Create your company in Africa
From legal form to first operations: strategic scoping, vetted local legal partners, end-to-end coordination.
The challenge to solve
Setting up a company in an African country is a structuring project: it commits your business for years, mobilises capital and locks the tax, social and legal framework of all your future operations in the country.
Procedures vary widely from one country to another: legal form, minimum capital, registration, bank account opening, sector approvals, foreign investment authorisation. Going directly to a local firm without prior strategic scoping exposes you to bad, sometimes irreversible, arbitrations.
The challenge is therefore to scope the project at strategic level before triggering legal procedures, and to ensure smooth coordination between all stakeholders up to first operations.
How Kernel addresses it
Kernel Incorporate covers all 54 African countries through a selected network.
Strategic scoping
Country, legal form, capital, governance, target timeline, exit taxation, alignment with your group. This upstream phase shapes the whole project.
See Kernel IncorporateLocal legal partners
Once the scoping is validated, Kernel activates the right lawyer or notary in the target country. Our network is vetted and monitored over time.
Operational coordination
Articles drafting and filing, registration, bank account opening, sector approvals, accounting and payroll setup. You keep a single point of contact.
Continuity with Kernel services
Once the company is set up, you can immediately move on to recruitment, payroll, offices and equipment via the other Kernel services.
Concrete benefits
Upstream strategic scoping
To avoid bad structural arbitrations.
54 countries accessible
Through our vetted legal partner network.
Optimised legal form
Tailored to your activity, taxation and group.
Single point of contact
Kernel coordinates all stakeholders end to end.
4 to 12 weeks
Depending on country and complexity.
Continuity after setup
Recruitment, payroll and offices handled afterwards.
Typical example
A European industrial group decides to open a commercial subsidiary in Ivory Coast to drive its West African growth.
The subsidiary hired its first five employees within three months after registration, with no administrative friction.
Kernel solutions involved
Kernel Incorporate
Fifty-four countries, selected local legal partners, end-to-end support from legal form to first operations.
DiscoverKernel 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 HR & Payroll
An HR platform built for African teams: unified dashboard, leave, time tracking, multi-country payroll and local compliance.
DiscoverFAQ
In which countries can you set up a company?
All 54 African countries, through our selected local legal partners.
How long does an incorporation take?
Four to twelve weeks depending on country, legal form and any sector approvals.
Which legal forms do you recommend?
It depends on activity, capital, governance and target taxation. Upstream strategic scoping helps decide.
Can you help us open the bank account?
Yes. We coordinate the opening with a local bank, prepare the file and facilitate exchanges.
What happens after registration?
Other Kernel services take over: recruitment, payroll, equipment, offices. You keep a single point of contact.
What is the pricing?
On request. Pricing depends on country, legal form and project complexity.
Move forward with a dedicated African HR partner
Talk to a Kernel expert to scope your project in a few minutes.