ZimCompany › Private Business Corporation
A Private Business Corporation is a Zimbabwean business entity owned by members rather than shareholders, formed under section 247 of the Companies and Other Business Entities Act [Chapter 24:31] by one to twenty members. Unlike a Private Limited Company, whose board carries the residency duties in sections 195(2) and 198(1), no section of the Act imposes a residency requirement on a PBC member, which makes it the straightforward choice for one owner living outside Zimbabwe.
Last verified 10 September 2026. We confirm your timeline in writing before you pay.
The Private Business Corporation, usually shortened to PBC, exists for small owner-run businesses in Zimbabwe. Section 247 of the Companies and Other Business Entities Act forms it from one or more persons, section 252(1) caps it at twenty members, and its constitution is short. For someone outside Zimbabwe the important point is structural rather than cosmetic: the residency duties in the Act, a director ordinarily resident in Zimbabwe under section 195(2) and a secretary ordinarily resident in Zimbabwe under section 198(1), sit in the Part that governs companies and attach to a "company". Nothing in sections 247 to 275, which govern the PBC, imposes either on a member.
One limit matters more than the residency point for a corporate buyer: section 253(1) provides that only individual natural persons acting in their own right may be members, and that no partnership, association or body corporate may be a member, whether directly or through a nominee. A company registered outside Zimbabwe therefore cannot hold a PBC, and the route for a foreign parent is a Private Limited Company.
We cite the sections because pages elsewhere assert the opposite without citing any, and because this is the rule that decides which vehicle you end up with. It is our reading of the Act, confirmed with a legal practitioner rather than offered here as legal advice.
If you are starting alone, there is nobody ordinarily resident in Zimbabwe you want to put on a board, and you are not about to raise investment, the PBC is usually the right answer and the cheaper one. It registers, trades, employs, pays tax, and can be converted later.
| Private Business Corporation | Private Limited Company | |
|---|---|---|
| Owners are called | Members holding a percentage interest | Shareholders holding shares |
| Zimbabwe resident director required | No section imposes one | Yes. Section 195(2): at least one director shall be ordinarily resident in Zimbabwe |
| Resident company secretary required | No section imposes one | Yes. Section 198(1): every company shall have at least one secretary ordinarily resident in Zimbabwe |
| Who may be an owner | Section 253(1): only individual natural persons acting in their own right. No body corporate, directly or through a nominee | A person or another company may hold shares |
| How many owners | Section 252(1): one to twenty members | Section 195(1) sets the board size against the shareholder count |
| Typical use | Owner-run trading business | Investment, partners, tenders, corporate customers, a foreign parent |
| Converts later | Yes | Not applicable |
A PBC has the same statutory duties as any other registered business. Register with the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority within 30 days of starting business to get your Business Partner Number. Register with the National Social Security Authority within 30 days of taking on your first employee. Take a tax clearance certificate before you invoice a corporate or government customer, because without one 30% is withheld from what they pay you.
Our fee for private business corporation registration in Zimbabwe: US$160. Government fees included in the price, not itemised by the registry. Our fee and the government fee are always shown as two separate numbers.
We confirm your timeline in writing before you pay. Prices were last verified on 10 September 2026. The full price list is at ZimCompany pricing.
No. No section of the Act puts a residency requirement on a PBC member, and section 248(1)(d) accepts the number of another official identity document where a member has no Zimbabwean national identity number, which a foreign passport satisfies. That is the single biggest reason a person outside Zimbabwe chooses it over a Private Limited Company. A company cannot use one at all, because section 253(1) excludes a body corporate from membership.
Yes. It is a registered Zimbabwean entity with its own tax registration. Some large corporate procurement lists prefer a Private Limited Company, which is worth checking against your intended customers before you choose.
Yes, conversion is provided for. It is a separate filing with its own cost, so if you already know an investor is coming, register the Private Limited Company at the start.
The registry does not itemise a separate government component on this filing the way it does for a Private Limited Company, so the fees are included in our price at cost. Where a figure is published we show it as its own number.
ZimCompany registers and runs Zimbabwean companies for people and businesses anywhere in the world: owners living outside Zimbabwe, foreign investors, and companies registered elsewhere that need a Zimbabwean entity. Email [email protected] or message +263 77 272 4514 on WhatsApp. We work 9:00 to 17:00 CAT, UTC+2 in Harare, Zimbabwe.
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