South Sudan: the Business Registry at the Ministry of Justice

Who keeps the register

The Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs page names the Directorate of Registration of Companies and Businesses. The same page refers to it as the Directorate of Registration of Businesses, Associations and NGOs ¹.

Its listed functions include registering companies and other legal entities, keeping a register of registered entities in a database, inspecting businesses, investigating shareholder complaints and validating business details for tax identification numbers ¹. The page gives no fees, contacts or office address ¹.

An IFC press release of 17 May 2011 reported that more than 9,000 businesses had signed up with the business registry since it started in 2006 ⁶.

What can be searched online

The Ministry announced an electronic business registration system at its headquarters in Juba. The Ministry page says businesses can register and renew online without coming to the Ministry, and quotes Dr. Gabriel Isaac Awow saying the system covers local and international registrations ². The announcement does not mention a search function and gives no date ².

The Business Registration Services portal says the Ministry introduced it to automate manual processes ⁴. The only registry service it describes is business validation, a free service for owners to update a business's ownership records ⁴. Once validated, a business appears in its owners' profiles when they log in ⁴. The portal has a Verify Permit link but does not describe a search of companies, directors or shareholders ⁴. Fees for government eServices can be paid by mobile money, card or online banking ⁴.

How to request records

No official page found sets out how a member of the public can request company records, extracts or certified copies. The Companies Act, 2012 has a section 386 titled Inspection, Production and Evidence of Documents Kept by the Registrar, and a section 385 titled Fees ⁵. The online copy of the Act consulted for this page does not include the text of those sections ⁵.

The Act lets a member ask the company for a copy of its memorandum and articles, for a payment of SSP 20 or a lower sum set by the company ⁵. This is a request to the company, not to the registry ⁵.

What is not published online

• A fee schedule for searches, extracts or certified copies ^1,4
• A public search of directors or shareholders ⁴
• A procedure, form or contact point for record requests ¹
• A beneficial ownership register. The Act has sections on investigating company ownership and on persons interested in shares, but does not use the term beneficial owner ⁵

Problems reported by the Ministry

The Ministry's strategic plan for the directorate, dated 19 January 2022, says company and partnership registration is done electronically ³. It reports a lack of storage space for physical files, and says the Malakal business registry was looted and destroyed ³. It says many registered businesses do not file annual returns and that the forms for them were still being developed ³. Its plans include moving to web-based registration and building an electronic database for monitoring registered businesses ³.