How To Start A Business in Burundi

Doing business in Burundi

Below is a detailed summary of the bureaucratic and legal hurdles faced by entrepreneurs wishing to incorporate and register a new firm in Burundi. It examines the procedures, time and cost involved in launching a commercial or industrial firm with between 10 and 50 employees and start-up capital of 10 times the economy's per-capita gross national income.

This information was collected as part of the Doing Business project, which measures and compares regulations relevant to the life cycle of a small- to medium-sized domestic business in 189 economies. The most recent round of data collection was completed in June 2015.

No.ProcedureTime to CompleteAssociated Costs
 1Submit all documents to the one-stop shop (API) and obtain registration certificate and the tax identification number
Agency: Agence de la Promotion et de l'Investissement (API)

The following documents need to be submitted at the Agence des Promotions des Investissements (API):
1. Application form for the creation of a new company (includes name of the company, type of company, address, initial capital, number of partners and their names, contribution of each partner)
2. Standard company statutes
3. Application form for registration with the Greffe of the Tribunal de Commerce
4. Application form for registration with the OBR to obtain the NIF
5. Photos of all partners
6. Copy of identities of all partners

The applicant first deposits all these documents at the API and then pays the registration fees of BIF 40,000 at the API. The applicant will then obtain a certificate of incorporation and a fiscal identification number (NIF) issued by the tax authority (Office Burundais des Recettes). In addition, the applicant can now complete the registration of the company with the National Institute for Social Security at the one-stop shop.
1 day BIF 40,000 for a LLC performing general commercial activities
 2Pay the registration fees at the Commercial Bank cashier
Agency: Bank

All new businesses must pay the registration fees at the Commercial Bank cashier.
1 day no charge
 3Make a company seal
Agency: Shops dealing with stamp making

The company seal is not required by law but it is done in practice. Some banks would require the company seal to issue a loan contract, for example.
2 days BIF 20,000