Company Formation in Gabon

General reference only. This skill is general tax/accounting reference material for AI-assisted workflows. It has not been reviewed for any specific person's facts, documents, elections, deadlines, residency, filing status, or local procedures. Do not rely on it to file, pay, amend, or take a tax position without review by a qualified professional in the relevant jurisdiction.

2026 draft and currency hold. This is a research draft for 2026, not a certified consolidation of the law in force. The DGI-hosted 2025 CGI is a historical baseline, read alongside enacted Law 041/2025 of 29 December 2025 and Law 002/2026 of 17 July 2026. The complete intervening amendment chain, transaction-specific commencement and implementing instruments have not been established. Do not use a baseline figure as an operative 2026 filing instruction. A July amendment is identified as such; its promulgation date alone does not establish its first taxable period. No independent pack review or accountant attestation has occurred.

Who this applies to

Founders comparing ordinary companies under the historical OHADA company-law text and the ANPI public registration circuit. Sector licences, public offerings, regulated financial businesses and foreign-investment approvals require separate instruments. One shareholder is possible under the relevant SARL, SA and SAS provisions; management and legal personality still need the correct structure. AUSCGIE arts309,323,385,853-1 (ledger F-FORMS). The WTO-hosted act is a primary statutory copy, not evidence that all later OHADA or Gabon national changes have been reconciled.

Rates, bands and thresholds

Item and conditions	Rule or amount (XAF unless stated)	Period/status	Official source
SARL statutory default	1,000,000 minimum subject to national provisions; at least half of cash shares paid, balance within two years	2014 act; Gabon derogation/currentness hold	AUSCGIE arts311-311-1 (ledger F-SARL)
Ordinary SA statutory capital	10,000,000; cash shares at least one quarter paid, balance within three years	2014 act; currentness and sector hold	AUSCGIE arts387-389 (ledger F-SA)
SAS capital	Set by statutes; no public offering	2014 act; currentness hold	AUSCGIE arts853-4-853-5 (ledger F-SAS)
Tax-registration baseline	Within 45 days after starting activity, with location plan; substantial changes within 15 days	2025 CGI baseline; 2026 hold	CGI artP817 (ledger F-TAX)

The base

Choose structure from ownership, limited-liability needs, governance, financing and regulated activity. SARL has limited contribution liability and one or more natural-person managers, who need not be shareholders. SA and SAS use shares with different governance and funding rules. AUSCGIE arts309,323,385,853-1 (ledger F-FORMS); AUSCGIE arts853-4-853-5 (ledger F-SAS). Do not choose an entity from a capital number alone or treat the statutory SARL default as a proven Gabon minimum.

The seat belongs in the statutes and must be geographically identifiable; a post-office box alone does not suffice. Default statute authentication and deposit rules expressly leave room for national provisions. SARL funds can be deposited with an eligible bank, credit/microfinance institution or notary; the old exclusive-bank instruction is not retained. RCCM registration is the ordinary legal-personality event. AUSCGIE arts23-25 (ledger F-OFFICE); AUSCGIE arts10,313-314 (ledger F-DEPOSIT); AUSCGIE arts97-98 (ledger F-RCCM).

Deadlines and filing

ANPI displays a circuit from dossier and GNI submission through validation, tax-act registration, RCCM, NIF, social registration, gazette publication and the Fiche Unique d’Enregistrement. This draft inspected the public page only. Its dossier/guide links returned the same page, so no current attachment checklist, form fields, fee schedule or accepted submission is certified. ANPI formalisation, displayed creation circuit (ledger F-ANPI).

Before calling incorporation complete, obtain the accepted statutes, capital/deposit evidence, RCCM extract, NIF, social registrations and FUE and reconcile entity names. These are working-paper completion checks, not a claim that a public portal screen was tested. Baseline tax registration has its own deadline and internet-access fallback. CGI artP817 (ledger F-TAX). Annual shareholding reporting identifies ultimate owners, but this does not prove the old claim that UBO disclosure occurs at incorporation. CGI artP818quater (ledger F-UBO).

Penalties and interest

Corporate-law nullity, registration sanctions and beneficial-ownership filing penalties have not been fully researched. CGI registration and return sanctions are separate and must use the actual obligation and notice record. CGI artsP998-999 (ledger G-DELAY). Do not infer an incorporation late fee from an annual tax-return percentage.

