Workflow checklist
- Identify the registry. ors.brela.go.tz
- Check access requirements. Account required: Optional. Local ID required: No.
- Plan budget. Price range: USD 0.00. Payment methods: Not published on the ORS public search; 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.
Tanzania Company Search Guide 2026: How to Verify a Tanzania Business
TL;DR. Tanzania’s company registrar is BRELA. https://ors.brela.go.tz is BRELA ORS and lands on https://ors.brela.go.tz/ors/start, which offers a Free search alongside Create ORS account and E-services for registered users. The public form is at https://ors.brela.go.tz/orsreg/searchbusinesspublic. https://bo.brela.go.tz is the Beneficial Ownership Portal | Home, an email, password and captcha login for filing rather than a public ownership search. Filing figures such as TZS 22,000 are not published there, so paid products read unknown rather than free; confirm at source.
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 ORS host is https://ors.brela.go.tz, titled BRELA ORS. English and Swahili buttons are on its start page.
Zanzibar is a separate registrar: BPRA. https://orsz.bpra.go.tz lands on /um/login, titled BPRA ORS, with username and password. https://ors.bpra.go.tz no longer resolves. The Zanzibar login is not a mainland BRELA search.
https://www.brela.go.tz, titled BRELA | Mwanzo, is the Swahili agency site, not the ORS search form. The bare domain https://brela.go.tz does not load securely. https://business.go.tz did not respond when last checked.
The beneficial ownership host is https://bo.brela.go.tz. That page is a login with a captcha, not an anonymous ownership lookup.
What can you search?
The ORS start page offers a public search covering company or business name, address, and current status, free of charge, only for entities that have registered or updated through ORS.
The public search at https://ors.brela.go.tz/orsreg/searchbusinesspublic offers:
- 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 page states that the service is available only for companies and business names registered in ORS or that completed a data update or 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.
Director lists, shareholder lists, and beneficial ownership fields are not part of that public search.
How much does it cost?
| Item | Cost (TZS) | Cost (USD, approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| ORS public search | Free of charge, as stated on the start page | Unknown USD |
| Filing fee per document | Unknown | Unknown |
| Certified copy / company extract | Unknown | Unknown |
Figures of TZS 22,000, TZS 75,000 and TZS 167,200 appear in older accounts but are not published on the ORS search pages; confirm at source. The start page states that the public search is free of charge. Payment methods for e-services are not published there.
Do you need a local account or ID?
Optional. The start page offers Free search without a login, and separately Create ORS account and E-services for registered users. The public search page has no username field. Custom search is described as an e-service for registered users.
No Tanzanian ID is required for the public search. TIN-based account creation for filings is not covered here.
Zanzibar ORS at https://orsz.bpra.go.tz is a login.
Is the website in English?
Yes. The ORS start page and public search labels are in English, with English and Swahili language buttons.
What’s the turnaround time?
Unknown. Certified-extract timing is not published on the search pages.
Is there an API?
No public developer API is published on ORS.
What you legally cannot do
BRELA’s full terms of use are not published on the search pages. Bulk scraping of ORS is not permitted, and the beneficial ownership portal login is not a public ownership product.
Practical tips for foreign compliance buyers
- ORS coverage gap. The public search says only ORS-registered or migrated names appear, so “no result” is inconclusive.
- Zanzibar is separate. Use https://orsz.bpra.go.tz (login). That host is not BRELA.
- The ownership portal is a login. https://bo.brela.go.tz asks for email, password and a captcha. It is not a public ownership search.
- business.go.tz did not respond when last checked.
- TRA is not the company register. https://www.tra.go.tz, titled TRA - Together We Build Our Nation, is the tax authority, not BRELA.
- FATF. The FATF country page for Tanzania is online, and the Jurisdictions under Increased Monitoring statement of 13 June 2025 says: “The United Republic of Tanzania is therefore no longer subject to the FATF’s increased monitoring process.” That statement is dated 13 June 2025, not October 2022.
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 the public search page directs.
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 carries a free search link, and no local ID is required for it. Certified extracts are not offered on that page.
What is the company registration number in Tanzania?
The form uses Registration number for business names and Incorporation/Compliance number for companies. Exact format examples are not published there.
What entity types are registered with BRELA?
The public form offers Business name and Company. Other statutory types such as LLP and foreign branch are not listed there.
Does Tanzania have a beneficial ownership (UBO) registry?
https://bo.brela.go.tz is a Beneficial Ownership Portal login with a captcha. There is no public ownership search.
How current is the data in BRELA ORS?
Only ORS-registered or migrated entities are in the public search, per the notice on that page. Filing lag is not published.
Is Tanzania on the FATF grey list?
No. The FATF country page for Tanzania is online, and the Jurisdictions under Increased Monitoring statement of 13 June 2025 says: “The United Republic of Tanzania is therefore no longer subject to the FATF’s increased monitoring process.”
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 is not covered here.
Last verified: 2026-09-04. Sources: ors.brela.go.tz (BRELA ORS) and its public search at orsreg/searchbusinesspublic; bo.brela.go.tz, a login with captcha; orsz.bpra.go.tz, a login. TZS filing tariffs are not published there. The FATF Tanzania country page and the 13 June 2025 increased-monitoring statement say Tanzania is no longer subject to increased monitoring. For the full global due diligence framework, see our Global Business Due Diligence Guide.