Search and document delivery at a glance
- Search language
- The public BIPA search form is in English. Select “Business Name” or “Registration No”, then enter the search value. [18]
- Digital documents
- BIPA also supplies requested documents by email after application and payment. [1]
- Document language
- Not specified
- Paper and collection
- Requested documents can be made available at the BIPA office. [1]
- International delivery
- Not specified
- Fees at a glance
- Free search · copying by scope · certification per document: Company N$20, CC N$10
- Access
- Guest search without an account or national ID; file requests by email or at a BIPA office.
Choose the right register
The Business and Intellectual Property Authority (BIPA) is Namibia’s authority for business registration and intellectual property. Use its Business Name Search to research existing entities. Reserving a name for a new business is a separate process. [1] [2] [4]
A result row shows the registry entry, but does not contain the full company file or financial statements. Third parties can request access to registry documents. Identify the document that answers your question and include the registration number found in the search. [1] [2] [8] [10]
Free Business Name or Registration No search showing registration and BO filing status.
The question about inspecting registration information gives the office route and filerequest@bipa.na for written requests.
The download contains Gazette 7032 with separate Company and Close Corporation tariffs. Note the company-copying print inconsistency explained below.
Explains the two certificates and gives a contact for current confirmation. The downloadable list is dated July 2023.
Explains beneficial ownership and supplies BO1 and BO2 forms. These are entity filings, not applications to obtain information about another entity.
Account portal for online transactions such as name reservations. The first link above provides direct, free searches of existing entities.
Names and abbreviations explained
- BIPABusiness and Intellectual Property Authority
- The authority that registers businesses and maintains their registration files. It also handles intellectual property. [14]
- Pty LtdProprietary Limited
- A private company with a restricted membership structure. Its articles restrict share transfers and prohibit public offers to subscribe for shares. Financial statements are not automatically available for public download. [1] [8]
- LtdLimited
- A Public Company with share capital. This legal form has wider disclosure obligations, particularly the filing of annual financial statements. [8]
- CCClose Corporation
- A separate, simpler legal form with between one and ten members. Its members hold percentage interests and manage the business. [17]
- BOBeneficial Owner / Beneficial Ownership
- The natural person who ultimately owns or controls an entity, or that person’s ownership or control. A registered shareholder can instead be another legal entity. [14] [8]
Search step by step
Find an existing entity free of charge
Open Business Name Search
Under “Search By”, select “Business Name”. Enter the company name in “Search Value” and select “Search”. This search does not require an account. [2]
Distinguish registrations from applications
Compare the full name and registration number. Results can include “PENDING APPLICATION” as well as “REGISTERED”. A pending application is not a completed registration. [2]
Narrow the result using its registration number
Select “Registration No” and enter the number with its prefix and slashes. Record the displayed date and status separately. [3]
Read BO filing status correctly
“BO COMPLIANT” indicates compliance with beneficial-ownership filing requirements. The result row gives neither beneficial owners’ names nor their ownership percentages. Request those separately. [2] [9] [11]
Request a registry file or certified copy
Identify the document you need
For a Company, relevant documents may include its constitutional documents, amendments, CM29 officer particulars or a filed annual return. For CC membership and percentage interests, request the Founding Statement and its amendments. [17] [8] [10]
Address the request to the records office
BIPA gives filerequest@bipa.na for written file requests. Alternatively, obtain the “file request form” at a BIPA office. Specify the name, registration number, documents required and whether certification is needed. For a remote request, ask for delivery by email. [1]
Confirm the tariff item and scope
Ask for a breakdown by legal form, number of pages, certification and any delivery charges. For Companies, the published tariff contains two inconsistently printed inspection/copying entries. The item 42 amount shown below therefore needs confirmation for the particular order. [6] [1]
Allow time for archive retrieval
After the request and payment, BIPA makes the records available at the office or by email. BIPA says that retrieving an off-site file takes about three to five days until it reaches the authority. This is not a promised end-to-end delivery time. [1]
Identify beneficial owners
Explicitly request the public BO information
State in your file request that you need the publicly accessible beneficial-owner particulars. For a Company, refer to Companies Act section 122A(6). For a CC, refer to Close Corporations Act section 16A(6). [1] [9] [11]
Apply the statutory public-access limits
