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Doing business in Gabon

Below is a detailed summary of the bureaucratic and legal hurdles faced by entrepreneurs wishing to incorporate and register a new firm in Gabon. 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.

Starting a business, or company, in Gabon takes approximately 58 days as compared to about 46 days for the Sub-Saharan Africa region. This piece outlines the general technical procedures for starting a company in Gabon, according to the Doingbusiness.org database by the World Bank. It includes details and requirements to be in good standing with all relevant agencies beyond the company registrar like social security agencies.

Use this as a guide while you complete the process and consult with agents carrying out work on your behalf.  Additional notes may be found here.

Technical Procedures

The steps involved in registering a company [Societe a Responsabilite Limitee (SARL) – Limited Liability Company] in Gabon are:

1. Deposit the legally required capital in a bank and obtain the deposit evidence.
2. Verify and reserve the company name.
3. Obtain extracts of criminal record of the company manager.
4. Deposit and register the company’s articles of association with the public notary.
5. Deposit documents with the Investment Promotion Agency (Agence de Promotion d’Investissement).
6. Pay fees and obtain receipt.
7. Publish the notice of company formation in a legal journal (l’Union ou Hebdo-informations).
8. Notify the Ministry of Labor the commence of operation.
9. Register the employees with the Social Security authorities.

No.		Procedure	Time to Complete	Associated Costs
	1	Deposit the legally required capital in a bank and obtain the deposit evidence Agency: Bank Either the founder or the notary public deposits the initial capital in a bank and obtains the deposit evidence.	2 days	no charge
	2	Verify and reserve the company name Agency: CEPIG LIBREVILLE To avoid future lawsuits, the founders must pick a name not already in use.	1 day	XAF 35,000
	3	Deposit and register the company’s articles of association with the public notary Agency: Public Notary The notary public issues a certificate of payment of the initial capital.	14 days	Notary fees will depend on the amount of the capital. They can vary between FCFA 300,000 and FCFA 1,000,000 approximately
	4	Deposit documents with the Investment Promotion Agency (Centre de Développement des Entreprises) Agency: Centre de Développement des Entreprises Le Centre de Développement des Entreprises (CDE) registers the company statutes with the Ministry of Finance (Administration de Domaines), completes the company registration with the court clerk (greffier du tribunal) at the Ministry of Justice (registration number and k-bis), and obtains the tax identification number. To complete these registrations, CDE must forward the documents to the relevant agencies. In principle, the Direction des Impots, the Greffe de la Court and should have a representation at the one-stop shop, but since its inception the relevant administrations have not been able to place a representative at the one-stop shop. Instead the representatives of the CDE request the relevant documents from the relevant authorities on behalf of the applicant. Alternatively, a notary/lawyer handles relevant authorizations.	30 days	XAF 50,000+ XAF 60,000 (registration fees) + XAF 80,000 (stamps)
*	5	Pay fees and obtain receipt Agency: Cashier After depositing the documents, the founder pays the fees at the cashier and obtains a receipt.	1 day (simultaneous with previous procedure)	included in procedure 5
	6	Publish the notice of company formation in a legal journal (Hebdo-informations) Agency: Hebdo-informations New businesses must publish a notice of their company formation in a legal journal (Hebdo-informations). It takes from 2 to 30 days to complete this procedure.	2 days	XAF 60,000
	7	Register the employees with the Social Security Authorities Agency: CNSS et CNAMGS This procedure is often not completed in practice.	1 day	no charge