Workflow checklist
- Identify the registry. www.cipa.co.bw
- Check access requirements. Account required: Optional. Local ID required: No.
- Plan budget. Price range: USD 1.45-36.00. Payment methods: Not published; confirm at source.
- Anticipate friction. Captcha / 2FA: Unknown. English UI: Yes.
- Plan turnaround. Expected: Unknown.
- Verify recency. Last verified: 4 Sept 2026. Confirm current pricing at the official registry before submitting.
TL;DR. Botswana’s official business registry is CIPA’s Online Business Registration System (OBRS), operated by the Companies and Intellectual Property Authority. https://www.cipa.co.bw is online, but the OBRS login and search pages no longer exist. CIPA’s published fee schedule gives name reserve P20, registration P360 and annual return P500; the P500 in this guide is that annual-return figure, not a search fee, and no search fee is published.
What is the official Botswana business registry?
The Companies and Intellectual Property Authority (CIPA) is Botswana’s statutory registrar for companies, intellectual property, and business names. CIPA operates under the Companies Act (Cap. 42:01) and the Companies and Intellectual Property Authority Act. The agency falls under the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
The public-facing registry portal is the Online Business Registration System (OBRS). The agency site https://www.cipa.co.bw is online, but the OBRS login and search pages no longer exist, so there is no working search there.
CIPA’s registry covers private companies, public companies, close companies (a legacy vehicle now being phased out), non-profit companies, foreign company branches, and partnerships. The Companies Amendment Act 2018 (and subsequent amendments through 2025) introduced updated filing requirements including mandatory constitution submission for all registered entities.
Historical records in CIPA’s digital system extend to the agency’s establishment in 2014, when it took over functions from the Registrar of Companies under the Ministry of Trade. Pre-2014 records are accessible via CIPA but some older filings may require additional processing time.
What can you search?
The OBRS login and search pages no longer exist, so the company-name, registration-number and director fields they offered could not be confirmed. cipa.co.bw is the agency site, not an OBRS results screen.
No beneficial ownership fields could be confirmed. Botswana’s Companies Act requires companies to maintain internal registers of beneficial owners; no fully public UBO register is reachable through OBRS.
How much does it cost?
| Item | Cost (BWP) | Cost (USD, approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Name reserve (CIPA fee schedule) | 20 | ~USD 1.45 |
| Company registration, private or public (CIPA fee schedule) | 360 | ~USD 26 |
| Annual return, private or public (CIPA fee schedule) | 500 | ~USD 36 |
| OBRS login / search (page no longer exists) | Unknown | Unknown |
| Certified extract | Unknown | Unknown |
These figures come from CIPA’s published fee schedule (CIPA-OBRS-Fees / fees-for-frequently-used-services at cipa.co.bw/information-center): name reserve P20, registration P360, annual return P500. The name search is not stated to be without charge. P500 is the annual return, not constitution submission. No turnaround time is published. The BWP/USD conversion is approximate and is not a second published figure.
No fee for certified extract orders is published. CIPA can be reached at info@cipa.co.bw or +267 367 3700 to confirm current certified extract pricing.
Do you need a local account or ID?
The OBRS login page no longer exists, so no account-creation screen could be seen. Foreign nationals have been reported as able to register an OBRS account with a passport number; confirm at source.
Is the website in English?
Yes. The CIPA site at cipa.co.bw is in English, and Botswana’s official government language is English. The OBRS search pages no longer exist, so their language could not be confirmed.
What’s the turnaround time?
Unknown. The OBRS login and search pages no longer exist, and no download route could be found; confirm at source.
Is there an API?
No. CIPA does not offer a public API for programmatic access to registry data.
OpenCorporates indexes some Botswana filing data and may be useful for indicative volume lookups, but it is not a primary compliance source.
What you legally cannot do
CIPA’s Terms of Use prohibit bulk automated scraping of the OBRS interface or any programmatic extraction of registry data without written authorisation. Registry data accessed through OBRS is licensed for the purpose of the specific enquiry.
Botswana’s Data Protection Act 2018 governs the processing of personal data derived from company records, including director names and addresses. For a broader framework on using public registry data across jurisdictions, see our Global Business Due Diligence Guide. The South Africa Company Search Guide covers the neighbouring CIPC registry for comparison.
Practical tips for foreign compliance buyers
- The OBRS login and search pages no longer exist. The CIPA site and a local request route are the remaining options.
- Name reserve costs P20. That is CIPA’s published fee, not a no-charge service.
- Registration is P360; annual return is P500. Both are on CIPA’s published fee schedule. P500 is the annual return, not constitution submission.
- Registration number is the anchor identifier. Botswana company registration numbers are assigned at incorporation and do not change.
- Close companies. Botswana historically had “close companies” (CC) as a simplified entity type. These are being phased out under the 2018 Companies Amendment Act.
- Constitution filing requirement. The 2018 Companies Act amendments require all existing companies to file a written constitution.
- Foreign branches. Foreign companies operating in Botswana must register with CIPA as an external company.
- FATF lists. The FATF “Black and grey” lists page and the Jurisdictions under Increased Monitoring list of 13 February 2026 both load, and Botswana is not named on that monitoring list; confirm at source.
Alternatives if you cannot access CIPA directly
- Aggregator search (indicative only): OpenCorporates indexes Botswana company filings but lags official data. Useful for a quick name check; not for compliance-grade verification.
- CIPA contact: info@cipa.co.bw, while the OBRS search pages are unavailable.
Local data suppliers
- Dun and Bradstreet (via dnb.com). D&B provides commercial credit reports on Botswana entities as part of its Africa coverage. Use when you need payment behavior or risk scoring in addition to the CIPA registry extract.
Use CIPA for the authoritative legal filing record. Use a credit bureau when you need financial risk context beyond the registry filing.
FAQ
Can a foreign company access the Botswana registry directly?
The agency site cipa.co.bw is online, but the OBRS login and search pages no longer exist. CIPA’s published fee schedule gives name reserve P20, registration P360 and annual return P500.
What is the company registration number in Botswana?
The CIPA registration number is a unique numeric identifier assigned at the time of incorporation. It appears on the certificate of incorporation and all official CIPA extracts. Always use this number as the primary identifier rather than the company name.
What entity types are registered with CIPA?
CIPA registers private companies, public companies, close companies (legacy, being phased out), non-profit companies, foreign company branches (external companies), sole proprietors, and partnerships. Intellectual property rights including trademarks, patents, and industrial designs are also registered through CIPA, in a separate function from the company register.
Does Botswana have a beneficial ownership (UBO) registry?
No beneficial ownership search could be confirmed, because the OBRS login and search pages no longer exist. CIPA has been reported to collect some beneficial ownership data as part of company filings, but that is not a public register; confirm at source.
How current is the data in CIPA?
Not stated. The OBRS search page no longer exists, and CIPA publishes no statement of how current its data is.
Is Botswana on the FATF grey list?
Botswana is not named on the FATF increased-monitoring list of 13 February 2026. FATF updates its lists periodically; confirm at source.
What’s the difference between the registry and tax/financial filings?
CIPA registers companies and handles corporate governance filings. Tax registration is managed separately by the Botswana Unified Revenue Service (BURS) at burs.org.bw, which issues a Tax Identification Number (TIN).
Last verified: 2026-09-04. Sources: cipa.co.bw; the OBRS login and search pages, which no longer exist; and CIPA’s fee schedule giving name reserve P20, registration P360 and annual return P500. For the full global due diligence framework, see our Global Business Due Diligence Guide.