The Ivory Coast (Côte d’Ivoire) is a West African country on the Atlantic coast. Abidjan is the capital city, while French is the official language of the country. The Centre for Formation of Enterprise (Le Centre de Facilitation des Formalités des Entreprises; CFE), which aims to reduce business start-up time to 48 hours, and the Ivoirian Investment Promotion Center (Centre de Promotion des Investissements en Côte d’Ivoire; CEPICI), which helps joint-venture operations and investment in Côte d’Ivoire, are two organizations that help with business creation and investment promotion in Côte d’Ivoire.
CEPICI has opened an office in Abidjan to serve as a “one-stop-shop” for international investors, minimizing the time required for business registration and administrative procedures. CEPICI claims that investors can now create a firm in 24 hours using an online system to handle requirements and apply for licenses. Registration, incorporation, notary services, and amending or dissolving a business are all services provided by CEPICI.
Business Models
In Côte d’Ivoire, there are four common business models:
Joint Venture (Association et Participation)
These are exceptional due to their bilateral governance systems emphasizing co-ownership between partners of the joint venture’s residual cash flows and assets.
Foreign Company Branch (Succursale)
A foreign company branch cannot be established unless it has been registered with the Tribunal de Première Instance. The branch becomes an Ivoirian judicial entity and is legally separate from the firm once it is registered.
SARL (Société à Responsabilité Limitée)
Limited Liability Company. There are no minimum capital requirements, and corporations just need to pay a business registration cost of 15,000 CFA ($31). At least one shareholder is required for SARLs. There are no stock certificates issued;
Stock Corporations (Société Anonyme – SA)
There must be at least one shareholder in a stock corporation. Closely held SAs must have a minimum capital requirement of CFA 10,000,000 ($20,000), whereas publicly traded firms must have a minimum capital need of CFA 100,000,000 ($200,000). If a company’s share capital is less than CFA 2.5 billion ($5 million), it must pay a stock registration tax of six-tenths of one percent of the stock’s value. The registration tax rate is decreased for corporations with capital over CFA 2.5 billion ($5 million).
Registration steps
Regional offices, sole proprietorships, local agency or distributorship arrangements, various entities akin to limited and general partnerships, and state-owned or partially government-owned enterprises are also examples of other business structures. The following are the steps involved in forming a corporation in Côte d’Ivoire
Checking for name availability
Check with the Commercial Registry to see if your suggested business name is available. To do so, you must visit the Commercial Registry in Cote Divoire, where the name will be approved in a matter of days or weeks.
Financial certification
Obtain a certificate from a recognized financial institution. The cost ranges from 100,000 to 120,000 CAF Cote Divoire, depending on the bank.
Registration with CFE
Register your business with the CFE. A copy of the company bylaws is required for registration, as are the minutes authorizing the company’s formation (SA form only), the name of the manager (SARL) or director (SA), the director’s or manager’s criminal record (no older than three months), and the location of business activities details. CAF 5000 to deposit the laws (frais de dpt des statuts) and CAF 1000 to declare fiscal existence (frais de dclaration fiscale d’existence) are the registration charges.
Enterprise registration
Business enterprises must register personnel with the National Authority of Social Insurance and file a Declaration of Commencement of Business with the Ministry of Finance and the Economy’s Tax Department, Labor Department, and National Social Security Fund. If the entity intends to import or export products or materials, it must register as an importer or exporter with the Ministry of Commerce’s Department of External Trade.
Official publication
Publish your company in a legal magazine or newspaper.
