Starting a Business · Zimbabwe
Starting a business in Zimbabwe: foreigner's guide (2026)
Zimbabwe shaded by its starting a business status
Zimbabwe permits foreigners to establish businesses with 100% ownership in most sectors, facilitated through ZIDA's One Stop Investment Services Centre (OSISC), which issues investment licences within 7 working days. However, Statutory Instrument 215 of 2025 (gazetted 11 December 2025) reserves several everyday sectors exclusively for Zimbabwean citizens and requires existing foreign businesses in those sectors to divest at least 75% equity to locals by December 2028. Outside reserved sectors, the formal registration process involves multiple sequential steps across several agencies, typically taking 2–4 weeks locally.
Key points
ZIDA's One Stop Investment Services Centre (OSISC) consolidates company registration, tax registration, licensing, and visa assistance under one roof representing 12 ministries/agencies. ZIDA General Investment Licences are issued within 7 working days of a complete application.
In sectors not classified as 'reserved', foreign investors may own 100% of a Zimbabwean company with no mandatory local-partner requirement. The ZIDA Act (2020) explicitly provides for this and grants ZIDA-licensed investors statutory protections.
Gazetted 11 December 2025, SI 215 prohibits new foreign participation in passenger transport (taxis/buses), barber shops, hairdressing/beauty salons, bakeries, employment agencies, advertising agencies, tobacco grading/packaging, artisanal mining, borehole drilling, and pharmaceutical retailing — these are ring-fenced for Zimbabwean citizens. In retail/wholesale trade, foreign entry is only permitted with a minimum USD 20 million investment and at least 200 Zimbabwean employees; haulage/logistics requires USD 10 million and 100 employees.
Foreign businesses already operating in reserved sectors before December 2025 must submit a regularisation plan within 30 days of SI 215's gazetting and then divest a minimum of 25% equity annually until Zimbabwean citizens hold at least 75% — full compliance required by December 2028 or the business faces closure.
The process involves: (1) name reservation via CR21 form with the Registrar of Companies; (2) submission of incorporation documents (CR forms); (3) obtaining a ZIMRA Tax Identification Number; (4) National Social Security Authority (NSSA) registration if employing staff; and optionally (5) a ZIDA investment licence. Total timeline is typically 2–4 weeks for in-country applicants, 6–8 weeks for applicants registering from abroad.
All companies registered under Zimbabwe's former paper-based system must re-register on the national electronic registry by 20 April 2026; non-compliant entities are automatically deregistered under the Companies and Other Business Entities Act.
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Last verified 5/24/2026 · Orientation, not legal advice - verify against the primary sources linked above. Explore the full world map →