Most foreign investors who come to us wanting a staffing business in Kenya arrive with the same plan: form a company, hire a country manager, start placing people. The company takes about a week.
Recruitment and staffing in Kenya is licensed work. A private employment agency must hold a certificate of registration from the National Employment Authority before it places anyone. Incorporating the company is necessary. It is nowhere near sufficient, and the conditions attached to the licence reach back into how the company itself is structured. Getting that sequence wrong means reshaping a board you have already registered.
The short answer
- A company is not enough. Recruitment in Kenya needs a certificate of registration from the National Employment Authority (Legal Notice No. 110 of 2016).
- Two fee scales: KSh 125,000 to place workers inside Kenya; KSh 500,000 plus a KSh 1.5 million bond to place them abroad.
- A Kenyan director. The Regulations ask for a Kenyan shareholder; in practice the Authority asks for at least one Kenyan director. Every foreign director needs a work permit.
- Share capital of at least KSh 5,000,000 on the CR-12, and budget for a company secretary.
- A real office of at least 225 square feet, a qualified manager and DCI police clearance for every director.
- Allow two to three months from a complete file; the certificate renews every year.
Where the rule comes from
The governing instrument is the Labour Institutions (Private Employment Agencies) Regulations, 2016, published as Legal Notice No. 110 of 2016 and made by the Cabinet Secretary under section 60(1) of the Labour Institutions Act (No. 12 of 2007).
The Regulations define registration precisely: it is the grant of authority in writing to a private employment agency to recruit Kenyans to work locally or abroad. "Locally or abroad" is what splits the cost of the licence roughly four ways.
The two fee scales
The National Employment Authority publishes two separate scales in its Citizen Service Delivery Charter, and which one applies to you depends entirely on where the workers end up.
| Registration | Annual renewal | Security bond | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local recruitment | KSh 125,000 | KSh 75,000 | none |
| Foreign recruitment | KSh 500,000 | KSh 250,000 | KSh 1,500,000 |
An agency placing Kenyan domestic staff, drivers, or office workers with employers inside Kenya pays the local scale. An agency placing Kenyan workers with employers outside Kenya pays four times as much and must additionally execute a KSh 1.5 million guarantee with a reputable bank or insurance firm, held against repatriation, unpaid wages and other entitlements if the agent or the employer defaults.
The bond is required by regulation 3(h), and the Authority's own requirements sheet states expressly that it applies to agencies engaging in foreign recruitment. It is executed after the vetting committee issues a notification to pay, not at the point of application, so it is not money you need on day one of the process.
The figure that circulates in the market is KSh 500,000. It is quoted at local staffing firms constantly, and it is the wrong scale for most of them.
Who is allowed to be registered
Regulation 3 sets the eligibility conditions.
A Kenyan on the board
Regulation 3 says the agency must be a limited liability company under the Companies Act in which at least one Kenyan citizen owns shares. The Authority applies it differently: as at October 2026, it asks only that at least one director be a Kenyan citizen.
Kenya allows 100% foreign ownership of a company in almost every sector, so a foreign parent naturally incorporates a wholly-owned subsidiary. That subsidiary can hold this licence in practice, provided a Kenyan sits on its board. Because the Regulations as written still ask for a Kenyan shareholder, an investor who wants certainty against a change in practice can build a Kenyan shareholding in at incorporation, rather than by a share transfer later.
Every foreign director needs a valid Kenyan work permit before the file goes in. For a foreign-run agency the permits, not the licence, are usually the longest step.
A minimum share capital of KSh 5,000,000
The company must have a minimum share capital of KSh 5,000,000. The Authority checks it against the company's CR-12, which must show share capital of at least that amount. It is capital rather than a fee, so none of it goes to the Authority. Other Kenyan licences set their floors far higher: the crypto licence under the VASP Act starts at KSh 10 million of paid-up capital and reaches KSh 300 million.
Section 243 of the Companies Act requires a private company with paid-up capital of KSh 5 million or more to have a company secretary. Once the NEA capital is paid up, appointing a company secretary is a statutory requirement, and the line sits in the agency's annual costs. Budget for it from the start rather than discovering it at the first annual return.
The rest of regulation 3
- Directors must hold at least an O-level certificate or its equivalent.
- The manager must hold a degree in a business-related field from a university recognised in Kenya, plus at least three years of relevant experience. The manager is a defined role in the Regulations, being the person who heads, supervises or controls the agency's operations.
