Kenya Market Entry & Corporate Mobility
For organisations entering Kenya, building local teams and relocating key personnel
Establishing operations in Kenya often involves decisions around company structure, local hiring, immigration, compliance and employee relocation. Those decisions rarely sit with one provider, yet each one affects the others. We work with companies as they establish a presence, build local teams and relocate employees into Kenya.
We work with companies at different stages of their Kenya journey. Some are entering Kenya for the first time, others are hiring, relocating employees or doing all three at once. Our work cuts across four areas of Kenya market entry and corporate mobility.
We advise on the most appropriate market-entry structure for your objectives, timeline and long-term plans. Depending on your circumstances, that may be a locally incorporated company, a branch of your existing entity or a representative office. We then coordinate the full registration and compliance process: company registration, tax registration, statutory registrations, banking introductions, and the licences your specific business activity requires.
What's involved, in brief:
Structure evaluation and recommendation
Company registration coordination
Tax registration (KRA PIN, VAT, PAYE)
Statutory registrations (NSSF, SHIF)
Banking introductions
County and sector licensing, where applicable
Moving employees across borders involves more than obtaining work authorization. It requires careful planning around immigration, compliance, workforce deployment, family relocation, and business continuity. Working alongside immigration specialists, real estate partners, schools, and insurance providers, we coordinate the practical aspects of relocation while ensuring the wider mobility program remains aligned with your operational goals
What's involved, in brief:
Executive and employee relocation
Work permit and immigration coordination
Family relocation assistance
Housing and school search coordination
Insurance coordination
Relocation planning for project teams and key personnel
Ongoing assignment support
This is where the value of a single point of contact becomes clearest. Rather than running entity setup, immigration, hiring, and relocation as separate projects with separate timelines and separate providers, we build one integrated roadmap and manage all of it in parallel — so your company is registered, your team is hired, your relocating employees are settled, and your operations are live, on one coordinated timeline
An EOR becomes the legal employer of your Kenya-based staff, handling contracts, payroll, tax, and statutory contributions in full compliance with Kenyan labour law, while you retain full control over the employee's day-to-day work. The right choice of provider — and the right understanding of when EOR makes sense versus when it doesn't — makes a significant difference to cost and risk over time.
We assess whether EOR is the right route for your situation, evaluate and recommend a suitable provider, manage the introduction, and stay involved as a point of contact throughout the engagement, including any future relocation requirements.
What's involved, in brief:
Assessment of EOR vs. entity setup for your situation
Provider evaluation and recommendation
Introduction and onboarding support
Ongoing coordination as your local point of contact
HOW WE WORK
A structured process, from your first conversation to your operational launch.
1. Discovery
We start by understanding your business, your objectives in Kenya, your timeline, and your plans for people — whether that's local hiring, relocation, or both. No recommendations at this stage. Just listening.
2. Internal Assessment
We assess your situation against the options available — entity structure, EOR, immigration requirements, tax and compliance considerations — and identify what genuinely fits your objectives.
3. Recommendation
We come back to you with a clear, tailored recommendation — including the reasoning behind it, the alternatives we considered, and an honest view of timelines and risks. You decide whether to proceed. There's no pressure to commit before you have this clarity. Once you decide to move forward, the project begins.
4. Implementation
We project-manage the full execution: registrations filed, permits submitted, housing arranged, schools confirmed, payroll set up. We bring in the right specialists for your specific situation — corporate secretaries, tax advisors, immigration lawyers, realtors, insurance brokers — and manage those relationships on your behalf. You get regular updates from one source — us.
5. Launch & Settle
Your company is operational. Your team is in place. Your relocating employees are settled. We stay close during this period to handle anything that comes up.
6. Ongoing Support
Many clients retain us beyond launch — for permit renewals, new hires, additional relocations, or the next phase of expansion.
ONE ROADMAP. ONE POINT OF CONTACT
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Do we need to set up a company, or can we just use an EOR?
It depends on your team size, your timeline, the nature of your activity in Kenya, and your longer-term plans. There's no universal answer — which is exactly why this is the first thing we work through with you. We'll give you a clear recommendation, including the trade-offs, before you commit to anything.
How long does Kenya market entry take?
Company registration itself can move quickly — often within one to two weeks for a clean filing. The full picture — tax registration, statutory registrations, banking, and any sector licences — typically takes several weeks to a few months depending on your sector and how quickly documentation comes together. If work permits are also required, immigration processing should begin as early as possible, as it can take several months.
How long does a work permit take, and what's involved?
Kenya's main work permit for foreign employees can take a few months to process, and is issued for a fixed period with the option to renew. The exact pathway depends on the employee's role, qualifications, and your company's structure in Kenya. We coordinate this process from start to finish, including any accompanying dependants.
What's the difference between working with you and working with a law firm directly?
We're not a law firm, and we don't provide legal advice. What we provide is the coordination layer that most law firms don't — managing your entity setup, your immigration process, your hiring, and your relocation as one connected project, with one point of contact, rather than as separate engagements you manage yourself.
Do you operate outside Kenya as well?
Our primary focus is Kenya. That focus is intentional. It means our knowledge of the market, the regulatory environment, and our local network runs deep rather than broad.
What if our plans change partway through?
They often do — timelines shift, headcount changes, priorities move. We work with you as things evolve and adjust the roadmap accordingly. Our job is to keep your project moving in the right direction, whatever that looks like at any given point.
What does this cost?
We charge a professional fee for our advisory and coordination work, scoped to your specific project. Separately, there are third-party costs — government fees, legal fees, EOR provider fees, immigration fees, and costs like housing or insurance where relevant. We're upfront about what's included in our fee and what isn't, from our very first conversation, so there are no surprises later.
What happens after we're operational?
Many clients continue working with us on an ongoing basis — for permit renewals, additional hires, further relocations, or planning the next phase of their Kenya operations. Others choose to take things from there themselves. Either way, the relationship doesn't have to end at launch.