For Companies, public BO information covers the full name and the nature and extent of beneficial ownership. For Close Corporations, the law specifies the full name and extent. Dates of birth, identity numbers and private contact details fall outside this public BO scope. [9] [11]
Check registered shareholdings separately
A Company maintains its own register of members. Section 120 allows third parties to request inspection or a copy. Ask the company for this register where the BIPA file does not answer your question about the ownership chain. [8]
Documents and fees
| Document / information | Contents and purpose | Fee | How to get it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free search result [2] [3] | Entity name, registration number, registration date, deregistration date where present, registration status and BO filing status. No constitutional documents, officer list or ownership details. | Free. | Business Name Search without an account, using Business Name or Registration No. |
| Company file copy [1] [6] [8] | A copy of the specific publicly inspectable document requested, such as constitutional documents, an officer filing or an annual return. | Under tariff item 42: N$20 including twelve pages of one document, then N$0.50 per page. Ask BIPA to confirm the order price because item 46 repeats the product inconsistently. | Written request to filerequest@bipa.na or application at a BIPA office; identify the document and financial year or relevant date.
|
| Close Corporation file copy [1] [6] [10] | In particular, the Founding Statement and amendments recording members, percentage interests and other registered particulars. | N$20 for a written request including up to 20 photocopies under GN310. Ask BIPA to specify additional pages and any delivery charges. | Request from the records office with the CC name and registration number. |
| Certified document copy [6] [8] [10] | A copy with official certification of its correspondence to the record. Certification concerns the document, rather than automatically establishing that all company particulars are current. | In addition to copying: Company N$20 per document (GN311 item 44); Close Corporation N$10 per document (GN310 item 12). | Explicitly request certification when ordering the copy. CM51 at N$10 is a different filing product. |
| Typed Certificate of file contents [6] [8] [10] | An official certificate of the contents of a registry document or a particular part of it. Specify which contents you require in the request. | Company N$100 per document (GN311 item 41/45); Close Corporation N$40 (GN310 item 13). | Ask BIPA for a certificate of the specified contents of the file. |
| Public beneficial-owner information [9] [11] [1] [2] | Companies: full name plus the nature and extent of beneficial ownership. CCs: full name and extent. | The BO access provisions do not set a separate flat fee. Ask for confirmation of the inspection or document fee applicable to the format requested. | Request from BIPA under section 122A(6) or section 16A(6). The free result table does not supply owner details. |
| Good Standing certificate [13] | Depending on the certificate, existence and payment of annual duties, or also the status of amendment records. | The product page does not state a separate fixed ordering fee. Identify the certificate type required and ask BIPA to confirm its fee. | Request current confirmation through the contact on the Good Standing page. The July 2023 list is not a substitute. |
Legal forms and registry-file contents
BIPA registers private and public Companies, non-profit Section 21 companies and Close Corporations. Foreign companies can also register as External Companies. A Section 21 company has non-profit purposes. An External Company was incorporated abroad and has a Namibian registration. [1] [17]
A Defensive Name protects a name. BIPA expressly explains that this registration alone is not for carrying on business. Check the type of entry before treating it as evidence that a company has been incorporated. [1]
A Company file can contain incorporation documents, constitutional documents and subsequent filings. CM22 gives address and registered-office particulars; CM29 gives directors, auditors and other officers. Directors are members of the company’s governing body. The annual return gives further particulars of its business, officers and capital at the reporting date. [17] [8]
A CC’s Founding Statement records its main business, addresses, members, percentage interests, contributions and Accounting Officer. The Accounting Officer is the professional appointed to perform the CC’s statutory accounting review. Request amendments as well as the original statement to avoid relying on an outdated membership list. [10]
File prices and the tariff date
BIPA publishes Gazette 7032 of 31 October 2019 as its “Business Registration Fee” download. It contains GN310 for Close Corporations and GN311 for Companies. The website describes the revised Company application fees as payable from 1 January 2020. Use its “Effective 01 January 2020” column, rather than the previous lower amounts still labelled “Current” alongside it. [6] [7]
For Companies, item 42 on page 8 sets in-person inspection at N$10 and a written copy request at N$20 including twelve pages of one document. Further pages are N$0.50 each under that item. Item 46 on page 9 repeats the products with different price alignment. Ask BIPA to confirm which item its records office will charge for your order before paying. [6]
