Guinea-Bissau

Starting a Business in

Guinea-Bissau

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: Bissau

About This Topic

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No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
1 Search for a company name and reserve the proposed name (certidão negativa de denominação social)

An electronic database has been established and company founders may conduct a search at the CFE. The database contains information on companies established since 1974.
1 day included in Procedure 7
2 Open a bank account and deposit the minimum capital

For a limited liability company, the minimum capital must be fully paid up front. The deposit receipt serves as proof of the minimum capital. In order to open the bank account you need to take a copy of notarized copy of the “certidao negative” with the signatures of the partners of the company. The entrepreneur must obtain the receipt of the deposit. If the entrepreneur does not want to go to the bank, he can pay the amount to the registrar (conservador) at the CFE, who will later on deposit the amount at the bank on behalf of the entrepreneur – a form needs to be filled out for that purpose though.
1 day no charge
3 Submit company statutes to obtain the public deed (Escritura Pública) at CFE

The entrepreneur must submit the company statutes, the proof of bank deposit and of name reservation, and copies of partners’ identity documents. The CFE one-stop shop now offers standard statutes that entrepreneurs may use. If the entrepreneur does not want to use the standard statutes, a printout + memory stick or electronic version of the statute must be submitted by email. The notary will revise it and issue the public deed. She will also notarize the signatures.
1 day included in Procedure 7
4 Register company and obtain registration certificate (Certidao de Matricula) from the registrar at CFE

Once the public deed is ready, the company registration certificate (certidao de matricula) is issued. The registration certificate is internally sent to the publication unit at the CFE. On a daily basis, publications are made on the CFE website. Approximately every week, the same publication is also made in hard copy on the Journal of the registry (Boletim). Non-risky commercial companies are no longer required to obtain an operational license (alvará) to commence operations. A simple notification form is sufficient. The form has to be signed by the Director General of the Chamber of Commerce.
1 day included in Procedure 7
5 Obtain tax number (NIF) from tax office representative at CFE

The tax office representative at the CFE has a list of pre-approved tax identification numbers (NIF) to assign to newly registered companies. They are issued immediately. The NIF is a unique tax ID number which is used for payment of all taxes.
1 day no charge
6 Pay fees at cashier located at CFE

Payments are completed at the cashier located at the CFE.
1 day XOF 7,098 for name certificate (Certidao Negativa) + XOF 21,780 for public deed (Escritura Publica) + XOF 3,867 for notary certificate (Certidao Notarial) + XOF 47,212 for registration certificate (Certidao de Matricula) + XOF 35,000 for publication (Publicaçao) + XOF 10,000 for Declaration of Activities to Municipal Chamber of Commerce
7 Unblock bank account

The company provides the bank with the tax identification number and the proof of registration to obtain access to capital deposited at the bank.
1 day no charge
8 Register as an employer with the Ministry of Labor


1 day no charge
9 Register as an employer with Social Security (Instituto National de Providencia Social)


1 day no charge
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