Burkina Faso Company Formation & Entity Choice

Entity types and incorporation

• Governing company law — OHADA Uniform Act on Commercial Companies and Economic Interest Groups (AUSCGIE) (OHADA Uniform Act on Commercial Companies (AUSCGIE))
• SARL (Société à Responsabilité Limitée) — Private limited liability company; most common form for SMEs (OHADA Uniform Act on Commercial Companies (AUSCGIE))
• SA (Société Anonyme) — Public limited company / joint-stock company, used for larger ventures (OHADA Uniform Act on Commercial Companies (AUSCGIE))
• SAS / SASU and sole proprietorship (entreprise individuelle) — Simplified joint-stock company (SAS) and sole proprietorship are also available (OHADA Uniform Act on Commercial Companies (AUSCGIE))
• SARL minimum share capital — Freely set by the partners but at least the par value of one share (5,000 FCFA); in practice often around 1,000,000 FCFA FCFA FCFA (OHADA Uniform Act on Commercial Companies (AUSCGIE))
• SA minimum share capital — 10,000,000 FCFA FCFA FCFA (OHADA Uniform Act on Commercial Companies (AUSCGIE))
• Minimum nominal value of a share — 5,000 FCFA FCFA FCFA (OHADA Uniform Act on Commercial Companies (AUSCGIE))
• Registration one-stop-shop — CEFORE (Centre de Formalités des Entreprises), Maison de l'Entreprise du Burkina Faso (CEFORE business registration procedures)
• Beneficial ownership disclosure — Founders must identify and declare ultimate beneficial owner (UBO) information at the point of CEFORE registration (CEFORE business registration procedures)
• Incorporation timeline — Registration through CEFORE typically completed within a few days to a couple of weeks ((approx — confirm)) (CEFORE business registration procedures)
• Incorporation cost — Government administrative registration fees under ~50 EUR; total professional/notary budget commonly 1,000–1,500 EUR (excluding share capital) ((approx — confirm)) (CEFORE business registration procedures)
• Core annual compliance — Annual financial statements (SYSCOHADA), annual IS return, monthly TVA returns, IUTS and CNSS declarations, and renewal of business registrations (Code Général des Impôts (CGI); SYSCOHADA accounting framework)