Côte d'Ivoire

Starting a Business in

Côte d'Ivoire

Listed below is a detailed summary of the bureaucratic and legal hurdles an entrepreneur must overcome in order to incorporate and register a new firm, along with their associated time and set-up costs.  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 (GNI).

The information appearing on this page 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 183 economies. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2011.

  • Standardized Company

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

About This Topic

To see indicator data for all economies, see the Starting a Business page. To see how economies rank, see the Rankings page.

No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
1 Deposit the initial capital in a bank and obtain a receipt


1 day no charge
2 Obtain two extracts of the criminal record of the managers


4 days XOF 3000
* 3 A notary certifies the paid-in capital

The procedure varies according if the notary deposits the capital or if the applicant deposits the capital.
If the capital is deposited in a bank account, the deposit attestation : "l'attestation de dépôt" is usually given the same or the following day depending on the bank. If the applicant goes to the notary to deposit the min capital, then it takes un minimum of 7 days.
2 days (simultaneous with previous procedure) 10% of initial capital (including notary fees, registration and stamps cost)
4 Register with the Direction de l’Enregistrement et du Timbre

Registration with Direction de l'Enregistrement et du Timbre must take place within a month of the date of signing of the statutes. Otherwise, the registration and stamp duty fees double.

Duty:
- If capital is less than or equal to FCFA 5 billion: 0.6% of capital.
- If capital is FCFA 5 billion or more: 0.2% of capital.

Stamps duties must be paid on articles of incorporation as well as on the notary statement (DNSV) at a cost of 500 FCFA per page.
Recording the DNSV is subject to a fixed fee of FCFA 18.000

 7 days included in procedure 3
5 Publish the formation notice in a legal journal

Publication of a company formation notice in the official gazette “Journal officiel” or a newspaper shall be accomplished within a period of fifteen days following registration. The insertion of the legal notice, signed by the notary or by the founders costs 8 760 FCFA/line; the total cost depends of the number of lines of the notice.
3 days XOF 8760 per line
6 Legalization of the copies of newspaper publication by the local council services

Three samples of the newspaper are bought for FCFA 600, and their authentication cost is FCFA 1,500. Representatives from the respective legal journals must authenticate the copy that contains the notice.
2 days XOF 2100
7 File documents with the Court’s Clerk Office (Greffe du Tribunal) with the Registre du Commerce et du Crédit Mobilier (RCCM)

Costs to file the documents are as follows:
- Declaration de constitution de société (M0 and M0bis) (five printed forms): No charge.
- Commercial registration at the RCCM : FCFA 50,000.
- Deposit of articles of incorporation and DNSV: FCFA 5,000.

Notes: (1) For the deposit of any other document at the Commercial Registry (e.g., a resolution), a fixed fee of FCFA 5,000 applies. (2) The declaration forms can be picked up in the Chamber of Commerce and Industry to save time waiting for the Court’s Clerk to complete them.

The following documents must be attached to the application:
- The form “Declaration de constitution de société” (M0 and M0bis) (four printed copies). Forms are free and available at the Registre du Commerce et du Crédit Mobilier (RCCM) or the Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
- The DNSV (two originals or certified copies).
- The statutes (two originals or certified copies).
- The subscription list (two originals or certified copies).
- The resolution designating the managers (two originals or certified copies).
- The criminal records of the managers (two originals extracts). Note: The criminal records must be delivered by the Ivorian authorities. If the managers are not of Ivorian nationality, an original extract of their criminal record (or an equivalent document) must be delivered by their native country’s authorities.
3 days XOF 55000
8 File a declaration of commencement of business (Déclaration Fiscale d’Existence) with the Tax Department, Ministry of Economy and Finance

According to the 2005 fiscal law (dated April 25, 2005), any company that intends to create a business must declare its activity and register for taxes before beginning its activity. That formality triggers the payment in advance of the business license tax. The declaration covers all taxes. Upon filing the declaration d'existence fiscale and paying the business license tax (patente), the company receives a taxpayer account (numéro de compte contribuable). The local tax office calculates the amount of the business license tax on the basis of (a) the estimated annual turnover for the first year of operation; and (b) the cost of the business premises’ rent (or an estimation of the value of the premises if owned by the company).
10 days XOF 5000
9 Register the employees with the National Social Security Fund (CNPS)

A newly formed company must apply for its social registration near the Caisse Nationale de Prévoyance Sociale (CNPS), by presenting the following documents:
- A registration form (available at the CNPS).
- The company’s commercial registration (one copy).
- The company’s tax registration (one copy).
- A receipt of utility (electricity or water) payment (one copy).
- The national identity card of the company’s managing director (one copy).

The registration number (numéro matricule) is now sent electronically to the entrepreneur.

In addition, employees must be registered near the CNPS. To that end, the following must be filed with the CNPS:
- Completed registration form (available near the CNPS).
- National identity card or birth certificate of the employee (one copy).
- Identity photos of the employee (two).
- Marriage certificate of the employee, if any (one copy).
- Birth certificate of children, if any (one copy).
- Social security number of the employee, if any (for employees with work history).
1 day no charge
10 Obtain a company seal


1 day XOF 10000
* Takes place simultaneously with another procedure.
Explore Economy Data