Starting a Business in Gabon

This table summarizes the procedures and costs associated with setting up a business in Gabon.

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Legal Form: Société à Responsabilité Limitée (SARL) - Limited Liability Company
City: Libreville

	Procedure	Time to complete:	Cost to complete:
1	Deposit the legally required capital in a bank and obtain the deposit evidence	2 days	no charge
2	Verify and reserve the company name	1 day	FCFA 25000
3	Obtain extracts of criminal record of the company manager	1-10 days (simultaneous with procedure 3)	FCFA 3000
4	Deposit and register the company’s articles of association with the public notary	14 days	FCFA 220000-250000
5	Deposit documents with the Investment Promotion Agency (Agence de Promotion d’Investissement)	30 days (simultaneous with procedure 4)	FCFA 95,000 (APIP fee) + FCFA 60,000 (registration fees) + FCFA 80,000 (stamps)
*6	Pay fees and obtain receipt	1 day (simultaneous with previous procedure)	included in procedure 5
7	Publish the notice of company formation in a legal journal (l’Union ou Hebdo-informations)	2 days	FCFA 20,000-45,000
8	Notify the Ministry of Labor the commence of operation	1 day	no charge
9	Register the employees with the Social Security Authorities	1 day	no charge

* Takes place simultaneously with another procedure.

Procedure 1.: Deposit the legally required capital in a bank and obtain the deposit evidence
Time to complete:: 2 days
Cost to complete:: no charge
Name of Agency:
Comment:: Either the founder or the notary public deposits the initial capital in a bank and obtains the deposit evidence.

Procedure 2.: Verify and reserve the company name
Time to complete:: 1 day
Cost to complete:: FCFA 25000
Name of Agency:
Comment:: To avoid future lawsuits, the founders must pick a name not already in use.

Procedure 4.: Deposit and register the company’s articles of association with the public notary
Time to complete:: 14 days
Cost to complete:: FCFA 220000-250000
Name of Agency:
Comment:: The notary public issues a certificate of payment of the initial capital. APIP just issued guideline requiring people to use lawyer to draft statutes.

Procedure 5.: Deposit documents with the Investment Promotion Agency (Agence de Promotion d’Investissement)
Time to complete:: 30 days (simultaneous with procedure 4)
Cost to complete:: FCFA 95,000 (APIP fee) + FCFA 60,000 (registration fees) + FCFA 80,000 (stamps)
Name of Agency:
Comment:: Agence de Promotion des Investissements Privés (APIP) 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, APIP 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 Guichet Unique of the APIP, but since its inception the relevant administrations have not been able to place a representative at the Guichet Unique. Instead the representatives of the APIP request the relevant documents from the relevant authorities on behalf of the applicant. Alternatively, notaire/lawyer take care of relevant authorizations.

The following fees and timelines apply:
- Domain service (service de domains): XAF 35,000 (registration fee) plus XAF 30,000 (stamps)—2 days.
- Commercial Registry: XAF 25,000 (registration fee) plus XAF 50,000 (stamps)—4–30 days.
- Tax registration: No charge—2 days.

Procedure 6.: Pay fees and obtain receipt
Time to complete:: 1 day (simultaneous with previous procedure)
Cost to complete:: included in procedure 5
Name of Agency:
Comment:: After depositing the documents, the founder pays the fees at the cashier and obtains a receipt.

Procedure 7.: Publish the notice of company formation in a legal journal (l’Union ou Hebdo-informations)
Time to complete:: 2 days
Cost to complete:: FCFA 20,000-45,000
Name of Agency:
Comment: