Cape Verde

Starting a Business in

Cape Verde

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: Sociedade por Quotas de Responsabilidade Limitada (LDA)
  • City: Praia

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No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
1 Search for company name and reserve the proposed name

The investors must provide the proposed company name and purpose. The research is completed before the Commercial Registry (Conservatoria do Registro de Firmas e Similares) which approves or rejects such name. The firm registry is computerized, therefore the process is fast.
1 day CVE 600
2 Deposit the legally required initial capital in a bank and obtain deposit evidence

To open a bank account in the company’s name, the investor must present the company’s reserved name, tax number, and statutes. Although no longer required in practice, the requirement still exists in the law.
1 day no charge
3 Registration with the commercial registry

Company registration is now completed through online registration and is completed within a few hours. The incorporation notice is automatically published online. The Tax Identification number cannot been obtained automatically yet but it is free of cost.
1 day CVE 10,000 (registration fee) + CVE 1,000 (chamber of commerce fee)
4 Obtain municipal license

There are two types of licenses: the municipal license and the license by activity. The municipal license is mandatory for all businesses operating in Praia. The license by activity depends on the activity. Not all businesses require this type of license. For instance, a commercial company that does not import or export does not need the license by activity. An inspection is performed prior to granting the municipal license. If the company needs the two licenses, the inspection is done jointly by both agencies. For commercial licenses, the municipality and the chamber of commerce coordinate to avoid duplication of licenses. Since the adoption of Decreto-Lei 30/2009 the municipal inspection can be carried out "a posteriori" but the enterprise can start operations after receiving the Municipal License.
8 days CVE 30000
* 5 Register workers with the Social Security Office


1 day, simultaneous with previous procedure no charge
* 6 Register workers with accident insurance at insurance company


1 day, simultaneous with previous procedure no charge
* 7 Register workers with labor inspectorate

This procedure is mandatory if the company hires workers under a term contract.
1 day, simultaneous with previous procedure no charge
* 8 Obtain and legalize the special company books

These books can be purchased at the “Imprensa Nacional” National Print for 2,000 CVE each. All pages have to be signed by the entrepreneur.
3 days, simultaneous with previous procedure CVE 2000
* Takes place simultaneously with another procedure.
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