For a CC, the tariff specifies N$10 for in-person inspection and N$20 for a written request including up to 20 photocopies. The original prints the additional-page rate ambiguously as “0.50c”. Ask BIPA to itemise additional pages. Certification under item 12 adds N$10 per document. [6]
For Companies, the general document-certification fee is N$20 per document under item 44 on page 8. The N$10 listed against form CM51 concerns additional copies lodged for registration. That form fee is not the general price of a certified copy from another company’s file. [6] [17]
Guest access and requests from abroad
Public name and number searches require neither a BIPA account nor a Namibian identity number and are free to use. [2] [3]
The inspection rights in Companies Act section 8 and Close Corporations Act section 5 apply to any person. They are not limited to shareholders or Namibian citizens. BIPA offers written requests and delivery by email. For an order from abroad, agree the payment arrangements and the form of certification needed with the records office. [8] [10] [1]
The name-reservation portal requires an account. Register with your name, email, username and password, complete the CAPTCHA, then activate the account by email. [4] [5]
Distinguish annual filings from financial statements
An annual return (CM23) contains company particulars, rather than a complete balance sheet and income statement. The CC7 annual-duty filing is not a publication of financial figures either. For financial analysis, explicitly request the financial statements for the financial year concerned. [8] [12]
Public Companies must file their annual and, where applicable, group financial statements with BIPA when they send them to their members. This generally also includes the accounts of their private-company subsidiaries, although BIPA can grant an exemption for those subsidiary accounts. Ask which financial years are actually available in the registry file. [8]
An independent Private Company has no equivalent general annual public-filing route under section 306(5). Section 311(3) provides a special route for a member of the company: if it has not issued its annual financial statements nine months after the financial year end, the member can apply to the Registrar, showing good cause, to require provisional statements. The CM50 application costs N$80 under the tariff. It is not a purchase option for unrelated third parties. [8] [6]
A CC must prepare annual financial statements within nine months of its financial year end under section 58. Under section 56, its accounting records are kept by the CC and must be available for members to inspect. These duties do not create a general public BIPA download of CC accounts. For accounts not held in the registry file, approach the entity itself. [10]
Registered members and beneficial owners
Registered ownership and beneficial ownership answer different questions. A Company’s register of members or a CC’s Founding Statement identifies the registered interests. The BO register addresses the natural person behind the ownership or control. The public name search displays only BO filing status. [8] [10] [14] [2]
The BO provisions introduced in 2023 allow limited public inspection on request. A complete BO declaration contains additional personal information outside the statutory public-access scope. Request the public information rather than all fields of the reporting form. [9] [11]
BO1 reports the beneficial owners. BO2 confirms that previously reported information has not changed. BIPA’s guide places BO2 alongside, among other filings, the CM23 annual return and CC7 annual duty. Neither a blank BO2 form nor a “BO COMPLIANT” search result is an ownership list. [15] [16] [2]
What the two Good Standing certificates establish
The Confirmation of Registration Certificate confirms existence and good standing regarding annual BIPA duties. The Certificate of Existence with status in Good Standing also confirms that statutory and voluntary amendment records are in order and up to date. Choose the certificate that meets the purpose of your enquiry. [13]
The downloadable list on this BIPA page is dated July 2023. Do not use it as current status evidence. BIPA gives goodstanding@bipa.na for current confirmation. These certificates concern BIPA obligations. [13]
Official samples and reading guides
Official blank BO2 form
A freely available one-page reading aid: an entity confirms unchanged beneficial-owner particulars. It is blank and contains no actual owner data. This is an entity filing form, not a purchased registry extract. [16] [15]
Avoid common mistakes
- An entity name can appear as “PENDING APPLICATION”. Do not confuse that application with a registered entity. [2]
- “BO COMPLIANT” concerns BO filing. It provides neither the beneficial owners’ names nor evidence of financial health. [2] [9] [11]
- The search can display dates with two-digit years, such as “29-OCT-20”. Consult the underlying document to establish the full date. [3]
- Fees for reserving a name, incorporating an entity, filing an annual return or using CM51 are not prices for obtaining another entity’s registry file. [6] [7]
- Preparation duties, member inspection and public filing are separate questions. [8] [10]
Frequently asked questions
Can I search BIPA without an account?
