Public limited company
Public companyRwanda
What it takes to form, own and run a public limited company in Rwanda, and how its profit is taxed. Each figure links to the page it was read from.
This company type
At a glance
Owners' liability
Limited to what the owners put in
Officialorg.rdb.rwRead 10 Oct 2026
Quote
A Public Limited Company is formed by physical or moral persons; liabilities are limited to their shares and minimum initial share capital is set by Regulators.
Owners
At least 1 · a company may be one
Officialorg.rdb.rwRead 10 Oct 2026
Quote
Minimum shareholders is 1 and there is no set maximum number.
Directors
At least 2 · one must live there · individuals only
Officialorg.rdb.rwRead 15 Oct 2026
Quote
a private company must have at ... least one director and a public company shall ... have at least two (2) directors.
Minimum capital
Not stated
The registry’s and the law’s own pages do not mention it.
Formation fee
Free
Officialorg.rdb.rwRead 10 Oct 2026
Quote
Business Registration is 100% an online process and free of charge.
Tax on profit
Flat · 28%1 special regime may apply
Officialrra.gov.rwRead 10 Oct 2026
Quote
Taxable Business profit is rounded down to the nearest 1000 Rwandan Francs and taxable at a 30% for income generated up to 2023 and rate of 28% from 2024.
Notary needed: NoResident director needed: YesFormed without visiting: YesFormed online: Yes
Form it
Who registers it
- Registry
- Formed without visiting
- Yes
- Formed online
- Yes
What it takes to form
- A notary
- Not required
- A resident director
- Required
- Paying up the capital
- Payment for shares may be cash, promissory notes, contracts for future services, movable or immovable property or other securities of the company, on terms the board decides (Law 007/2021 art. 60); since Law 019/2023 art. 3 (replacing art. 57) a company may not allot shares subject to calls or shares with a nominal or par value.
Quote
payment given on shares is cash, promissory notes, contracts for future services, moveable or immoveable property or any other securities of the company.
Own it
Who may own and run it
- Directors
- At least 2 · one must live there · individuals only
Quote
a private company must have at ... least one director and a public company shall ... have at least two (2) directors.
- Shareholders
- At least 1 · a company may be one
Quote
Minimum shareholders is 1 and there is no set maximum number.
- Members
- At least 1 · one person may form it alone
Quote
Minimum shareholders is 1 and there is no set maximum number.
- A local company secretary
- Required
Quote
A public company has a company ... secretary, and a private company may have ... a company secretary.
- A local registered agent
- Not required
Quote
A company must at all times have a registered ... office in Rwanda.
Each year, at the registry
- Annual registry fee
- Not in our records
- Accounts on the public record
- Not stated
The registry’s and the law’s own pages do not mention it.
- Audit for a small company
- Required
Quote
Every company appoints an external auditor to ... audit its annual accounts.
- Audit
- Not in our records
Important dates
When each obligation falls due, as the authority states it.
- File the annual return, with income statements, statement of financial position and resolu
- Not in our records
Not stated on org.rdb.rw/business-registration/ when checked
What is public
- Shareholders
- Public
Quote
Any person, upon payment of the prescribed ... fee, may inspect the register of companies and ... the list of shareholders of each company
Tax
Tax on profit
How this company type is taxed, which can differ from its place’s headline rate.
Flat · 28%+1 regime
Taxable Business profit is rounded down to the nearest 1000 Rwandan Francs and taxable at a 30% for income generated up to 2023 and rate of 28% from 2024.
Quote
Taxable Business profit is rounded down to the nearest 1000 Rwandan Francs and taxable at a 30% for income generated up to 2023 and rate of 28% from 2024.
Work it out on a profit figure: the company’s tax, the owner’s, and what is left.
Special regimes that may apply
- Preferential corporate income tax rates for registered investors holding · 3%
Registered investors, by category: international companies with headquarters or a regional office in Rwanda and entities registered by a philanthropic investor with Private Investment Committee approval (0%); pure holding companies, investment special purpose vehicles, collective investment schemes, and investors with foreign-sourced trading income or foreign-sourced royalties from intellectual property companies (3%) Law n° 006/2021 of 05/02/2021 on investment promotion and facilitation
Whether a company qualifies depends on its activity and conditions set in each statute.
- CFC rules in Rwanda
- Not in our records
Close it
Closing it
The other end, which most guides leave out.
- Route
- A solvent company is removed from the register on application by special resolution of the shareholders entitled to vote, where it has ceased business, paid its known creditors and distributed surplus assets (Law 007/2021 art. 208); the Registrar General then removes it from the register (art. 322) and it ceases to exist (art. 280).
Quote
An application for a company to be removed from the register may be made through the prescribed procedure by shareholders entitled to vote on the question, by special resolution.
- Statutory fee
- Not in our records
Every business in Rwanda
VAT
- Standard rate
- Not in our recordsThe tax authority’s pages have not been read for Rwanda.
Payment and banking services
None of the services whose lists we hold names Rwanda. Each provider, and what a listing means.
Reference
Its name and code
- Kind
- Public limited companyDerived our grouping, the same words in every country
- Name in law
- Public company
- Identifier
- RW-PUBLIC-COMPANYA form ISO 20275 does not list.