In Equatorial Guinea, starting a business takes 136 days, compared to 46 days in Sub-Saharan Africa. The general steps for registering a corporation in Equatorial Guinea are outlined in this article.
Registration procedure
Equatorial Guinea’s Company Registration Procedures
Criminal records
Request a copy of your criminal records. Every new business must get a free copy of the criminal records from the court. It takes less than a day and is completely free.
Certification of companies’ statutes
A notary certifies a company’s statutes. Lawyers draft business statutes in practice, even though it is not required by law. A public notary, on the other hand, is required by law to validate the statutes and prepare the public deed. Malabo (island) has one notary and Bata (mainland) has another. On average, the process takes 9 days and costs 3-6 percent of capital.
Filing a public deed
File a public deed with the commercial registry. The applicant must present legalized copies of the statutes to be registered. By law, the business must have a distinct name. If the name is already taken, the register simply rejects the application. The procedure takes on average two days and costs 3% of capital.
Opening a bank account
Obtain a bank certificate and open a bank account (solvencia bancaria). Before registering a business, the corporation must legally deposit the required capital. In practice, however, this is not possible because opening a bank account requires copies of the validated legislation and the registration certificate.
Solvency certificate
Obtain a solvency certificate. The solvency certificate is obtained at UNIGES. It takes around 2 days and costs between CFA 10,000 and CFA 15,000 to complete.
Prime minister’s approval
Request the Prime Minister’s approval for the establishment. An explanation of the company’s goals and contributions to society is included in the application for authorization of establishment (often elaborated by a lawyer). Before giving the authorization, the Prime Minister may seek input from the supervising ministries, depending on the company’s industrial sector. Proof of solvency must also be provided by the company. On average, it takes 120 days and costs CFA 2,000.
Registration with the Ministry of Commerce
Apply for registration with the Ministry of Commerce’s Department of Small and Medium-sized Businesses (Ministerio de Economia, Comercio Promoción Empresarial). This annual charge varies depending on the firm. It costs 100,000 CFA.
Register with the Ministry of Commerce’s Department of Commerce (Ministerio de Economia, Comercioy Promoción Empresarial). This annual charge varies depending on the firm. It costs 150,000 CFA.
Tax registration
Fill out a tax registration form. A copy of the Prime Minister’s approved application for establishment authorization, as well as notarized legislation, is required to apply for tax registration. The fees are deposited into a Public Treasury account at a bank. The applicant returns to the tax authorities to get the tax identification number after receiving confirmation of payment from the Treasury. To save time, the applicant (or a designated agent) would go to each agency (tax administration, labor, social security, etc.) to apply for the appropriate authorization or document, make the necessary bank payments, and obtain Treasury confirmation. The applicant would then return to all agencies to get final approval. The costs are 1% of capital for the tax identification number (NIF) and 1% of capital for the minimum fiscal quota.
Registration with the Ministry of Labour
Register with the Ministry of Labor for the beginning of operations. Fees are paid to the Treasury through a private bank, the same as tax registration. The employer contributes 1% of the salary to the worker protection fund (Fondo de Proteccion del Trabajador) once it is operating. Employees contribute 0.5 percent of their pay. Although the fees shown are official, they may be greater in practice.
Treasury confirmation
Obtain confirmation from Treasury that all payments have been received.
Obtaining an operating license
Obtain a license from the Department of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises and provide payment confirmation. Provide payment confirmation and obtain a license from the Department of Commerce.
Tax identification number
Visit the Tax Authority to obtain a tax identification number (NIF).
Registration number
Obtain a Ministry of Labor registration number.
Security number
Obtain a social security number by registering for it The company must register for social security and get a social security number from the Social Security Administration. In the first month that the employees are paid, the employer must register them for social security. Employer contributions are 21.5 percent of salaries, while employee contributions are 4.5 percent. The corporation needs to purchase particular paperwork to list all employees to register for social security. Each page of the form costs CFA 300.
