of starting a business.

Brela chief executive Frank Kanyusi said the Online Registration System (ORS) would significantly reduce the time and costs associated with registering a business.

This, he added, would further endear the country to investors and contribute positively to the government’s drive to industrialise the country.

“We have been receiving frequent complaints from investors that manual registration makes the process cumbersome and time-consuming. That is why we have come up with the new system,” Mr Kanyusi told The Citizen.

He said it usually took between three and five days for one to complete all business registration procedures. However, with the new online system, one can register a business within an hour.

Government departments

The system connects various government departments under one roof, whereby one will be able to get a taxpayer identification number (Tin) and national identification number (Nin) at the touch of a computer key. Tin and Nin are issued by the Tanzania Revenue Authority and National Identification Authority, respectively.

The platform also means that people in other regions will not be necessarily required to travel all the way to Dar es Salaam to register a business.

“It means that someone in, say, Mbeya will be able complete all procedures where they are. They only need to have an internet connection.”

The ultimate goal, Mr Kanyusi said, was to help the government in its endeavour to create an enabling environment for businesses to thrive.

“Our main goal this year is to make doing business easy…our responsibility is to make the business environment friendly for businesspeople. With this platform, someone in the United Kingdom or the United States of America can easily register a business as long as they meet all the requirements,” he said.

Benefit the country

Analysts said system would greatly benefit the country and was supposed to have been adopted a long time ago.

“It is a huge stride that should have happened a long time ago,” said Mr Hussein Kamote, who formerly worked with the Confederation of Tanzania Industries.