# KYB in Africa and MENA: companies and owners | Konnect ID

> A practical guide to KYB in North and West Africa: register extracts, tax IDs, signatories and beneficial owners, and how to keep one case file per company.

Source: https://id.konnect.network/compliance/kyb-beneficial-owners · Language: en · Also in fr: https://id.konnect.network/fr/compliance/kyb-beneficial-owners · ar: https://id.konnect.network/ar/compliance/kyb-beneficial-owners

## Know your business, and who owns it.

Every AML framework in the region asks the same three questions about a company: does it exist, who acts for it, and who ultimately owns or controls it. This guide covers the documents that answer them in each market and how to collect them without an email chase.

## The three questions

- Does the company exist? A recent extract from the commercial or business register, and its tax identifier.
- Who acts for it? The identity of the representative, verified like any customer, and proof of their authority to sign.
- Who owns it? The beneficial owners: the natural persons who ultimately own or control the company, with their shares.

## Documents by market

- Tunisia: extract from the national business register (RNE) and tax registration (patente).
- Morocco: commercial register extract, ICE identifier, articles of association.
- Algeria: commercial register, tax number (NIF), identity of managers and beneficial owners, as listed by Instruction 04-2026.
- UEMOA: RCCM extract (OHADA trade and personal property credit register) and tax identifier.
- Egypt: commercial register extract and tax card.

## Verify the person, not just the paper

Most merchant fraud uses a real company and a borrowed identity. The representative should go through the same checks as a retail customer: document, liveness, face match and screening. Their role and powers are declared in the same session, so the file shows who signed and on what basis.

## Beneficial owners

Record each owner, their share and how control is exercised, and screen them. Above your threshold, or when the structure is unclear, ask for the shareholder register or a declaration signed by the representative. Owners can be invited to verify their own identity.

## One case file

Konnect ID's KYB flow collects the documents from a list you define per program, verifies the signatory, records the owners, and puts everything on one case for review. When one document is wrong, the reviewer asks for that document only.

## FAQ

### Can we change the required documents per merchant type?

Yes. The document list is a manifest you set per application or per session, with required and optional items and labels in English, French and Arabic.

### Does Konnect ID query company registers automatically?

Not today. Documents are collected and reviewed in the case; registry checks stay with your team or your data providers.

## Sources

- [Bank of Algeria Instruction 04-2026 on KYC (Algérie Eco)](https://algerie-eco.com/2026/05/04/la-banque-dalgerie-publie-linstruction-fixant-la-procedure-kyc-applicable-aux-banques-etablissements-financiers-et-algerie-poste/)

_Last reviewed on 2026-10-27. This page explains the rules in plain words and is not legal advice._

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