Itai Ndongwe
HARARE – In a significant move to ease the administrative burden on the private sector, the government has officially extended the deadline for the mandatory re-registration of companies by an additional two years. According to Statutory Instrument 76 of 2026 gazetted this Friday, the new deadline is now 20 April 2028.
This intervention provides a critical “breathing room” for thousands of entities that were facing a high-stakes cutoff next Monday.
The extension directly addresses the mounting pressure and logistical nightmares witnessed over the past few weeks.
The Deeds Office has been overwhelmed by last-minute filings, with queues stretching as companies raced to meet the original 20 April 2026 deadline.
The additional time allows for a more orderly migration to the CIPZ digital portal, reducing the risk of technical errors or portal crashes caused by excessive traffic.
Cited as the Companies and Other Business Entities (Re-Registration) (Amendment) Regulations, 2026 (No. 1), this new law amends the previous SI 108 of 2025.
The amendment explicitly deletes the date “20th April, 2026” and substitutes it with “20th April, 2028.”
The regulations were issued by the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs under the powers granted by Sections 301 and 303 of the COBE Act [Chapter 24:31].
While the deadline has shifted, the legal obligation and the penalties for non-compliance remain unchanged. This applies to all entities registered under the repealed Companies Act, including local firms, foreign companies, and Private Business Corporations (PBCs).
Companies that fail to comply by the new 2028 deadline still face automatic removal from the register and the potential forfeiture of assets to the State.
Re-registration is not just a formality; it is the only way to preserve a company’s legal identity, ability to sue/be sued, and valid ownership of assets.
This extension is a bullish signal. It suggests a government that is listening to the private sector’s logistical challenges and is committed to its “Growth-First” agenda by removing unnecessary “compliance panic.”
This move prevents a massive freeze of bank accounts and corporate litigation that would have likely followed a mass-deregistration on Tuesday. Businesses should use this “grace period” to clean up their historical returns and audit their corporate structures without the threat of immediate closure.
