Register a company in The Gambia

We have found no rule from the registry or GIEPA that founders must attend, or one on filing by power of attorney, so we confirm the route for your case before anyone books a flight. GIEPA recommends a legal practitioner for the registration steps, and the registry works from its Banjul office and KMC branch. A shareholder or director who lives abroad must have a local agent named in the application. An EMI or online bank account opens remotely; for a Gambian bank account, GIEPA's guidance is a visit to a branch.

Registration starts from $2,400. Official registry fees and a legal address, if you need ours, are quoted separately. With an EMI or online bank account, from $4,300. For scale, the Ministry of Justice charges GMD 500 to reserve the name, GMD 1,000 for business registration and GMD 10,000 to incorporate with share capital up to GMD 500,000, rising in bands to GMD 25,000 above GMD 10,000,000.

At the registry, within a day by the Ministry of Justice's own figure. The company's TIN has to exist before that; GIEPA's 2019 guide put it at one day. Our own preparation time is set in your quote. Licences and the bank account come after incorporation, and in a regulated sector the ministry licence is the step to plan around.

Corporate tax is the higher of 27% of net profit or 1% of turnover, 2% if the accounts are unaudited. VAT is 15% once taxable supplies reach GMD 2,000,000 a year, and exports are zero-rated. Dividends carry a 15% final withholding tax. With staff, the employer adds 10% of basic salary to the NPF and 1% IICF, plus a yearly payroll tax for each non-Gambian employee: GMD 10,000 for ECOWAS citizens, GMD 50,000 for others.

The turnover floor. A company with a loss still pays 1% of turnover, or 2% if its accounts are not audited. Below a net margin of about 3.7%, the 1% floor is bigger than 27% of profit; without an audit the line moves to about 7.4%. For a thin-margin trading company, audited accounts can halve the tax bill.

As far as we can tell, yes. GIEPA's investor guidance names no general cap on foreign ownership, and non-resident shareholders are allowed with a local agent. The one exception we found is foreign exchange bureaus: the Central Bank's May 2024 guidelines require applicants to be of Gambian nationality. Other regulated sectors need their own licence, and the registry's fee bands name no minimum share capital.

The Central Bank of The Gambia lists 11 licensed commercial banks, and GIEPA's investor steps have you open the company account in person at a branch. Our Company + Bank Account package opens an account with an EMI or online bank remotely instead, with the KYC file prepared by us; a local account is quoted separately. The dalasi floats freely, and the Central Bank's policy allows temporary restrictions on buying, holding or transferring foreign exchange.

The Gambia is not party to the Apostille Convention, so an apostille is not automatically accepted there. For individual founders the registry asks for a copy of a national ID card, passport or driving licence. A branch of a foreign company files the parent's Memorandum and Articles, with a certified English translation if they are in another language. We check how any other foreign document must be certified before you sign it.

Two schemes run through GIEPA. A Special Investment Certificate needs at least US$250,000 of foreign investment and an award fee of US$1,000; it brings five years without income tax in priority sectors or eight in priority areas, plus import duty relief on capital goods. An EPZ licence, for up to ten years, removes corporate or turnover tax for companies exporting at least 80% of output. Exporters outside a zone that ship 30% or more get a 10% reduction for up to five years.

With the GRA: the corporate tax return and final payment by 31 March, quarterly declarations and instalments by the 15th after each quarter, monthly PAYE, VAT and withholding schedules by the 15th, and an annual withholding statement two months after the year ends. With foreign staff, payroll tax is due by 31 January, and residence and work permits cost GMD 10,000 a year for ECOWAS nationals and GMD 40,000 for others, expiring every 31 December. What the registry expects each year is confirmed when we take the company on.