How Do I Register With the Cameroon Government to Do Business?

Starting a business in the central African state of Cameroon may take some perseverence.

Starting a business in Cameroon can be very difficult. Sitting near the bottom of most rankings for economic opportunity, political stability and government integrity, Cameroon presents challenges to the aspiring entrepreneur. Registering a new business with the Cameroon government requires at least eight interactions with bureaus and ministries of the Cameroonian government, many in the capital Yaoundé, and payment of some application fees.

Instructions

Registering your business

1. Register your proposed company name with the Yaoundé office of the African Intellectual Property Organization (Organisation Africaine de la Propriété Intellectuelle). OAPI will check that your proposed name doesn't violate any copyrights, trademarks or intellectual property (IP) relevant to Cameroon.

2. Register your proposed business location with the tax authority in Yaoundé. Often this address is the office of the business owner's attorney or notary public. The purpose of this registration is to facilitate tax collection.

3. Draft, sign and notarize the bylaws, articles of association and memorandum of association for your business. The notary must keep a copy of these documents and a record of their having been signed in the notary's presence.

4. Register the above documents with the Registration and Stamp Duty Office of the tax authority in Yaoundé. Depending on the initial share capital of the new company, you must pay a tax at this time. As of 2010, the rate of taxation moved in a range from 2 percent for businesses with under 750,000 Central African Francs (CFA) initial capital, to 0.25 percent for business starting with more than CFA 5 million.

5. File copies of your incorporation documents with the Registrar of Companies, along with the Tax Department's confirmation of your business location and the site plan for your company. You must also submit a "Declaration of Regularity and Conformity" (i.e. compliance with applicable laws) issued by a notary. If married, the owner must also file a copy of the marriage certificate at this time and, if a foreigner, a document attesting to good legal standing in the home country.

6. Announce the incorporation of your company in a Cameroonian journal of record, such as the Yaoundé newspaper Cameroon Tribune.

7. Receive a taxpayer ID card from the local tax inspectorate for the area where your business is located.

8. Notify the local office of the Cameroon Department of Labor, and the national and local authorities in charge of your industry sector, about your business's incorporation.

9. Register any employees with the health administration, and declare your company and its employees to the National Social Insurance Fund (Caisse Nationale de Prevoyance Sociale.

Tips & Warnings

• Work with a reputable attorney in Yaoundé, one who has experience working with the Cameroonian bureaucracy, to guide you through the incorporation process and ensure that you and your business are in compliance with Cameroonian law.

• According to the timeline of the World Bank and Cameroonian Embassy, the business registration and incorporation process should take about five weeks.

• Cameroon is rated 2.3 out of 10 by Transparency International on a scale of perceived freedom from corruption. The country also ranks poorly in measures of the social and systemic acceptability of corrupt practices.

References

• World Bank / IFC: Doing Business in Cameroon
• Organisation Africaine de la Propriété Intellectuelle (OAPI)
• Transparency International: Global Corruption Report

Resources

• Cameroon Government: Caisse Nationale de Prevoyance Sociale
• U.S. Embassy Yaoundé: Scam Warning
• Attorneys and accredited OAPI agents in Yaoundé