Tanzania Company Search Guide 2026: How to Verify a Tanzania Business

TL;DR. Tanzania’s company registrar is BRELA. Live GET of https://ors.brela.go.tz is HTTP 200, title BRELA ORS, landing https://ors.brela.go.tz/ors/start. That start page live-cites Free search and Create ORS account / E-services for registered users. The public form at https://ors.brela.go.tz/orsreg/searchbusinesspublic is HTTP 200 as a JS-rendered SearchBusinessPublic form. https://bo.brela.go.tz is HTTP 200, title Beneficial Ownership Portal | Home, with email, password, and captcha: a filing login, not a public UBO search. TZS 22,000 and related filing figures are not on that HTML and are dropped. Instant is not live-cited. priceMax 0 means Unknown, not verified free.

What is the official Tanzania business registry?

BRELA (Business Registrations and Licensing Agency) registers companies, business names, and intellectual property on mainland Tanzania under the Companies Act (Cap. 212). The live ORS host is https://ors.brela.go.tz (HTTP 200, title BRELA ORS). English and Swahili buttons are on that start HTML.

Zanzibar is a separate registrar: BPRA. Live GET of https://orsz.bpra.go.tz is HTTP 200 and lands on /um/login (title BPRA ORS) with username and password. https://ors.bpra.go.tz is NXDOMAIN. Do not treat the Zanzibar login as a mainland BRELA search.

https://www.brela.go.tz is HTTP 200 (title BRELA | Mwanzo), a Swahili agency site, not the ORS search form. Apex https://brela.go.tz fails TLS (no matching SAN) unless curl -k. https://business.go.tz returned HTTP 503.

The live BO host is https://bo.brela.go.tz. That page is a login with captcha, not an anonymous UBO lookup.

What can you search?

The ORS start page live-cites a public search: company or business name, address, and current status, free of charge, only for entities that have registered or updated through ORS.

Live JS on https://ors.brela.go.tz/orsreg/searchbusinesspublic defines SearchBusinessPublic with:

• Object type: Business name or Company
• Registration number (business names)
• Incorporation/Compliance number (companies)
• Business name
• Company name
• Result columns: Number, Name, Address, Status

The same JS live-cites: this service is available only for companies and business names registered in ORS or that completed data update / annual return transfer. For other names, it points registered users to “Request for a custom search result” or BRELA office procedures.

A no-result is not proof of non-registration. Instant result delivery was not observed (the form is JS-rendered; a filled search was not run).

Director lists, shareholder lists, and UBO fields were not on that public-search JS and are not live-cited.

How much does it cost?

TZS 22,000, TZS 75,000, and TZS 167,200 figures are not on the live ORS Free search or SearchBusinessPublic HTML and are dropped. priceMax 0 means Unknown, not verified free for paid products. The start page live-cites the public search as free of charge. Payment methods for e-services were not published on that search HTML.

Do you need a local account or ID?

Optional. The start page live-cites Free search without requiring the login path, and separately Create ORS account plus E-services for registered users. The public SearchBusinessPublic page did not present a username field. Custom search is described in the JS as an e-service for registered users.

No Tanzanian ID was required on the public-search HTML. TIN-based account creation for filings was not re-read past the start page and is not live-cited.

Zanzibar ORS at https://orsz.bpra.go.tz is a login wall.

Is the website in English?

Yes. The ORS start page and SearchBusinessPublic JS labels are in English, with English and Swahili language buttons on the live HTML.

What’s the turnaround time?

Unknown. Instant is not live-cited. The public form is JS-rendered; certified-extract timing was not on the live search HTML.

Is there an API?

No public developer API was on the live ORS HTML.

What you legally cannot do

BRELA terms of use were not re-read as a full legal text on the search HTML. Do not bulk-scrape the ORS. Do not treat the BO portal login as a public UBO product.

Practical tips for foreign compliance buyers

• ORS coverage gap. The live SearchBusinessPublic JS says only ORS-registered or migrated names appear. Treat “no result” as inconclusive.
• Zanzibar is separate. Use https://orsz.bpra.go.tz (login). That host is not BRELA.
• UBO portal is a login. https://bo.brela.go.tz is HTTP 200 with email, password, and captcha. It is not a public UBO search. Do not invent UBO fields from this check.
• business.go.tz 503. Do not send buyers there as a live entry point from this check.
• TRA is not the company register. https://www.tra.go.tz is HTTP 200 (title TRA - Together We Build Our Nation). It is tax, not BRELA.
• FATF. Direct GET of https://www.fatf-gafi.org/en/countries/detail/Tanzania.html is HTTP 200. SOCKS 403 is not the live GET. The Direct 200 publication Jurisdictions under Increased Monitoring - 13 June 2025 live-cites: “The United Republic of Tanzania is therefore no longer subject to the FATF’s increased monitoring process.” That is not an October 2022 increased-monitoring listing.

Alternatives if you cannot access BRELA directly

• Aggregator search (indicative only): OpenCorporates indexes some BRELA data. Not compliance-grade.
• BRELA office / registered e-services for names that predate ORS, as live-cited on the public-search JS.

Local data suppliers

• Creditinfo East Africa (creditinfo.co.tz). Credit reports. Use BRELA for the filing record.

FAQ

Can a foreign company access the Tanzania registry directly?

The ORS start page is HTTP 200 with a live Free search link. No local ID was required on that public-search HTML. Certified extracts were not live-cited on that page.

What is the company registration number in Tanzania?

The live form uses Registration number for business names and Incorporation/Compliance number for companies. Exact format examples were not on that HTML.

What entity types are registered with BRELA?

The live public form offers Business name and Company. Other statutory types (LLP, foreign branch) were not enumerated on that search HTML.

Does Tanzania have a beneficial ownership (UBO) registry?

https://bo.brela.go.tz is HTTP 200 as a Beneficial Ownership Portal login with captcha. Public UBO search was not observed. Do not invent UBO access from this check.

How current is the data in BRELA ORS?

Only ORS-registered or migrated entities are in the public search, per the live JS notice. Filing lag was not live-cited.

Is Tanzania on the FATF grey list?

No. Direct GET of https://www.fatf-gafi.org/en/countries/detail/Tanzania.html is HTTP 200. SOCKS 403 is not the live GET. The Direct 200 publication Jurisdictions under Increased Monitoring - 13 June 2025 live-cites: “The United Republic of Tanzania is therefore no longer subject to the FATF’s increased monitoring process.” That is not an October 2022 increased-monitoring listing.

What is the difference between BRELA and OSHA or TRA?

BRELA is company and business-name registration. TRA is tax. OSHA is workplace safety. Cross-register status was not live-checked beyond TRA’s 200 homepage.

Last verified: 2026-09-04. Source: live GET of ors.brela.go.tz (BRELA ORS), orsreg/searchbusinesspublic, bo.brela.go.tz (login plus captcha), orsz.bpra.go.tz (login). TZS filing tariffs not on that HTML. Direct GET of fatf-gafi.org Tanzania country page HTTP 200; 13 June 2025 increased-monitoring publication live-cites Tanzania no longer subject to increased monitoring (SOCKS 403 is not the live GET). For the full global due diligence framework, see our Global Business Due Diligence Guide.