Yes. “Business Name Search” lets you search by name or registration number free of charge. No account is required. [2] [3]
Can I order another entity’s file from Germany?
Public inspection rights are not limited to Namibian persons or shareholders. BIPA accepts file requests by email and identifies email as a delivery route. Agree the payment arrangements, document scope and certification needed with the records office for the specific order. [8] [10] [1]
Can I obtain beneficial owners’ names?
The law provides limited public BO information on request. Companies: full name and the nature and extent of ownership. Close Corporations: full name and extent. The free search displays only BO filing status. [9] [11] [2]
How much does a certified copy cost?
The published tariff sets certification at N$20 per Company document or N$10 per Close Corporation document. Copying and any other charges are additional. For Company file copies, BIPA needs to confirm the applicable price because tariff items 42 and 46 conflict. [6]
Can I download every entity’s annual accounts?
No. Public Companies generally file their accounts with BIPA. The provisions described do not give independent Private Companies and CCs an equivalent general public-download route. Ask for the financial year available in the registry file or request the accounts from the entity itself. [8] [10]
How quickly does BIPA deliver a file?
BIPA says it takes about three to five days to retrieve an off-site file to the authority. Processing, payment, copying and delivery can take additional time. The archive-retrieval period is not a fixed delivery promise to the applicant. [1]
Original sources
Sources reviewed: 15 September 2026. The guidance is based on the linked information published by registers and public authorities.
- BIPA: Frequently Asked Questions Business and Intellectual Property Authority (BIPA)
- BIPA: public business-name search Business and Intellectual Property Authority (BIPA)
- BIPA: public registration-number search Business and Intellectual Property Authority (BIPA)
- BIPA: Online Business Registration login Business and Intellectual Property Authority (BIPA)
- BIPA: online account registration requirements Business and Intellectual Property Authority (BIPA)
- Government Gazette 7032: business registration fees Republic of Namibia, Government Gazette; supplied by BIPA
- BIPA: Company Application Fees Business and Intellectual Property Authority (BIPA)
- Companies Act 28 of 2004 (WIPO Lex) Republic of Namibia; WIPO Lex
- Companies Amendment Act 4 of 2023 Republic of Namibia, Government Gazette; supplied by BIPA
- Close Corporations Act 26 of 1988 (BIPA copy) Business and Intellectual Property Authority (BIPA)
- Close Corporations Amendment Act 5 of 2023 Republic of Namibia, Government Gazette; supplied by BIPA
- BIPA: Annual Duty Business and Intellectual Property Authority (BIPA)
- BIPA: Good Standing certificates Business and Intellectual Property Authority (BIPA)
- BIPA: Beneficial Ownership Business and Intellectual Property Authority (BIPA)
- BIPA: Beneficial Ownership Declaration Submission Guide Business and Intellectual Property Authority (BIPA)
- BIPA: blank annual confirmatory beneficial-ownership declaration BO2 Business and Intellectual Property Authority (BIPA)
- BIPA: Business Registration Business and Intellectual Property Authority (BIPA)
- Amtliche Suchmaske / Official search form Business and Intellectual Property Authority (BIPA)