Rwanda

Starting a Business in

Rwanda

Listed below is a detailed summary of the bureaucratic and legal hurdles an entrepreneur must overcome in order to incorporate and register a new firm, along with their associated time and set-up costs.  It examines the procedures, time and cost involved in launching a commercial or industrial firm with up to 50 employees and start-up capital of 10 times the economy's per-capita gross national income (GNI).

The information appearing on this page was collected as part of the Doing Business project, which measures and compares regulations relevant to the life cycle of a small- to medium-sized domestic business in 183 economies. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2011.

  • Standardized Company

  • Legal Form: Limited Liability Company (Société à Responsabilité Limité)
  • City: Kigali

About This Topic

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No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
1 Check company name, submit registration application and pay registration fee

The applicant submits the registration forms and the standardized memoranda of association to the One stop-shop front desk. As of May 2009, the name-checking has been incorporated into a single registration procedure at the main desk of the Commercial Registration Department, which (1) checks the company name; (2) reviews and accepts the application form; and (3) receives the payment of the registration fee. In order to allow the consolidation of this procedure, the company registrar books have been placed in the service area, which allows the Commercial Registration Department representative to check the availability of the name immediately. In addition, since May 2009, applicants have no longer been required to go to the Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA) to pay the registration fee; the RRA has delegated payment authority to the main desk of the Commercial Registration Department, and applicants pay their registration fees directly at the time of submitting their application. Moreover as of May 2009, the Commercial Registration Department reorganized its procedures so that applicants submit their applications at the main desk of the Commercial Registration Department. The dossier is subsequently transferred to the RRA and all relevant entities' representatives to assign the new company with identification numbers.


 1 day RWF 15000 or no charge online
2 Pick up registration certificate

When the documentation is ready, the Registar General signs the registration certificate.
1-3 days no charge
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