Register a company or PBC

What you'll usually need

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• Up to five possible names for the business
• For a company: directors' and shareholders' national ID numbers (passport numbers for foreigners), the business address and directors' contact details
• For a company: at least one director and a company secretary who normally live in Zimbabwe. A company with 2 to 9 shareholders needs at least two directors.
• For a PBC: each member's details, share and contribution, and an accounting officer

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Steps

1. Do a name search with up to five names. If one is available, it is reserved for you, usually within about a day.
2. Apply to register. For a company, you file its memorandum and articles with the details of its directors, shareholders, address and company secretary. You can use the standard model articles. For a PBC, you file an "incorporation statement" instead. A PBC has 1 to 20 members, all individuals.
3. Pay the fees. The online system takes mobile money, charged in local currency.
4. Download or collect your certificate of incorporation and summary entity document.
5. Then register the business for tax with ZIMRA.

Good to know

• If the CIPZ online portal doesn't load, go to a CIPZ office: Century House East, 38 Nelson Mandela Avenue, Harare (open weekdays 8:00 to 13:00 and 14:00 to 16:30), or Tredgold Building, 2nd floor, Room 222, Bulawayo. Before you travel, phone Call +263 242 773 443 or email Email registration@cipz.gov.zw to check they can take your application in person.
• ZIDA's official eRegulations website sets out each step and the official fees.
• If your company or PBC was registered before the electronic registry opened in 2024, you must re-register it there. The deadline is 20 April 2028 (SI 76 of 2026). If you miss it, your company or PBC is automatically deregistered.