How to start a business in Kenya as a foreigner (2026)
Starting a business in Kenya as a foreigner: moderate.
Kenya permits 100% foreign ownership of private limited companies in most sectors, has no general minimum share capital, and incorporation is fully digital through the BRS eCitizen portal, typically completing in 3–5 working days for a fee of about KES 10,650. The main friction for a foreign founder who wants to physically run the business is the Class G investor work permit, which requires evidence of a minimum USD 100,000 investment and attracts a KSh 250,000 annual fee, plus sector-specific caps in security, telecoms, insurance and banking.
Legal framework
Companies Act, 2015 (as amended by the Finance Act, 2016); administered online by the Business Registration Service (BRS) under the Office of the Attorney General via the eCitizen portal. Foreign investment incentives sit under the Investment Promotion Act, 2004 (Kenya Investment Authority / KenInvest), and the Class G investor work permit is governed by the Kenya Citizenship and Immigration Act, 2011.
Key points: starting a business in Kenya
Foreign ownership
The Companies Act, 2015 imposes no general foreign-ownership cap after the Finance Act 2016 repealed the controversial 30% Kenyan-shareholding requirement with effect from 1 January 2017; a single non-resident can own 100% of a private limited company.
Online incorporation via BRS/eCitizen
Company registration is fully digital through the Business Registration Service on the eCitizen portal (brs.go.ke / ecitizen.go.ke): reserve a name, file CR1/CR2/CR8 and the beneficial-ownership form BOF1, upload notarised passports/addresses for non-resident officers, and pay fees online.
Minimum capital
There is no statutory paid-up minimum for a Kenyan private limited company; founders may declare a nominal share capital. Regulated sectors (banking, insurance, telecoms) impose their own capital rules, and foreign-owned trading companies seeking an investor permit must demonstrate at least USD 100,000.
Fees and timeline
BRS lists a private-limited-company registration fee of approximately KES 10,650; the end-to-end filing (name search, incorporation, KRA PIN, beneficial-ownership entry) is typically approved within 3–5 working days when documents are in order.
Class G investor permit (physical presence)
Foreign directors/shareholders who intend to actively work in Kenya need a Class G investor permit under the Investment Promotion Act, 2004 and Kenya Citizenship and Immigration Act, 2011, requiring proof of a USD 100,000 investment, a KSh 20,000 processing fee and a KSh 250,000 annual issuance fee; KenInvest issues the facilitating Investment Certificate.
Sectoral restrictions
Despite the general openness, specific sectors cap foreign shareholding: private security firms must have ≥25% Kenyan ownership under the Private Security Regulation Act, 2016, and telecoms, insurance and banking carry regulator-set local-ownership and capital thresholds imposed by CAK, IRA and CBK respectively.
World Bank benchmark
The last comparable World Bank Doing Business cycle (DB 2020) scored Kenya 82.7/100 on Starting a Business, with 23 days and 7 procedures reported; subsequent digitisation of BRS/eCitizen has shortened the practical timeline for well-prepared foreign applicants.
Timeline of decisions
- Guidance · officialWorld Bank urges procompetitive reforms to revive formal business creation
The World Bank's 'From Barriers to Bridges' report found Kenya's capacity to create formal-sector jobs had deteriorated over a decade (90% of 2024's new jobs were informal), urging removal of foreign-investment restrictions and other barriers to starting and growing businesses.
World Bank
- EnforcementRegistrar grants 30-day extension on beneficial-ownership filing
After the November 2024 deadline lapsed, the Registrar of Companies gave non-compliant companies until 11 May 2025 to file beneficial-ownership information, underscoring that BO disclosure is now a standing condition of corporate compliance.
Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr
- Enforcement · officialBRS sets mandatory beneficial-ownership filing deadline
A Business Registration Service public notice required all companies and LLPs to file beneficial-ownership information by 24 November 2024, with penalties up to KES 500,000, formalising transparency obligations for every registered entity.
Business Registration Service
- Decision · official30% local-ownership rule scrapped for the ICT sector
A gazette amendment to the National ICT Policy Guidelines deleted the equity-participation rule requiring 30% Kenyan ownership for ICT licensees, easing market entry and foreign investment in the digital economy.
UNCTAD
- Guidance · officialeCitizen consolidates 5,000 government services online
The government migrated about 5,000 public services, including company and business-name registration, onto the eCitizen platform (and Gava Mkononi app), making online registration the default channel for starting a business.
Ministry of Health (GoK)
- Law · officialCompanies (Beneficial Ownership Information) Regulations take effect
New regulations required every company to keep and file a register of beneficial owners (natural persons holding ≥10% shares/voting rights or significant control), adding a transparency layer to incorporation.
Kenya Law
- Law · officialBusiness Laws (Amendment) Act 2020 digitises business processes
Amending 16 statutes, the Act legalised electronic signatures and electronic registers and cut formalities and costs of transacting, explicitly aimed at improving the ease of doing business in Kenya.
Kenya Law
- Law · official30% foreign-company local-shareholding requirement repealed
Section 85 of the Finance Act 2016 deleted the Companies Act provision forcing foreign companies to cede 30% of shares to Kenyan citizens, removing a major deterrent to foreign direct investment.
UNCTAD
- Law · officialCompanies Act 2015 comes into full force
The remaining parts of the Companies Act commenced (earlier parts began November 2015), replacing the colonial-era Cap 486 framework and operationalising single-member companies and simplified incorporation.
Kenya Law
- Law · officialCompanies Act No. 17 of 2015 enacted
A landmark overhaul of company law consolidated incorporation, management and regulation rules, allowing a single person to form a private company and codifying away earlier procedural hurdles to starting a business.
Kenya Law
- Law · officialBusiness Registration Service Act establishes the BRS
The Act created the Business Registration Service as a state corporation to centrally administer registration of companies, partnerships and business names, the institutional foundation for today's one-stop registration system.
Kenya Law
- Law · officialCompanies Act (Cap 486), colonial-era foundation
Modelled on the UK Companies Act 1948, Cap 486 governed company incorporation and registration in Kenya for decades, establishing the baseline framework that the 2015 reforms eventually replaced.
InvestKenya (GoK)
Sources
- brs.go.ke/
- accounts.ecitizen.go.ke/
- investmentpolicy.unctad.org/investment-policy-monitor/measures/2978/kenya-kenya-repealed-the-30-d
- oraro.co.ke/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-30-local-ownership-rule-for-foreign-c
- bowmanslaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/The-New-Companies-Act-2015-Has-Come-into-O
- archive.doingbusiness.org/en/data/exploreeconomies/kenya
- wka.co.ke/how-to-get-a-class-g-work-permit-in-kenya-as-a-foreign-entrepreneur/
- 2017-2021.state.gov/reports/2017-investment-climate-statements/kenya
- wka.co.ke/registering-a-private-limited-company-in-kenya-for-foreigners/
- mukambalaw.com/starting-a-business-as-a-foreigner/
- commenda.io/kenya/how-to-register-a-company
- manwaadvocates.com/class-g-investor-work-permits-in-kenya/
- archive.doingbusiness.org/content/dam/doingBusiness/country/k/kenya/KEN.pdf
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