Investing in Côte d’Ivoire

Côte d’Ivoire is the largest economy in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), constituting 40 percent of the Union’s total GDP. It is also the world’s leading cocoa exporter, Côte d’Ivoire also exports coffee, palm oil, cotton, and rubber, among others making it the 4th largest exporter of goods in sub-Saharan Africa behind South Africa, Nigeria, and Angola. Oil has become one of Côte d’Ivoire’s leading exports, and the development of new gold mines in recent years in the central and northern areas of the country has also contributed to national economic growth.

eRegulations Côte D’Ivoire, please visit the website below for more information:

http://cotedivoire.eregulations.org/

The Ivorian government actively encourages foreign investment through mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, takeovers, or start-ups. Côte d’Ivoire has an investment promotion centre, CEPICI (Centre des Promotions des Investissements en Côte d’Ivoire), which provides investment information and assistance for entrepreneurs interested in starting a business in Côte d’Ivoire.

CEPICI is the Center for Promotion of Investments in Côte d’Ivoire (Centre de Promotion des Investissements en Côte d’Ivoire)
Head office: Tel: +225 20 31 14 00
One-top shop: Tel: +225 20 30 23 85
LE DJEKANOU Building, 2nd Floor
Tel: +225 20 30 23 85 – Fax : +225 20 30 23 94
E-mail: guichetunique@cepici.ci

Website: www.cepici.gouv.ci

The Investment Promotion Center of Côte d’Ivoire (CEPICI) regroups all four state entities needed for registering a business:
1. The Directorate General of Taxes for the registration of deeds and attribution of a Tax payer Account;
2. The Court Office for the Trade and Personal Property Credit Register (RCCM);
3. The Ministry of Commerce, for delivering the Import-Export Code;
4. The National Social Security Fund for the registration of the company with the CNPS (National Social Security Department).

In 2015, Côte d’Ivoire has once again improved regulations by:

1/ Reducing the minimum capital requirement, lowering registration fees and enabling the one-stop shop to publish notices of incorporation.

2/ Making transferring property easier by digitising its land registry system and lowering the property registration tax.

3/ Improving its credit information system by introducing regulations that govern the licensing and operation of credit bureaus.

4/ Strengthening minority investor protections by introducing greater requirements for disclosure of related-party transactions to the board of directors and by making it possible for shareholders to inspect the documents pertaining to related-party transactions and to appoint auditors to conduct an inspection of such transactions.

5/ Making trading across borders easier by simplifying the processes for producing the inspection report and by reducing port and terminal handling charges at the port of Abidjan.

Starting a business in Côte d’Ivoire is now an easy process with the creation of the One-stop Shop since January 2013.

Please see below, the different types of companies you can create and their requirements: