1. Business Name Reservation

The first step to registering your sole business is by securing your business name which is done online using e-Citizen platform, whether the intended business is a partnership, a sole proprietorship or a limited company.

Name searches are processed in 24 hours, and only one name can be submitted at a time. This is done daily from Monday to Friday between 8 am to 5 pm excluding weekends and public holidays.

Once your submission is approved, the preferred business name will be reserved for 30 days.

In case the application submitted is rejected, then it means that the name you selected has already been used or is contrary to public policy and therefore  you will be required to make another application with a different name.

This is the first step before starting a business registration in Kenya.

2. BUSINESS REGISTRATION.

Once the submitted name is approved, you now proceed to registration where the following is required:

• Nature of Business – For example real estate, road construction, business consultant, tours & travel.
• Plot No./ Land Reference Number
• Physical address. i.e stree/road ,town etc
• Postal Address – For example P.O. Box 0000-00200, Nairobi
• Full names   of proprietor,partners or directors.(As shown on ID or Passport),their phone numbers,email addresses, occupation,place of residence.
• Details of shares held by each director (for limited company).

In addition to the above, the following documents are also required:

• Copy of ID/Passport
• A recent coloured Passport Photo
• Copy of KRA PIN Certificate

For the case of a proprietorship or partnership, a form BN2 is filled and submitted.

For a limited company,details of shares held are also filled where the following are signed and submitted:

• CR1 form
• CR2 form
• CR8 form
• Nominal capital form

Once all the above is filled in the e-citizen portal, it takes around 3-5 working days for the registration to be approved