Angola

Starting a Business in

Angola

Below is a detailed summary of the bureaucratic and legal hurdles faced by entrepreneurs wishing to incorporate and register a new firm in Angola. It examines the procedures, time and cost involved in launching a commercial or industrial firm with up to 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 185 economies. The most recent round of data collection was completed in June 2012.

Compare Angola to 184 other economies.

  • Standardized Company

  • Legal Form: Sociedade por Quotas de Responsabilidade Limitada (LDA)
  • Paid in Minimum Capital Requirement: USD 1,000
  • City: Luanda

More Information

Learn more about this economy

Read the methodology for this topic

View the rankings

No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
1 Search for a unique company name and pick up the relevant certificate

The company name can be verified at the commercial registry (Ficheiro Central de Denominações Sociais), affiliated with the Ministry of Justice.
To obtain the company name certificate, an application (with copy of identification attached) must be filed with the one stop shop (Guiché Único das Empresas), as follows:

1. State the company’s proposed name
2. Request the issuance of a certificate, confirming that such name is acceptable and is not similar to any existing company name

Fees for company name certificate:

• Form: AOA 500
• Certificate: AOA 24,090
1 day KZ 500 + KZ 24,090
2 Deposit the legally required initial capital in a bank and obtain deposit evidence; pay the registration fee

The Kwanza amount equivalent to USD 1,000 will soon become the minimum share capital required for the incorporation of a limited liability company (Sociedade por Quotas de Responsabilidade Limitada), according to the new Companies Law, recently approved by the Angolan Parliament and due to be published in the Official Journal. For such corporate form, notaries require an amount equivalent to about USD 135.
1 day no charge
3 Verify the company documents at the Guichet Unico

Companies have 2 options: either to resort to lawyer services to draft the company documents or to fill in the standards documents. If the company decides to use the standard statutes of Association from the Guichet (2 pages), it takes 1 hour at most. The applicant just enters the information (ID info of associates, address, activities of company) and confirms that the articles are applicable to the type of company as the guichet has 4 different types of statutes. In the case statutes are prepared by a lawyer, the process might take 1/2 to 1 day for lawyers to review. However, in this case company documents are more detailed and thus documents' rejection is unlikely.
1 day the fees are included in the company registration fees
4 Obtain NIF at Guichet Unico

Once documents are verified and completed, applicants must apply to the Direccao National dos Impostos to obtain the National Identification Number (NIF) . This service is free of charge and does not take more than 15 minutes. However, the tax fee is 25,595 Kz. The tax fee vary according to the sector on which the company will operate.
1 day tax fees included in next procedure
5 Notarize company draft documents, register the company and pay registration fees at Guichet Unico

The applicant submits the dossier to the Notary Public at the Guichet Unico. Once the Notary reviewes and notarizes the dossier, he will have a reading with the applicant present or the accredited person to ensure there are no mistakes. This service fee is included in the Guichet fees and takes a day depending on room availability and complexity of the company’s Articles of incorporation. After this lecture, the notary makes copies and send to each of the agencies involved a copy for approval and filing. The centralized post distribute these to the representatives of Impresa National, National Institute of Statistics, Tax office of the Ministry of Finance, Social Security Institute and the Ministry of Public Administration, Employment, and Social Security. Each agent from each institution is in charge of sending the files to his/her agency, but this doesn't impede on the process of registration. For Impresa national, the receipt is sufficient to continue the process. Despite the fact that law says documents should be published before getting the license to operate, the system at Impresa National makes it unlikely for daily or weekly publication, therefore the Ministry of Commerce uses the receipt as proof. Each of the organizations sited above have a representative within Guichet with authority to deliver the accreditation that the step has been accomplished. Obtaining the final document (except the publication in the Official Gazette) would take 4 days (on average). Fees are paid at the bank counter of banco BAI within the Guichet to facilitate payment of the different fees. Each agency and fees goes to a specific account and payments can be made cash or by card.


4 days 30,000 Kz Guichet Unico fees+ registration in the conservatoria 100002 Kz+ 12000 Kz statistics institute + 20000 Kz Impresa National ( fixed cost) + 10 Kz social security + 132730 Notary fees + 25595 Kz taxes fee
6 Obtain the Commercial Operations Permit from the Ministry of Commerce

To carry out commercial activities in Angola, a company must obtain a commercial operations permit (alvará) from the Ministry of Commerce. To apply for the issuance of the commercial operations permit, the following documents must be filed with the Municipal Delegation of the Ministry of Commerce:

• company’s notary deed of incorporation;
• copy of the tax identification card;
• commercial registration certificate;
• statistical registration certificate;
• extracts from the criminal record of the founders;
• opinion, by the relevant administrative authority, on the company’s geographical location and social and economic feasibility; and
• a photocopy of ID or passport.

For the issuance of the commercial operations permit, one requirement is for the relevant administrative authorities to inspect the company’s premises to confirm they are suitable for commercial activities.
60 days USD 1,000
* 7 Legalize the inventory and diary books with the Tax Office

The inventory and diary books are taken annually to the Tax Office for registration of the annual accounts.
1 day (simulteneous with previous procedure) USD 3
* 8 Legalize the inventory and diary books with the judge of the provincial court having jurisdiction over the area of the company’s headquarters

The registration book of the minutes of the General Assembly meetings must be registered with the Tax Office (USD 0.0125 cents per page) and the Provincial Court (USD 0.67 cents per page). After the registration of any such minutes in the book, it should be registered with the notary public (USD 17 per shareholder signature).
1 day (simulteneous with previous procedure) USD 20
* Takes place simultaneously with another procedure.
Explore Economy Data

Explore Economy Data


 - OR -

OTHER OPTIONS