- A registered, fully equipped physical office of not less than 225 square feet.
- A tax compliance certificate from the Kenya Revenue Authority.
- Police clearance certificates from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations for all directors, renewed every twelve months.
- Membership of an association of private employment agencies recognised by the Director of Employment.
- A commitment to observe the existing code of conduct for recruitment agencies.
The office is a real office
A registered office address, a virtual office, or a mail-handling address will satisfy the Companies Registry. It will not satisfy the National Employment Authority. The Authority wants a fully equipped physical office, and it wants the lease or tenancy agreement to be valid and authenticated by a Commissioner for Oaths. A signed PDF from a landlord is not enough.
What the application contains
Applications are submitted online through the Authority's portal at neaims.go.ke, supported by:
- An application letter for registration as a private employment agency.
- A certified copy of the certificate of incorporation.
- The memorandum and articles of association.
- A CR-12 for the current year — the Registrar's statement of who the company's directors and shareholders actually are.
- A copy of the county government licence.
- The company's tax compliance certificate for the current year.
- The lease or tenancy agreement, authenticated as above.
- For each director: a copy of the ID or passport, two passport photographs, a current DCI police clearance certificate, certified academic certificates, and a valid work permit for any foreign director.
- For the manager: the degree certificate, a signed appointment letter setting out clear terms of employment and acceptance, a copy of ID and two passport photographs.
The academic certificates of both directors and the manager must be certified by the Directorate of Quality Assurance at the Ministry of Education. For qualifications earned outside Kenya this is a recognition exercise in its own right, and it is the step most likely to hold a file up. Start it early.
After approval, the agency pays the registration fee, joins a recognised association, and — for foreign recruitment only — executes the KSh 1.5 million bond.
The Authority's requirements sheet closes with a line printed in capitals: giving wrong information leads to automatic disqualification.
How long it takes, and what happens next year
The Authority's service charter allows two months for the vetting and registration of private recruitment agencies. In practice, budget two to three months from the point at which the file is complete.
The certificate is valid for one year, and it expires on the anniversary of issuance rather than at the end of a calendar year. Renewal is filed at least one month before expiry, accompanied by proof that the agency has been submitting its returns, proof that the guarantee has been renewed where one applies, audited financial statements, and a current lease if the office has moved.
How the money works once you are licensed
Agencies charge their principals — the hiring employer — a service fee for recruitment, documentation and placement.
For foreign placements, the contract of employment must specify who pays the visa fee, the airfare and the medical examination. The agent may charge reasonable administrative costs for trade and occupational testing, but the three big items have to be allocated on the face of the contract.
The order to do this in
- Decide local or foreign placement first. It sets the fee scale, the bond, and the entire budget.
- Settle the Kenyan director before incorporation, and start the work permits for any foreign directors.
- Incorporate with share capital of at least KSh 5,000,000 on the CR-12, and appoint a company secretary.
- Lease the office and have the lease authenticated.
- Start the certificate recognition for foreign degrees and the DCI clearances immediately, in parallel with everything else.
- File, then allow two to three months.
Roughly one week of that is company formation.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. A private employment agency must hold a certificate of registration from the National Employment Authority before it places anyone, under the Labour Institutions (Private Employment Agencies) Regulations, 2016 (Legal Notice No. 110 of 2016). Forming a company is necessary but not enough.
For recruitment to jobs in Kenya, KSh 125,000 to register and KSh 75,000 a year to renew. For recruitment to jobs abroad, KSh 500,000 to register, KSh 250,000 to renew, and a KSh 1.5 million security bond.
Yes, with a Kenyan director. The Regulations ask for a limited company in which at least one Kenyan citizen owns shares, but in practice the Authority asks only that at least one director be a Kenyan citizen. Every foreign director needs a valid Kenyan work permit.
At least KSh 5,000,000, which the Authority checks against the company's CR-12. Once that capital is paid up, the Companies Act also requires the company to have a company secretary.
No. The Authority requires a fully equipped physical office of at least 225 square feet, with a lease authenticated by a Commissioner for Oaths. A registered office or virtual address satisfies the Companies Registry, not the Authority.
The Authority's service charter allows two months for vetting and registration; in practice, allow two to three months from a complete file. The certificate is valid for one year and is renewed at least a month before it expires.
This article states the position under Legal Notice No. 110 of 2016 and the National Employment Authority's requirements and practice as at October 2026. Fees and procedures change; confirm the current position before you rely on it.