Kenya has been named among countries that have made significant improvement in governance structures in the last decade.

According to a report, Governance Matters 2008, covering 1996 to 2007 by the World Bank Institute, the country made major strides towards a favourable business environment.

The study released this week says the country did better last year in controlling corruption, ensuring the rule of law, political stability, accountability, effective government and friendly regulatory environment.

It was compiled before the last General Election that plunged the country into a spate of violence, culminating in the formation of a grand coalition government. More than 1,000 people died in the violence and many were displaced.

Good governance and control of corruption are considered as key elements of long-term growth, poverty reduction, and enhances the effectiveness of development assistance in poor countries, the organisation says.

The report by the World Bank's Daniel Kaufmann, Aart Kraay and Massimo Mastruzzi, examines governance and its impact on development in the past decade against the background of infant mortality, illiteracy, and inequality."

It says good governance was not a preserve of rich countries and industrialised countries.

Over a dozen developing and emerging economies including Slovenia, Chile, Botswana, Estonia, Uruguay, Czech Republic, scored better than industrialised countries such as Italy and Greece.

Ghana, Liberia, Rwanda, Angola, Ethiopia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, have been listed as having made the greatest progress despite starting from a very low base.

The report says Algeria, Angola, Libya, Rwanda and Sierra Leone made significant improvements in political stability while Tanzania did better in controlling corruption.

Indicators of good governance include the voice of the common man, accountability, freedom to vote in a free and fair election, and robust media. Kenya scored 46 per cent in the ranking.

Political stability and absence of violence index measures the possibility of a government being destabilised or overthrown through unconstitutional or violent means. On this one Kenya scored 16.

In the regulatory environment index, measuring the ability of government to formulate and implement sound policies and regulations that permit and promote private sector development, Kenya scored 47 - the highest score in the report.

Regulatory lapses have been levelled against bodies like the Capital Market Authority, the Central Bank of Kenya and Communications Commission of Kenya.

The Capital Markets Authority (CMA), for example, has a poor record of two brokers running into financial distress under its watch within a year.

Under the rule of law and control of corruption, Kenya scored 16 and 15 respectively.

The rule of law part looks at the extent to which agents have confidence in and abide by the rules of society, and in particular the quality of contract enforcement, the police, and the courts, as well as the likelihood of crime and violence.

The control of corruption component looks at the extent to which public power is exercised for private gain, including both petty and grand forms of corruption, as well as "capture" of the state by the elite and private interests.