Hire anywhere in Africa
Whether you have already identified the candidate or still need to recruit them, Kernel secures hiring and compliance across all 54 African countries.
The challenge to solve
Hiring in an African country where your company has no legal entity raises two structural questions: compliance and speed. You need a locally valid employment contract, payroll, social and tax withholdings, and filings with local authorities. Without a local presence, these obligations are heavy and the risk of misclassification, tax reassessment or litigation is real.
The second challenge is identifying the right profile. Many Western companies underestimate the difficulty of hiring remotely in an African market: cultural codes, salary expectations, qualitative signals and sourcing channels differ widely from one country to another. Without a local relay, you risk missing the best candidates or signing poorly qualified profiles.
The point is therefore to combine legal compliance, speed of execution and quality of hire, without opening a subsidiary or building a dedicated HR team for each country.
How Kernel addresses it
Depending on your starting point, Kernel activates the most relevant combination of its services.
Candidate already identified
Kernel EOR Africa becomes the legal employer in the target country: a contract compliant with local law, multi-currency monthly payroll, social and tax filings, leave management and offboarding. You retain operational management, we carry the legal obligation.
Discover Kernel EOR AfricaYou still need to recruit
Kernel Recruit activates a proprietary database of more than one hundred thousand profiles, in-house recruiters in our priority markets and a vetted partner headhunter network. A documented shortlist is delivered within five to ten business days. EOR continuity is immediate after signature.
Discover Kernel RecruitYou work with contractors
Kernel COR (Contractor of Record) secures the relationship with a contractor while limiting misclassification risk: compliant contract, centralised invoicing, multi-currency payments. Switching to EOR later is seamless.
Discover Kernel FreelanceConcrete benefits
Onboarding in 5 to 10 days
Contract signed and employee operational within days, not months.
Full compliance
Local contracts, up-to-date filings, dedicated legal team on African countries.
54 countries accessible
Direct coverage in 12 priority countries, partner-based across the continent.
One monthly invoice
Gross salary, charges, Kernel services: all consolidated for finance.
No entity to set up
You hire immediately, with no structural commitment.
Mixed teams supported
Permanent, fixed-term and contractors managed side by side in one platform.
Typical example
A French SaaS SMB wants to strengthen its support team with a bilingual French-speaking profile. With no entity in Senegal, it entrusts Kernel with both the recruitment and the hire.
Three weeks after the first call, the employee is in place, contracted under a Senegalese permanent contract, and managed in the Kernel platform.
Kernel solutions involved
Kernel EOR/COR Africa
Kernel EOR/COR Africa: EOR for permanent and fixed-term contracts, COR for contractors. One platform, full compliance, no local entity to set up.
DiscoverKernel Recruit
More than 100,000 qualified profiles, in-house recruiters and on-the-ground partners. The top 1% of African talent shortlisted in five to ten days.
DiscoverKernel Freelance
Compliant contracting, centralised invoicing, multi-currency payments. A clear framework to work with African contractors, without misclassification risk.
DiscoverFAQ
What is the difference between EOR, COR and recruitment?
EOR makes Kernel the legal employer of the employee in the country. COR makes Kernel the legal contracting party of an independent contractor. Recruitment identifies and qualifies the candidate. The three services can be combined.
How long does a hire take?
Five to ten business days for an EOR onboarding from a validated candidate. For a full recruitment, count fifteen to twenty-five business days depending on the role.
In which countries can you hire?
Directly in our twelve priority countries (Morocco, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Cameroon, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Rwanda, Ghana). Through selected partners in the rest of the continent.
Is my employee properly protected?
Yes. The contract is signed under local law, the payslip matches official format, and the employee gets the social protection of the country of employment.
How does invoicing work?
A single monthly invoice covering gross salary, social charges, expenses if any, and Kernel service fees. No country-by-country billing on your side.
Can you manage a mix of employees and contractors?
Yes. The Kernel platform centralises EOR employees and COR or freelance contractors in one interface, with consolidated cost views.
Move forward with a dedicated African HR partner
Talk to a Kernel expert to scope your project in a few minutes.