Starting business made easy through one-stop shops

The concept of establishing one-stop Shops (OSS) across the country has come as a means to bring business registration services closer to everyone, and all the after registration services necessary for the start of a business indicator in Uganda.
A one-stop shop is a physical facility that offers a multitude of services to clients with an aim of providing convenient and efficient service delivery. The 2016 National Resistance Movement (NRM) Manifesto now under implementation enjoins URSB to pilot one-stop shops business center concept and eventually decentralize the same to other key towns in order to reduce bureaucracy and the cost of doing business in the whole country.
The major OSS, (The Government Business Facilitation Centre) established in November 2016 at the first floor or Georgian House, Plot 5 George Street, has become a hub of activity. Ugandans have gradually embraced business registration, tax identification registration among other services provided by the various government agencies. Under the Taxpayer Register Expansion Programme (TREP), the mini OSS are at every KCCA division, and in other 34 municipal councils across the country, with plans to spread services further.
Every new business has been registering with several different government agencies, which often require the same information that has already been captured at the initial stage of registration by the Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB)
Previously, an entrepreneur would physically visit each agency and fill out multiple printed forms such as- (URA for TIN, NSSF for social security Number, KCCA or any other local government for a business license). This often resulted into multiple procedures and duplication of information, wastage of time and high cost to set up the business. The OSS concept now provides the physical premises, which are mostly appropriate for businesses (MSME’s) with limited access and knowledge of the online services. In the near future, the online services will allow rapid completion of several registrations through integration with other government agencies
The establishment of the one-stop shop is, therefore, a major reform that is helping in streamlining business registration in Uganda. Entrepreneurs are now able to receive, under one roof, all the information and forms they need in order to complete the necessary procedures to establish their businesses. To cut on time spent registering, some procedures are done simultaneously and others are combined. This ultimately has reduced on the time and cost of starting a business in Uganda. In the 2017 Global Doing Business report; a flagship report by the World Bank Group on 190 economies, Uganda was recognised as one that has improved performance. The reforms implemented were the elimination of the requirement that a commissioner of oaths must sign the declaration of compliance with the Companies Act; easier tax payments that remove the requirement to submit a paper copy of returns following online submission; and the construction of the Malaba One-Stop Border Post, which reduced the time exports spend at the border.
However, the same report noted that as government agencies, we have a lot more to do to improve the regulatory, licensing and business registration procedures to make Uganda more competitive. The Doing Business Survey measures aspects of regulation that enable or prevent private sector businesses from starting, operating and expanding. It is evident that investors tend to go to countries where there are no complex processes and unexpected requirements for establishment of their investments. We cannot, therefore, improve the investment climate substantially without improving the starting of a business index.
When a service is offered under one roof as is the OSS concept, both the real and perceived bureaucratic and legal hurdles faced by entrepreneurs wishing to incorporate and register a new firm and or business in Uganda are dealt with.
A visit to the facility by any business owner/ entrepreneur shows that the staff from all agencies are determined to offer that very needed government service hence examining the procedures, time and cost that was hitherto wasted by an entrepreneur through driving in and out of the many agencies premises. In addition to registering a business, other additional requirements are also offered under the OSS facility like trading licenses for both KCCA and other local governments and urban centers, Tax Identification Numbers from URA, and Identification from the National Identification Registration Authority.
The World Bank’s quantitative research released in 2012 suggested that a 1 per cent increase in the doing business index score would translate into an increase of foreign direct investment of between $250m and $500m. This development is a plus towards reduction of the hardships that affect doing business for both large investments and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the country and ultimately making Uganda more competitive, encouraging investment and creating jobs through private sector development.
As agencies responsible for influencing the business environment in Uganda, continuous synergies will enable our country reach the top 20 best economies within the next three years in all the indicators.

Mr Bemanya is the Registrar General, Uganda Registration Services Bureau. [email protected]
Twitter: @BemanyaT