Registering Property in Equatorial Guinea

This topic examines the steps, time, and cost involved in registering property in Equatorial Guinea.

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Property Value: XAF 403,116,978
City: Malabo

	Procedure	Time to complete:	Cost to complete:
1	Lawyer prepares sales contract	2 days	CFA 150,000-800,000
2	Assessment of the value of the land and building	7 days	CFA 200,000
3	Notary legalizes the sales contract and prepares the public deed (escritura publica)	3-10 days	3% of value of property (actually paid in procedure 4)
4	Go to Treasury to buy stamps to pay the notary and registration fees	1 day	3% of property value (notary fees) + 3% property value (registration fees)
5	Return to notary to present him the payment stamps	1 day	(paid in procedure 4)
6	Registration of the public deed at the Property Registry	5 days	3% of property value (paid in stamps obtained from procedure 4)

Procedure 1.: Lawyer prepares sales contract
Time to complete:: 2 days
Cost to complete:: CFA 150,000-800,000
Name of Agency:
Comment:: It is common practice to hire a lawyer to write the contract. The lawyer requires the property title (copy) and a copy of the company representative’s passport. In practice, banks hold the property title when granting a mortgage. Therefore, no prior verification of any encumbrances on the property is done.

Procedure 2.: Assessment of the value of the land and building
Time to complete:: 7 days
Cost to complete:: CFA 200,000
Name of Agency:
Comment:: The assessment is done by an expert, generally an engineer. The engineer issues a certificate of measure (certificado de medicion) for the land plot and assesses the value of the building.

Procedure 3.: Notary legalizes the sales contract and prepares the public deed (escritura publica)
Time to complete:: 3-10 days
Cost to complete:: 3% of value of property (actually paid in procedure 4)
Name of Agency:
Comment:: Official fees are fixed at 1.5% property value, but in practice higher fees are charged. In addition to the official fees, one must pay the salary of the notary at a rate of about 1.5% property value. All fees are paid in stamps bought from the Treasury.

Procedure 4.: Go to Treasury to buy stamps to pay the notary and registration fees
Time to complete:: 1 day
Cost to complete:: 3% of property value (notary fees) + 3% property value (registration fees)
Name of Agency:: Treasury
Comment:: All fees are paid at the Treasury and stamps bought to prove payment. Stamps are then presented to the respective parties (notary, registry) to prove payment. Both the notary and registration fees can be paid together at this time.

Procedure 6.: Registration of the public deed at the Property Registry
Time to complete:: 5 days
Cost to complete:: 3% of property value (paid in stamps obtained from procedure 4)
Name of Agency:: Property Registry
Comment:: The fee paid is higher than the official fee of 1.5% property value, as in practice one pays also the salary of the registrar, at an additional 1.5% property value. The entire public deed is hand-written into the public registry’s books at this time.