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 Somalia Kenya
Key people	Frederick Lugard

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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.