Imperial British East Africa Company

Imperial British East Africa Company

Company type	Public
Industry	Colonial enterprises
Founded	London, United Kingdom (18 April 1888 (18 April 1888))
Founder	William Mackinnon
Defunct	1896 (1896)
Fate	Bankruptcy, territory became Uganda Protectorate and East Africa Protectorate
Area served	Uganda Jubaland Kenya
Key people	Frederick Lugard

Part of a series on the
History of Kenya
Overview Timeline of Kenya List of years in Kenya
Pleistocene Koobi Fora Hominins Olorgesailie Aechulean hand axe culture Kariandusi prehistoric site Enkapune Ya Muto Nataruk
Neolithic Lothagam North Monumental Cemetery Kalokol Pillar Site Elmenteitan Culture Cushitic expansion Eburran industry Hyrax Hill
African Iron Age Sirikwa culture Bantu expansion Nilotic expansion Urewe culture Thimlich Ohinga stone-built ruins Shungwaya Mijikenda Kayas (Fortified settlements) Indian Ocean trade route
Swahili city-states Periplus of the Erythraean Sea Swahili people Swahili culture Kilwa Sultanate History of Mombasa History of Malindi History of Lamu Ruins of Gedi Jumba la Mtwana
Portuguese and Omani period Vasco da Gama Portuguese Empire Fort Jesus East African slave trade Omani Empire Said bin Sultan
British colonial period Johann Ludwig Krapf Imperial British East Africa Company Wanga Kingdom Nabongo Mumia Kenya-Uganda Railway Nandi Resistance German East Africa British East Africa Kenya-Uganda Railway Mekatilili Wa Menza East African campaign (World War I) Kenya Colony Mumboism Luo Union (Welfare Organisation) Harry Thuku Kenya in World War II Kenya African Union Jomo Kenyatta Mau Mau Rebellion Dedan Kimathi Tom Mboya Oginga Odinga Nairobi People's Convention Party The Kennedy Airlift Kenya African National Union Lancaster House Conferences (Kenya)
Early post-independence Shifta War Pio Gama Pinto Bildad Kaggia Kenya People's Union 'Little general election' Kisumu Massacre Gikuyu, Embu, and Meru Association Josiah Mwangi Kariuki Presidency of Jomo Kenyatta
Moi era Daniel Arap Moi 1982 coup d'état attempt Wagalla massacre 1992 Kenyan general election HIV/AIDS in Kenya 1997 Kenyan general election 1998 United States embassy bombings Terrorism in Kenya Presidency of Daniel Moi
Recent history 2002 Kenyan general election Mwai Kibaki 2005 Kenyan constitutional referendum 2007-2008 Kenyan crisis Raila Odinga 2010 Kenyan constitutional referendum Operation Linda Nchi Westgate shopping mall attack 2014 Mpeketoni attacks Presidency of Mwai Kibaki Uhuru Kenyatta William Ruto Garissa University College attack October 2017 Kenyan presidential election 2018 Kenya handshake COVID-19 pandemic in Kenya Presidency of Uhuru Kenyatta
Kenya portal
v t e

The Imperial British East Africa Company (IBEAC) was a commercial association founded to develop African trade in the areas controlled by the British Empire. The company was incorporated in London on 18 April 1888 and granted a royal charter by Queen Victoria on 6 September 1888. It was led by the Scotsman William Mackinnon and built upon his company's trading activities in the region, with the encouragement of the British government through the granting of an imperial charter, although it remained unclear what that actually meant.

The IBEAC oversaw an area of about 246,800 square miles (639,000 km²) along the eastern coast of Africa (from modern-day Somalia to modern-day Kenya), its centre being at about 39° East longitude and 0° latitude. Mombasa and its harbour were central to its operations, with an administrative office about 50 miles (80 km) south in Shimoni. It granted immunity of prosecution to British subjects and allowed them the right to raise taxes, impose custom duties, administer justice, make treaties and otherwise act as the government of the area.^[1]

In 1893 the IBEAC transferred its administration rights of the territory to the British Government. The territory was then divided to form the Uganda Protectorate in 1894 and East Africa Protectorate (later Kenya) in 1895.