Sierra Leone Company Registry: How to Search and What It Covers
Sierra Leone's registry offers an online business name search and a counter-based registration process. Here is what each part covers and where it stops.
Company and business registration in Sierra Leone is handled by the Office of the Administrator and Registrar General, with company incorporation governed by the Companies Act, 2009. Registration and facilitation functions are also supported through the National Investment Board.
Where the official records sit
- The OARG publishes a business name search, which is the entry point for confirming whether a name already appears in the register. The wider OARG site has been intermittently unavailable, so allow for a direct request to the office where the search does not resolve.
- The National Investment Board sets out registration and corporate affairs functions and provides application routes and forms on its business registration pages and its online business registration page.
What the online search does well is confirm whether a name appears in the register. It is not a full corporate extract, and a buyer should not treat a name hit as verification of ownership, standing or filings. For that, request a certified extract or a confirmation from the OARG, allowing time for a counter-based process.
Establish the entity precisely
- Exact registered name and registration number, and the entity type. A registered business name and a company incorporated under the Companies Act, 2009 are different things.
- Date of registration, and whether it predates or follows the approach to you.
- Directors and shareholders of record.
- Whether annual filings are current.
Additional checks a buyer still needs
- Tax standing with the National Revenue Authority.
- Sector licences with the relevant regulator. Mining and mineral rights, financial services supervised by the Bank of Sierra Leone, telecoms, fisheries and health products each sit with a specific authority, not with the registry.
- Beneficial ownership, traced upward where shareholders of record are corporate entities.
- Sanctions screening of directors and owners using the official sources in how to check if you are on a sanctions list.
- Operational corroboration: a physical address confirmed independently, named clients contacted directly, and bank details that match the registered entity name exactly.
Practical expectations
Turnaround for certified documents is measured in days rather than minutes, and local presence or a local agent shortens the process considerably. Build that into a transaction timetable rather than treating verification as something that can be completed in the final hour before signature.
Related reading
Next step
Order a report when you need the Sierra Leonean record confirmed, cited and dated.