The registration of all companies and business entities in Zimbabwe is done in terms of The Companies and Other Business Entities (Chapter 24:31) as read with its regulations. This is done through Registrar of Companies in Harare and Bulawayo. The following types of business entities can be registered in Zimbabwe—
(a) a public limited company;
(b) a private limited company;
(c) a company limited by guarantee;
(d) a co-operative company;
(e) a foreign company;
(f) a private business corporation;
(g) subject to section 278 (“Voluntary registration of partnership agreements,
etc.”), partnerships, syndicates, joint ventures and certain associations of
persons.
PRIVATE LIMITED COMPANY
A PRIVATE LIMITED company is a company owned by its shareholders. A Private Limited Company cannot offer shares for sale on the stock market. A person seeking to form a private company shall ascertain whether a name is available for registration. If anything goes wrong and a private limited company fails, its directors and shareholders have ‘limited liability’. All private limited companies must be registered at with the Registrar of Companies.
PUBLIC LIMITED COMPANIES
A public limited company is a type of limited company in Zimbabwe which is permitted to offer its shares to the public. All public limited companies’ names end in “Limited”. A person seeking to form a public company shall ascertain whether a name is available for registration and must within 30 days of receiving the prescribed forms submit duplicate copies of registered office address, list of directors and secretary, consent to be a director, affidavit by directors, a copy of prospectus or a statement in lieu of a prospectus and duplicate copies of the Memorandum and Articles of Association of the public company.
PRIVATE BUSINESS CORPORATION
A Private Business Corporation(PBC): is a group of one or more persons but less than twenty who subscribe to an incorporation statement. A PBC has full legal capacity and enjoys perpetual succession until dissolved. The PBC is easy to incorporate and has simple administrative procedures. This type of business entity is suitable for small to medium enterprises.
FOREIGN COMPANIES
The law in Zimbabwe provides for the registration of foreign companies.Every foreign company which intends to establish a place of business in Zimbabwe shall submit to the Minister—
(a) a copy, duly certified to be a true copy of the original by a director residing in Zimbabwe or by a notary public, of its constitutive documents and, if the instrument is in a foreign language, a certified translation thereof; and a list in the prescribed form of its directors resident or who will upon the establishment of the place of business be resident in Zimbabwe.
For any inquiries relating to Company registrations and business entities in Zimbabwe, kindly get hold of our Corporate Law Practice Group on info@mmmlawfirm.co.zw. Our service includes registration of companies, secretarial services, filing of returns, shelf/shell companies, assumed names and replacement of lost documents with the Registrar of Companies.
WHATS THE MINIMUM NUMBER OF MEMBERS REQUIRED UNDER PUBLIC COMPANIES.
WHAT THE LIMIT AS WELL IN TERMS OF THE DIRECTORS FOR THE PUBLIC COMPANIES TOO