FOR INTERNATIONAL FOUNDERSKENYA
Set up your company in Kenya. We handle it from abroad.
A foreign-owned private company or a branch of your existing business — name reservation, incorporation, tax PIN, and a local representative, handled end-to-end on a power of attorney. From $450.
You don’t need to fly in to get started.
- ICPAK-registered partner
- 100% foreign ownership allowed
- Filed on power of attorney
- ICPAKMEMBER
- KRATAX REPRESENTATIVE
- QUICKBOOKSCERTIFIED
- SAGECERTIFIED
WHY KENYA · WHY A LOCAL PARTNER
Set up in the region’s gateway — with someone on the ground.
You don’t need a brochure on East Africa. You need the filings done correctly while you’re abroad. Here’s what makes that work.
01
The East African base
Kenya is where most international firms anchor their entry into the wider EAC market — Nairobi is the regional headquarters address.
02
100% foreign ownership
A private company can be wholly foreign-owned, with a minimum of one director and one shareholder. No local-equity quota for most sectors.
03
A signing partner here
When you’re not in the country, the filings still need a name behind them. An ICPAK-registered partner signs, files, and answers to the Registrar and KRA on your file.
TWO PATHS · ONE FIRM
Are you forming a new company, or extending an existing one?
The path — and the paperwork — differ. Pick the one that matches your situation; the rest of this page follows the order of the filings.
A NEW KENYAN COMPANY
Foreign-owned private company
You’re forming a fresh Kenyan entity and holding the shares yourself — the most common route for foreign investors.
$450incorporation · ~5 working daysYou receive
- Certificate of Incorporation
- CR-12 — register of shareholders
- CR-1, CR-2 & CR-8 company forms
- Statement of Nominal Capital
- Articles of Association
A KENYAN BRANCH
Branch of a foreign company
You already have a company abroad and want a Kenyan presence — a branch is an extension of the parent, not a separate legal entity.
$500branch filing · ~5 working daysYou receive
- Compliance certificate
- CR-12 letter
- FC-2, FC-4 & FC-6 company forms
- Particulars of Foreign Directors form
THE ONE LOCAL REQUIREMENT
Every foreign-owned company needs a local representative.
Under the Companies Act 2015, a foreign-owned company must have either a Kenyan-resident director or a certified company secretary. If you don’t have one, we provide either — pick the one that fits your structure.
Certified company secretary
$200applies only when there is no local resident directorThe lighter-touch route. A certified secretary satisfies the local-representative requirement and keeps the company’s statutory compliance in order, without sitting on the board.
The terms
- Mandatory for companies without a resident director
- Handles statutory filings and the company register
- No role in the company’s commercial decisions
Local resident director (nominee)
$500per 6-month period, payable in advanceWhen you need a resident director on the board, a partner can serve as nominee for an initial six months and resign on your written request — strictly defined and indemnified.
The terms
- Governed by a signed Nominee Director Agreement and Deed of Indemnity
- No executive authority — all decisions remain yours as beneficial owner
- Will not sign banking mandates, loans, or regulatory applications
- Resigns on 14 days’ written notice, once a replacement is in place
- The nominee role is not beneficial ownership of the company
One call settles which representative your structure actually needs.
Ask which representative fitsTAX PIN · NON-RESIDENT DIRECTORS
Each director needs a Kenyan tax PIN.
A Personal Identification Number from the Kenya Revenue Authority is mandatory for every director, and it’s a prerequisite for a work permit. It’s a separate application from incorporation — filed on KRA’s iTax portal, not eCitizen.
Who needs one
Every director of the company, plus the company itself. The director PIN is also required before any work-permit application.
How it’s done
We facilitate each application directly on KRA’s iTax portal — this is not part of the eCitizen flow, and we handle it as a distinct step.
Why it matters
Without a PIN you can’t invoice, open a corporate bank account, or move to the permit stage. We line it up so nothing downstream stalls.
What each director provides
- Coloured copy of passport bio-data page
- Residential address
- Phone number and email
- Passport-size photograph
INVESTOR WORK PERMIT · CLASS G
Planning to live here and run it yourself?
If you’ll be on the ground directing the company, you’ll need an investor’s work permit. We handle the application as part of our immigration service — here’s what it takes.
- Cost
- $10,000
- Processing
- ~6 weeks
- Validity
- 2 years
What it takes
- A locally incorporated company
- Tax compliance certificates — yours and the company’s
- A copy of your passport
- A corporate or personal bank account
- A local bank statement showing a balance of $100,000 — released for any use once the permit issues
The shortcut
If a Kenyan company offers you employment, the $100,000 bank-balance requirement falls away.
