Register a company in Gabon

The filing is online, and the GNI takes its fees by card or mobile money. The paper behind it is the slower part. Gabon is not party to the Apostille Convention, so an apostille does not cover documents used there, and we confirm the legalisation route for the country yours come from. Whether a founder must appear in person at any stage, or can act through a power of attorney, is confirmed for your case before you sign anything.

Registration starts from $3,500. Official GNI, RCCM and DGI fees and a legal address, if you need ours, are quoted separately. With an EMI or online bank account, from $5,400. The share capital is separate again and stays in the company; OHADA's default for an SARL is XAF 1,000,000 unless Gabonese law sets another figure.

OHADA's Uniform Act sets XAF 1,000,000 for an SARL unless national law provides otherwise. The GNI's capital field shows the minimum it applies, so we confirm the figure before you pay in. On the notary, the portal and the Uniform Act point different ways. The GNI lets SARL founders choose a private deed, which needs no notary, and provides certified OHADA-compliant statutes. The Uniform Act's default is a notarial deed, with a notary recording the paid-in capital, unless national law says otherwise. We tell you which form the registry accepts for your file before you sign. For an SA, the GNI asks for notarised statutes and the notarised subscription and payment declaration (DNSV).

Corporate tax is 30%, or 35% for oil and mining companies. Two minimums apply: the IMF, at 1% of turnover, and a floor of XAF 500,000 of corporate tax, due even without profit. A new company is exempt from both; for the IMF, PwC gives the first two years of operation. VAT is 18%, with 10% and 5% on listed products and 0% on exports, once turnover reaches XAF 60 million. Dividends bear 20% IRCM; PwC's non-resident table shows 25%, and treaties cut it, to 15% for France. Fees and royalties paid abroad bear 25%. Employers pay 20.1% in CNSS and CNAMGS contributions, within monthly ceilings of XAF 1.5 million (CNSS) and XAF 2.5 million (CNAMGS). All of this follows PwC's summary last reviewed on 6 August 2026.

The GNI states 72 hours of processing once a complete file is paid for. Before that, the BEAC declaration sets the pace when it applies: it goes in at least 30 days before a non-resident's stake of 10% or more is invested. Legalising documents and preparing the office papers run alongside it. OHADA also gives a company a month from its constitution to apply for registration. Our own preparation time is confirmed in your quote, with dates.

Under CEMAC Regulation 02/18 the company is a resident. It may not open a foreign-currency account outside CEMAC, or one inside CEMAC, without BEAC authorisation, and we check the EMI or online-bank route with you on that basis before applying. Locally, the GNI has its own bank-account module: it asks for the RCCM extract, the ANPI fiche circuit and the signatories' IDs, and shows a minimum first deposit of XAF 500,000 without naming the bank. Day to day, current payments abroad are free once the origin of the funds is shown. Imports of XAF 5 million or more are domiciled with a bank, and transfers to countries outside UMAC, the Central African monetary union, carry a 1.5% transfer tax.

It applies if a non-resident holds 10% or more of the company, which CEMAC rules treat as a direct investment. Article 118 of Regulation 02/18 has such investments declared to the BEAC and the ministry in charge of money and credit at least 30 days before they are made, and Article 122 adds a report within 30 days after. Moving the proceeds out after a sale or liquidation needs another declaration at least 30 days in advance. We put the first declaration at the start of the plan, before any money is sent.

Yes. Every OHADA company names its head office in its statutes, and third parties may rely on that address. The GNI asks you to geolocate the business and lists a lease or ownership certificate legalised at the town hall, a location plan and an SEEG electricity contract or bill. A legal address from us is quoted separately, and before you take it we check that its papers match that list.

The financial year must close on 31 December. The corporate tax return goes in before 30 April, and the balance is paid by then. Two instalments come first: a quarter of the previous year's tax on 30 November, a third on 30 January. Under the Uniform Act, the gérant prepares the financial statements and the ordinary general meeting has to be held within six months of year-end. Payroll taxes are paid to the Treasury before the 15th of the following month. The business licence tax (patente) ranges from XAF 15,000 to XAF 540,000 depending on activity and location, and the tax office can audit until the fourth year after the year concerned.

Usually not. Corporate tax is 30%, the turnover minimum applies once the start-up exemption ends, dividends to non-resident owners bear 20% to 25% before treaties, and a Gabonese company cannot open a foreign-currency account outside CEMAC without BEAC authorisation. The SARL earns its cost when the customers or the assets are in Gabon. For a regional structure, compare the table above first.