Are you looking for exactly how to register a company in Kenya?
Gone are the days when company registration took weeks, much hustle and travel. As of 15th October 2017, no manual registration is done by the registrar of companies. Entrepreneurs can now do a full online application and approval of businesses on the eCitizen platform. The move also makes registration more accessible as individuals can register their own companies with little or no help from lawyers. The platform makes it even easier as documents such as Memoranda and Articles of associations are no longer needed.
How to register a company in Kenya
Let us take a look at the how to register a company in Kenya.
Step 1: Reserving your business name
Log into your eCitizen account
This is easy to do. Just head over to eCitizen, and log in. Individuals without an account can simply open one. All that is needed is an email and your phone number.
After successful login, select Business registration service.
Step 2: Name search
A business registration service page will load. On the page, you will need to choose the type of business you would like to register( sole proprietorship or partnership) in addition to your preferred business name.
A name search comes back within 24 hours and is only done on official work days. It is important to note that only one name is allowed at a time. Applicants are advised to keep checking their eCitizen accounts as Name search notifications are not directly sent to your email account.
Step 3: Business registration
Approval of submitted business names gives you access to to the next step of registration where you will fill the forms described below and submit for approval. Some of the requirements for registration will include:
To register a company,
1. Download and fill the CR1 registration form( found here)
2. Fill shareholder and director information, upload scanned copies of their national IDs or passports PIN certificates together with recent color passport-sized images for registration on the iTax platform.
3. Fill shareholding details
4. Download and fill form CR8-a notification of the director(s) residential address
5. Fill the statement of nominal capital.
NOTE- It is now possible to register a company where one person acts as both a shareholder and a director.
Company registration will only take a week and the approval forms made available for download on your eCitizen account.
To register a partnership or a sole proprietorship
1. Fill the BN2 form
2. Upload scanned copies of the applicant’s ID/Passport, KRA PIN certificate and a colored size passport photo of the sole proprietor or partner.
3. It will take a week to complete the registration and the certificate made available on your eCitizen Account.
Cost of business registration
Name search- Ksh 150/-
Sole proprietorship/partnership- Ksh 1000
Company registration-Ksh 10,650.
NOTE- A service fee of Ksh 50 is applied to every transaction on the eCitizen platform