Company formation, tax, and immigration handled by one firm — so the permit file isn’t waiting on a stranger’s paperwork.
EXISTING COMPANY · KENYAN BRANCH
Already incorporated abroad? Open a branch instead.
A branch lets your existing foreign company trade in Kenya without forming a new entity. It’s an extension of the parent, not a separate legal person — a different filing path from a fresh company.
We file
- Compliance certificate
- CR-12 letter
- FC-2, FC-4 & FC-6 company forms
- Particulars of Foreign Directors form
You provide
- Certificate of incorporation of the parent company
- Existing or proposed company name and nature of business
- A registered office address in Kenya
- Foreign directors’ particulars and passports
- A Kenyan local representative’s details
We file the branch itself. You appoint the local representative; we file their particulars as part of the branch documents.
Scope a branch filingPRICING · USD
What setup costs.
Government fees are separated and itemised. The service fee is agreed in writing before we start. Quoted in USD because that’s how the work is scoped for international founders.
Foreign-owned private company
$450incorporation · ~5 working daysIncluded
- Name reservation
- Incorporation with the Business Registration Service
- Certificate of Incorporation
- CR-12 — register of shareholders
- CR-1, CR-2 & CR-8 forms
- Statement of Nominal Capital
- Articles of Association
Branch of a foreign company
$500branch filing · ~5 working daysIncluded
- Branch filing with the Registrar
- Compliance certificate
- CR-12 letter
- FC-2, FC-4 & FC-6 forms
- Particulars of Foreign Directors form
Add-ons — quoted on scope
- Certified company secretaryif no local resident director$200
- Local resident director (nominee)per 6 months, in advance$500
- Tax PIN applicationper director$300
- Corporate bank account opening~2 weeks · bank approves$200
- Registered legal addressper year$150
- Annual secretarial returnsper year$200
- Investor work permit (Class G)~6 weeks · 2-year validity$10,000
- Company postal addressper year$50
Government fee separated. Service fee in writing before we start. Power of attorney accepted — you don’t need to fly in.
Get a written quoteBEFORE YOU STARTEIGHT ANSWERS
The questions founders ask from abroad.
Timeline, whether you have to fly in, the local-director rule, 100% ownership, tax PINs, work permits, banking, and what lands in your hands at the end — answered the way our partners answer them on a call.
About five working days once your company name is reserved and we have complete papers. A branch of a foreign company runs on the same timeline. The tax PIN, bank account, and any work permit are separate steps that follow incorporation.
No. We act on a power of attorney, so the incorporation, tax PIN, and statutory filings are all handled while you’re abroad. You’ll need to be in the country in person only if you later apply for a work permit and choose to be resident.
A foreign-owned company needs either a Kenyan-resident director or a certified company secretary — one local representative, not local ownership. You can keep 100% of the shares. If you don’t have a resident director, we provide a certified company secretary ($200), or a nominee resident director ($500 per six months) under a formal nominee agreement.
Yes. For most sectors a private company can be wholly foreign-owned, with a minimum of one director and one shareholder. A handful of regulated sectors carry local-equity rules; we’ll flag it on our first call if yours is one of them.
Through the Kenya Revenue Authority’s iTax portal — a separate application from incorporation, and not part of eCitizen. We facilitate it for each director and for the company, at $300 per director. It’s mandatory, and it’s a prerequisite before any work-permit application.
Yes — we handle the Class G investor permit as part of our immigration service. It costs $10,000, takes around six weeks, and is valid for two years. You’ll need a locally incorporated company, tax compliance certificates, and a local bank statement showing a $100,000 balance — which is released for any use once the permit issues, and is waived entirely if a Kenyan company employs you.
We facilitate it — preparing and submitting the KYC pack (Certificate of Incorporation, CR-12, director passports and PINs), introducing you to a reputable Kenyan bank, and following up. Opening takes roughly two weeks, and final approval rests with the bank. The fee is $200.
For a new company: the Certificate of Incorporation, CR-12, CR-1/CR-2/CR-8 forms, Statement of Nominal Capital, and Articles of Association. For a branch: a compliance certificate, CR-12, FC-2/FC-4/FC-6 forms, and the Particulars of Foreign Directors form.
Didn’t see your question? WhatsApp a partner — we answer within the working day.
SEND · KENYA COMPANY SETUP
Tell us what you’re setting up.
Reply · One business day
Three lines, your number, and which setup fits closest. We come back with scope, price, and timeline — in writing, before any work starts.
- ICPAK-registered practice
- Filed on power of attorney — no fly-in
- Suraj Plaza · Parklands · Nairobi