Congo, Dem. Rep.

Starting a Business in

Congo, Dem. Rep.

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 Privée à Responsabilité Limité, SPRL
  • City: Kinshasa

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No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
1 Obtain a certificate confirming headquarters location

The “certificate confirming headquarters location” is an administrative document provided by the municipality of Kinshasa, or the local commune. To avoid the notarization of fictive or nonexistent companies, this document is traditionally required by the public notary of Kinshasa before the notarization of the company’s statutes and their registration.
7 days CDF 1000
2 Notarize the articles of association

The law requires that the company’s statutes, signed by the founders, be notarized by a public notary before registration with the Commercial Registry. A confirmation certificate of deposited document obtained from the notary must be annexed to the file. Note that only one public notary exists in Kinshasa.
14 days USD 53 per document, assuming 5 documents
3 Register with the Commercial Registry

To register with the Commercial Registry, the following documents must be filed:
- Identity card or passport (one copy).
- Completed form BA.
- Notarized Articles of Association.
- A signed declaration from the manager certifying that he has never been arrested by the police.
- Declaration of conformity to the law, dated and signed by each founder.
- Letter addressed to the divisional clerk of the Court of First Instance (Tribunal de Grande Instance).
- Marital consent letter if the founder is a woman.
5 days USD 120 for the registry and USD 40 to deposit the document
4 Publication of the company’s statutes in the official journal


1 day (receipt only) CDF 300 per line
5 Obtain a national identification number from the Ministry of Economy

This formality is imposed by Article 1 of Ordinance No. 73/236 (dated August 13, 1973). The time to obtain the national identification number has been reduced because the Minister of Economy has delegated his authority to issue the number to the Secretary General of the Ministry, who has expedited the process.
15 days USD 50
6 Register the company for tax with the Direction Générale des Impots

New companies must register with the Direction Générale des Impots to notify it of the company’s legal existence and to obtain the national identification number. This formality is done by sending a formal letter to the Direction Générale.
7 days no charge
7 Declare the establishment of the company with the Inspectorate of Labor (l’Inspection du Travail) and the National Office of Employment (l’Office National de l’ Emploi)

According to Article 216 of the Labor Code, any physical or legal person planning any activity that requires the hiring of workers must notify the Labor Inspection Department and the National Bureau of Employment within 15 days of the start of business. The declaration is filed in a single form, with one specimen sent to the Inspectorate of Labor and another two to the Office of Employment.
1 day no charge
8 Receive inspection by the inspection officials from the Ministry of Labor

After the Ministry of Labor receives the declaration of commencement of activities, the Ministry can send inspectors to check if the company is in conformity with employment legislation.
1 day no charge
9 Register with the National Institute for Social Security

Registration with the National Institute for Social Security is required by Article 4 of the Ministerial Decree no. 2/61 (dated August 16, 1961).
7 days no charge
10 Obtain operational permit from the Municipality

Before starting, the SPRL must obtain this business permits "to open its doors" and the "permis d'exploitation" according to the nature of your business. The SPRL must inform the Municipality of its existence and obtain both authorizations to start business.
7 days USD 250 for each permit
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