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Doing business in Cameroun

 

Below is a detailed summary of the bureaucratic and legal hurdles faced by entrepreneurs wishing to incorporate and register a new firm in Cameroon. It examines the procedures, time and cost involved in launching a commercial or industrial firm with between 10 and 50 employees and start-up capital of 10 times the economy's per-capita gross national income.

This information 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 189 economies. The most recent round of data collection was completed in June 2015.

No.		Procedure	Time to Complete	Associated Costs
	1	A notary public drafts certificate requesting a commercial bank to open a bank account for the new company Agency: Notary In practice, banks require that a notary public issues a certificate that the company is in the process of creation (attestation d'ouverture de compte de société en création) before the entrepreneur can open a temporary bank account called "account of company in the process of creation". The registry provides the name-checking service free of charge to notaries or lawyers/attorneys who have access to the court’s information retrieval and relational database.	1 day	no charge
	2	Deposit the initial capital in a bank and obtain a receipt Agency: Bank Under Article 313 of the Uniform Act (the company law of the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa), founders are required to deposit the start up capital in a bank or with a notary.	1 day	no charge
	3	Have an attorney/notary or shareholders draft the memorandum and article of association; sign company bylaws before the notary Agency: Notary Article 10 of the Uniform Act of the Organisation pour l'Harmonisation du Droit des Affaires en Afrique (OHADA) states that “the articles of association shall be established by a notarial deed or by any other instrument that ensures legal validity in Cameroon where the registered office will be located. Such instrument, together with a certification of the writing and signatures of all parties, should be deposited as originals in a notary’s office. They may be amended only by the same procedure.	2 days	2% of the share capital up to XAF 3,000,000 and 1,5% for the capital from XAF 3,000,001 to 10,000,000 + XAF 1000 per stamp (10 stamps)
	4	Notary or entrepreneur files registration documents to the One-Stop-Shop Agency: Centre de Formalités de Création des Entreprises Notary submits all company documents and forms at the front desk of the Centre de Formalités d'Entreprises. The staff will register the company with the Registre du Commerce et du Crédit Mobilier, with the Tax Administration and with the CNPS. The following documents are required to file an application with the court: • Articles of association (copy). • Location plan of business premises to get exoneration of the Patente. • Criminal record of the directors of the company or sworn declaration • Certificate of non conviction (normally for nationals or resident aliens who are shareholders). • Photocopy of marriage certificates (if any). • Declaration of regularity and conformity, drawn by the notary public and signed by the incorporators, or a notarial statement of subscription and payment in lieu thereof. Each page of the memorandum and articles of association must also carry the current fiscal year’s fiscal stamp (XAF 1,000 a page).	8 days	XAF 41,500 for Registration
	5	Publish the incorporation of the company in one of the authorized newspapers. Agency: Cameroun Tribune or any other authorized newspaper The publication fee for announcing the company incorporation in the Cameroun Tribune is XAF 57,000. In 2015, the government passed a legislation expanding the number of newspapers that are allowed to publish the notice of incorporation. In practice, most companies still choose to publish it in the Cameroun Tribune.	3 days	XAF 57000