Rwanda
Corporate Guide

What is the process of setting up a company in Rwanda?

All the types of companies in Rwanda are set up by applying to the Registrar General under the Rwanda Development Board for registration and granting of a certificate of incorporation. The process of applying for registration entails the applicant submitting to the Registrar General, through the Rwanda Development Board One-stop Portal, the following documents: 

• certified certificates of incorporation for corporate shareholders or identification documents for individual applicants;
• consent letters signed by each of the persons named as the company’s directors and / or management;
• shareholder resolutions / consent letters to open up a company and to be shareholders therein signed by each member or shareholder of the company or by their agent who has been authorised thereto in writing;
• the memorandum of association of the company; 
• where the company has articles of association, a copy of the articles of association; and 
• beneficial ownership information, where applicable.

Once the Registrar General is satisfied that the application for registration complies with the requirements provided under the law, they are obliged to register the application and record the company's details in the register of companies and businesses. Then, the Registrar General shall issue a certificate of incorporation.

The Registrar General sends to the company, or the person who applied for the company incorporation, a certificate of incorporation in the prescribed form stating: the company’s registered name, the company’s registered code, the type of company incorporated, and the company’s date of incorporation.

A certificate of incorporation is conclusive evidence that all the requirements of the Law in respect of incorporation have been complied with and that the company has been duly incorporated under the Law on the date of incorporation stated in the certificate.