Cross-border points

A foreign company can have taxable Gabon activity without forming a local company. Incorporation, effective management and a PE are separate questions in cross-border. Annual OHADA accounting and corporate tax, VAT and payroll remain distinct from receiving an incorporation certificate. CGI art17 (ledger C-BOOKS).

Two worked examples that recompute

SARL cash subscription under the statutory default. Assume counsel confirms the read default applies, proposed cash capital is 2,000,000 and no national rule changes the funding requirement. At least 1,000,000 is paid initially and 1,000,000 remains for the statutory balance period. This is not confirmation of Gabon's present minimum.

name: SARL default cash funding
inputs:
  capital: 2000000
steps:
  - initial: capital * 0.5
  - balance: capital - initial
expected:
  initial: 1000000
  balance: 1000000

Decision: funding structure changes cash timing. On the read ordinary-SA minimum, a quarter cash payment is 2,500,000 with 7,500,000 still due. Compare a proposed SAS whose statutes, as a hypothetical commercial choice, require its 3,000,000 capital fully paid. Initial cash differs by 500,000. This does not prove that either form is suitable, that the SAS figure is a legal minimum, or that the historical rules are current.

name: Decision SA statutory default versus proposed SAS funding
inputs:
  sa_capital: 10000000
  sas_agreed_capital: 3000000
steps:
  - sa_initial: sa_capital * 0.25
  - sa_balance: sa_capital - sa_initial
  - sas_initial: sas_agreed_capital
  - cash_difference: sas_initial - sa_initial
expected:
  sa_initial: 2500000
  sa_balance: 7500000
  sas_initial: 3000000
  cash_difference: 500000

Ask the client first

• Who are the founders, ultimate owners, managers and intended investors?
• Which activity, location and sector approvals are required?
• What governance, liability and financing needs determine the form?
• What capital, asset contributions and deposit evidence exist?
• Which current Gabon derogations, dossier, fees and accepted registration documents have been obtained?

Sources

Source and actual read scope	Official URL	Read on
OHADA: Historical statutory text deposited with WTO. Read AUSCGIE arts1-3,7-13,23-27,97-101,309-315,323-324,385-389,853-1 to853-5 and surrounding headings. Gabon national derogations and later amendment chain not established.	https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/acc_e/com_e/WTACCCOM19_LEG2.pdf	2026-11-01
ANPI: Read dossier/licensing sections and entire displayed10-step creation circuit. Linked downloadable dossier/guide returns same page. No authenticated creation submission or fee schedule inspected.	https://www.investingabon.ga/formalisation	2026-11-01
CGI: Read the cover amendment list and selected passages from arts 2-3, 4-7 (including PE thresholds and exceptions), 8-11 introduction and 11-IV, 12-28, 73-80, 90-96, 108-114, 162-178bis, 206-209, 211-224, 235-243ter, 346-351, P-816-819, P-826-832, P-996-1010ter and TFNC CSS arts 13-27. Exact read rules are the matched ledger quotes; this is not a claim that every paragraph across those ranges was read.	https://dgi.ga/wp-content/uploads/dgi-content/d1dde772234076c5d2bc0a8d8d3db573ed3d8fdd6c3e869c8c57cd181a81bb70/assets/dgi/2d50ab6c2e-Gabon-CGI-2025.pdf	2026-11-01
LFR: Read enacted identity; fiscal amendments printed1-16 including arts11bis,91bis,178bis,202-204,208ter,210,211ter,215,221-224,227,230,243bis,248septies-nonies,401-404bis,P832ter,P1000; art7 OCAM withdrawal and final101-102/promulgation. Other fiscal measures read for screening only; budget annexes not reviewed.	https://dgb-gabon.net/uploads/documentation/Texte%20juridique/178593988623.pdf	2026-11-01

Not yet confirmed: Gabon-specific SARL capital derogation and authentication rules; current fees, processing time and complete dossier; UBO-at-incorporation rules; annual accounts filing route; business-licence/patente computation and 2026 changes; regulated activities and complete OHADA amendment chain. The old 1-2-week timing, 200,000-500,000 cost and 15,000-540,000 patente range remain unverified, not promises. Complete intervening amendments, date-specific commencement, current forms and boxes, and independent review. See the country evidence and old-topic destination map.