Register a company in Burkina Faso

Yes, with our remote registration by power of attorney ($350). CEFORE takes applications online at any hour, but some steps are physical: the lease is registered with the tax office, the location sheet needs a tax-office stamp, and the documents are collected at an MEBF office. Our local team does that part. The CEFORE and public-service pages do not set out rules for powers of attorney or for certifying foreign documents, so we confirm both for your file before you sign anything. If the gérant's criminal record cannot be issued in Ouagadougou, the official procedure allows 75 days to bring it to CEFORE and complete the file.

Registration starts from $3,500. The legal address (from $1,800 a year) and remote registration by power of attorney ($350) are billed separately. With an EMI or online bank account, from $5,400. If you want a local bank account instead, our assistance is from $3,900. The $3,500 includes the CEFORE fee for the RCCM, IFU and CNSS, which the CEFORE portal lists as XOF 65,540 (XOF 83,430 with the trader's card); the public-service portal gives about XOF 47,500.

The public-service portal gives 24 to 48 hours for the CEFORE filing; the CEFORE portal itself states no processing time. Your calendar depends on the preparation: the AEC (official timing: variable), the bank's deposit certificate and the premises papers. A company registered by 30 June closes its first financial year on 31 December; one registered later may run its first year to 31 December of the following year.

Burkina Faso sets the SARL minimum by national decree instead of using OHADA's XOF 1,000,000 default. Décret 2014-462 fixed it at XOF 100,000. That decree was amended in 2016 (Décret 2016-314), so we confirm the figure the registry applies when we file. Cash capital is deposited in a bank and the certificate, in the company's name, goes into the CEFORE file. An SA needs at least XOF 10,000,000.

The Autorisation d'exercer le commerce is a prior formality for any foreign person or company that wants to trade in Burkina Faso. It is free and its official timing is variable, but the company file only needs the authorisation or the acknowledgement that it was requested. We file the request first and prepare the rest of the file while it is pending.

Corporate tax (IS) is 27.5%, plus a 2% contribution on after-tax profit. If the company makes a loss, or its IS is lower, a minimum tax of 0.5% of turnover applies, with a floor of XOF 1,000,000 or XOF 300,000 depending on the regime; new companies are exempt in their first financial year. Dividends carry 12.5% (6.25% in the first three financial years), interest 25% at the standard rate (12.5% on deposits and current accounts), and fees paid to providers with no establishment in Burkina Faso 20% unless a treaty sets another rate. VAT is 18%. Salary tax (IUTS) tops out at 25% in the scale the Tax Code set in 2017, employers withhold a 1% FSP levy on salaries, and CNSS rates are set by decree, so we confirm the payroll rates for your case. Taxes can be declared and paid online through eSINTAX.

There are two bank steps. Before filing, the cash capital is deposited in a bank, because the deposit certificate is part of the CEFORE file. After registration comes the operating account: an EMI or online bank account opened remotely, in the $5,400 package, or a local bank account with our assistance from $3,900. The BCEAO issued new exchange-regulation instructions on 1 August 2025, including rules on non-residents' foreign-currency accounts, and we check your account route against them before opening. Foreign companies that invest with foreign-currency contributions have a guaranteed right to transfer capital and income under the 2018 Investment Code.

Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger ceased to be ECOWAS members on 29 January 2025. ECOWAS said that until further notice their goods and services keep the treatment of its trade liberalisation scheme and investment policy, passports and ID cards with the ECOWAS logo stay recognised, and visa-free movement, residence and establishment continue. In Niamey on 6 July 2024, the three countries had adopted the Alliance of Sahel States treaty. The franc and the company law come from other organisations: the BCEAO lists Burkina among the eight UMOA states, and OHADA lists it as a member.

The setting. Burkina Faso is a landlocked Sahel country, it left ECOWAS in 2025, and the transitional terms ECOWAS announced hold until further notice. We plan travel and logistics around current official travel advice. If you are choosing Burkina Faso for its location alone, compare it with a coastal base first: Côte d'Ivoire uses the same franc, and Ghana's corporate rate on non-traditional exports is 8%. If one of them fits better, we will say so.

Only if the project qualifies. The 2018 Investment Code has five regimes, A to E, set by the size of the investment and the number of permanent jobs, with full corporate tax exemption in the operating phase for the first two years under regime A and up to the first seven under regime E. Approval comes from the Ministry of Commerce and is free. Companies that only trade are excluded. Before you apply, we make sure the 2018 code is still the version in force.