Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho was ranked the Business-Friendly Governor of the Year by the African Leadership Magazine.
The Mombasa County boss was named alongside Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State, Nigeria.
They are expected to be presented an award trophy and be formally decorated with the instruments of the honour at the 7th Africa Summit London 2022.
The summit will be held at the House of Lords, United Kingdom, on July 4.
According to County Chief Officer for Trade, Tourism and Investment Asha Abdi, the voting of the best governors comprised of 65 percentage points and 35 percent supporting evidence.
“This award is a recognition of various reforms we have put in place as Mombasa County Government in the past 10 years. Ours is the most business-friendly county not only in Kenya but clearly even in Africa,” Abdi said.
Joho was recognized for the county e-services such as a one-stop-shop digital portal for business registration and payment of rates and tax relief for artists, youth, women and persons with disabilities.
Abdi noted that 90 percent of the county’s business processes are automatic.
“We have also recalibrated our country from just a tourist destination into a meetings, incentives, conferences a exhibitions (MICE) hub. This is besides our sister-city programme with other international cities,” she added.
Joho was also hailed for the KSh 100 million fund meant for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and persons with disabilities.
“All these have changed the business architecture of Mombasa. Vision, commitment and ambition are our driving factors. We are glad to have established a solid foundation for future administrations,” Abdi said.
Joho is the current Governor of Mombasa County affiliated with the Orange Democratic Movement.
He was elected to represent the Kisauni Constituency in the National Assembly of Kenya during the 2007 Kenyan parliamentary election.
In 2013, during the general election, Joho was elected as the first governor of Mombasa County.
In 2017, Joho retained his seat on an ODM ticket.
