Guinea-Bissau Company Formation & Entity Choice

Entity types, capital and incorporation

Guinea-Bissau is an OHADA member state, so company law follows the OHADA Uniform Act on Commercial Companies (Acte uniforme relatif au droit des sociétés commerciales — AUSCGIE). The most common vehicles are the limited liability company (SARL/SUARL) and the public limited company (SA). Incorporation is centralised through the one-stop business desk (CFE).

• Limited liability company — Société à Responsabilité Limitée (SARL) — the most common form for SMEs; single-member version is the SUARL (OHADA Uniform Act on Commercial Companies (AUSCGIE))
• Public limited company — Société Anonyme (SA) — used for larger ventures and regulated activities (OHADA Uniform Act on Commercial Companies (AUSCGIE))
• Foreign branch — A foreign company may register a branch (succursale), generally subject to conversion/local-company requirements after a set period under OHADA ((approx — confirm conversion period)) (OHADA Uniform Act on Commercial Companies (AUSCGIE))
• Minimum share capital — SARL — OHADA sets no fixed statutory minimum for a SARL; capital is set in the by-laws (historically often XOF 1,000,000) XOF ((approx — confirm any national floor)) (OHADA Uniform Act on Commercial Companies (AUSCGIE))
• Minimum share capital — SA — XOF 10,000,000 (OHADA standard for an SA not making a public share offer) XOF (OHADA Uniform Act on Commercial Companies (AUSCGIE))
• Incorporation channel — Registration is processed through the Centro de Formalização de Empresas (CFE) one-stop shop (CFE (one-stop business registration) rules)
• Core incorporation steps — Reserve company name, notarise/deposit by-laws, deposit share capital, register with the Commercial Register (RCCM), obtain NIF, and register with INPS ((approx — confirm exact sequence)) (OHADA AUSCGIE; CFE registration procedure)
• Typical incorporation timeline — Roughly 1–3 weeks via the CFE one-stop shop ((approx — confirm)) (CFE registration procedure)
• Indicative incorporation cost — Government/registration fees commonly in the low hundreds of thousands of XOF, plus notary and publication fees ((approx — confirm current fees)) (CFE registration fee schedule)
• Annual financial statements (OHADA) — Companies must prepare annual financial statements under the OHADA SYSCOHADA accounting framework (OHADA Uniform Act on Accounting Law (SYSCOHADA))
• Annual corporate tax / declaration — File the annual corporate income tax return by 31 March of the following year ((approx — confirm)) (Código Geral Tributário (General Tax Code))
• Ongoing periodic compliance — Monthly VAT returns (if registered), monthly INPS and withheld-IRPS remittance, and maintenance of a valid NIF (Código do IVA; INPS rules; DGCI NIF rules)