Workflow checklist
- Identify the registry. www.pacra.org.zm
- Check access requirements. Account required: Yes. Local ID required: No.
- Plan budget. Price range: USD 0.00. 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. Zambia’s official business registry is the PACRA Business Registry, operated by the Patents and Companies Registration Agency. pacra.org.zm (titled Patents and Companies Registration Agency), portal.pacra.org.zm (titled PACRA / Sign In, a login page), search.pacra.org.zm (titled PACRA / Business Search) and pacra.org.zm/fees-and-forms (titled Forms and Fees) are all online. No search fields and no kwacha amounts could be read from those pages, so fees in this guide are unknown rather than free; confirm at source. zra.org.zm did not respond. An account is shown as required because the portal opens on a sign-in.
What is the official Zambia business registry?
The Patents and Companies Registration Agency (PACRA) is Zambia’s statutory registry for companies, business names, intellectual property, and secured transactions. PACRA operates under the Patents and Companies Registration Agency Act, and the Companies Act (Cap. 388 of the Laws of Zambia) defines the filing obligations for registered entities.
PACRA maintains the central public register covering private limited companies, public companies, business names (sole proprietors), partnerships, and foreign company branches operating in Zambia. The agency portal is portal.pacra.org.zm, titled PACRA / Sign In. The public search host is search.pacra.org.zm, titled PACRA / Business Search. The main site is pacra.org.zm, titled Patents and Companies Registration Agency.
All three are online. Their search fields, such as any minimum character count, name field or registration-number field, could not be read from the pages; confirm at source.
What can you search?
search.pacra.org.zm is online, titled PACRA / Business Search, and portal.pacra.org.zm is online, titled PACRA / Sign In, a login page. No search fields could be read from either, so company name, registration number, director name and annual-return status are not described here as screens, and nor are status labels such as Active, Struck Off or In Liquidation. Confirm at source.
How much does it cost?
| Item | Cost (ZMW) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Forms and fees page on pacra.org.zm | Unknown | Page loads; no amounts published on it |
| Public search / certified copy | Unknown | Not published |
Kwacha figures of 50, 350 and 83 have been reported, as has a difference between foreign and local fees, but none appears on the forms and fees page, which is online. The table above therefore reads unknown rather than free; confirm at source.
Do you need a local account or ID?
Yes. portal.pacra.org.zm opens on a page titled PACRA / Sign In, which is why an account is shown as required. search.pacra.org.zm is titled PACRA / Business Search, but neither its cost nor its fields could be read from the page. A local ID is shown as not required, and whether a passport or an NRC is accepted could not be confirmed; confirm at source.
Is the website in English?
Yes. The PACRA pages that load are in English: PACRA / Sign In, PACRA / Business Search, and Patents and Companies Registration Agency. The language of the search screens themselves could not be confirmed.
What’s the turnaround time?
Unknown. A 1-3 business-day turnaround has been reported but is not published on the site; confirm at source.
Is there an API?
No. The PACRA web pages are not an API, and no public API could be confirmed. pro@pacra.org.zm is a mailbox, not an API.
What you legally cannot do
The PACRA terms were not read for this guide. Bulk automated scraping has been reported as restricted, and the Data Protection Act 2021 governs personal data from filings; confirm at source.
For the broader due-diligence framework, see our Global Business Due Diligence Guide. For regional comparison, see the Kenya Company Search Guide.
Practical tips for foreign compliance buyers
- The PACRA portal opens on a sign-in. portal.pacra.org.zm is titled PACRA / Sign In, search.pacra.org.zm is titled PACRA / Business Search, and pacra.org.zm and its forms and fees page are online. None of them publishes its search fields or a download path.
- Registration number remains the anchor. Its format could not be confirmed on a result table.
- zra.org.zm did not respond. No replacement was found, so ZRA is not a working TPIN lookup here.
- The FATF lists load. fatf-gafi.org is online. Zambia’s entry on those lists was not read for this guide; confirm at source.
- OpenCorporates / D&B Zambia were not checked for this guide.
Alternatives if you cannot access PACRA directly
- PACRA portal (portal.pacra.org.zm): online, titled PACRA / Sign In.
- PACRA public search (search.pacra.org.zm): online, titled PACRA / Business Search.
- OpenCorporates: not checked for this guide.
Local data suppliers
- Dun and Bradstreet Zambia (via dnb.com). Not checked for this guide. Named only.
Use PACRA for the official filing record. Use a commercial credit bureau when you need payment behavior or risk scoring on top of the registry extract.
FAQ
Can a foreign company access the Zambia registry directly?
The PACRA pages are online: portal.pacra.org.zm is titled PACRA / Sign In, a login page, and search.pacra.org.zm is titled PACRA / Business Search. Neither publishes a download path or a free-search statement; confirm at source.
What is the PACRA registration number in Zambia?
The PACRA registration number is a unique identifier assigned at incorporation. A format such as “120140012345” has been reported but could not be confirmed on a result table.
What entity types are registered with PACRA?
PACRA registers private limited companies, public companies, foreign company branches (external companies), business names (sole proprietorships and partnerships), and cooperatives. Intellectual property rights including patents, trademarks, and industrial designs are also registered with PACRA, though these are separate from the company register. That list could not be confirmed against a working search screen.
Does Zambia have a beneficial ownership (UBO) registry?
No beneficial-ownership search could be found on the PACRA pages. Companies have been reported as keeping internal registers of members and beneficial owners; confirm at source.
How current is the data in the PACRA registry?
Not published. PACRA gives no statement of how current its data is.
Is Zambia on the FATF grey list?
Zambia’s entry on the FATF lists was not read for this guide. The black and grey lists page is online; see it for the published lists.
What’s the difference between the registry and tax/financial filings?
PACRA handles company registration and corporate governance filings. Tax registration sits with the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA). zra.org.zm did not respond when last checked, and ZRA does not replace PACRA.
Last verified: 2026-09-04. Sources: pacra.org.zm (titled Patents and Companies Registration Agency), portal.pacra.org.zm (titled PACRA / Sign In, a login page), search.pacra.org.zm (titled PACRA / Business Search) and pacra.org.zm/fees-and-forms (titled Forms and Fees, with no amounts on it), all online; zra.org.zm, which did not respond. An account is shown as required because the portal opens on a sign-in. For the full global due diligence framework, see our Global Business Due Diligence Guide.