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Doing Business in Africa

Our new publication series, Doing Business in Africa, entails a collection of country guides that has been designed to offer clients a high legal overview of key legal issues in each of our Africa jurisdictions.

The guides cover a range of topics, i.e. country overview; business vehicles/structures for doing business; business rights and the regulatory environment; employment; corporate governance; banking and finance; investment regulation; tax; dispute resolution; exiting an investment etc.

The guides hope to answer frequently asked questions in a concise and efficient manner and, whilst not intended to constitute or replace legal advice, serve as a useful starting point. The guides are updated annually.

This series is a valuable resource for business people and investors with an interest in Africa.

Currently we have 17 guides: Angola, Burundi, Ethiopia, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Mauritius, Morocco, Namibia, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Doing business in Africa guides

In this issue

Doing business in Angola

In recent years, doing business in Angola has improved considerably, as important reforms have been implemented.

Doing business in Burundi

Various vehicles exist under Burundian law. In fact, a Burundian company is established by an agreement involving two or more shareholders who agree to share part of their property and their know how to perform one or more specified activities in order to share the profits or take advantage of the economy that may result.

Doing business in Ethiopia

The laws that regulate formation of business entities in Ethiopia are the Ethiopian Commercial Code of 1960, Ethiopian Civil Code of 1960, Investment Proclamation of 2020, Investment Regulation of 2020, Public Enterprises Proclamation of 1992, Cooperative Societies Proclamation of 2003, Commercial Registration and Business Licensing Proclamation of No. 980/2016, and the Commercial Registration and Business Licensing Regulation of 2016 (as amended).

Doing business in Ghana

In the World Bank’s ease of doing business (2020) Ghana scored 60.0 on a scale of 100 as compared to the regional average (Sub-Saharan) of 51.8.

Doing business in the Ivory Coast

Côte d’Ivoire is a country in full economic growth. This is beneficial because it attracts many investors. There are a variety of investment vehicles in Côte d’Ivoire but the most common are the creation of companies and the acquisition of equity participation in the capital.

Doing business in Kenya

Kenya is a vibrant regional business hub for international businesses looking to penetrate the emerging markets in East and Central Africa. In recent years, many foreign companies have set up in Kenya owing to the conducive business environment catalysed by regulatory reforms, adequate infrastructure and abundant skilled human resource.

Doing business in Mauritius

The global business segment of the Mauritius International Financial Centre provides convenience, fiscal efficiency and risk mitigation for companies engaged in international operations.

Doing business in Morocco

Over recent years, Kingdom of Morocco has created a legal and regulatory framework that is very attractive for foreign investors. In addition to its political stable environment, a recent series of tax treaties with numerous countries and reforms in almost all of its sectors of activities, in conjunction with its creation of successful industrial acceleration zones (previously named free trade zones) such as Tanger Free Trade Zone and Casablanca Finance City, have allowed it to decidedly become a gateway for Africa.

Doing business in Mozambique

Mozambique has been investing in reforms to improve the regulatory environment for the setting-up and registration of companies, including licensing, property registration and matters related to the startups in the country.

Doing business in Namibia

Namibia enjoys one of the most stable, peaceful political environments in Africa. Namibia’s core business sectors are mining and energy, agriculture, fishing and tourism.

Doing business in Nigeria

Nigeria has a rich variety of business vehicles in Nigeria, ranging from business organisations formed by only a single individual to business organisations collectively owned by several people. These different structures are moulded to suit multiple business peculiarities, giving investors a wide latitude of business models.

Doing business in Rwanda

The World Bank annual ratings rank Rwanda 2nd economy in Africa and 38th economy globally. Rwanda is well known and highly acknowledged worldwide for its ease of doing business environment. It is, for example, one of the countries with the fastest company incorporation time in the world, with a striking timeline of only six hours.

Doing business in South Africa

According to the World Bank Group Doing Business 2020 report, which assesses regulatory environments for business worldwide, South Africa was ranked 84th out of 190 countries globally for ease of doing business.

Doing business in Tanzania

Tanzania has been ranked 144th in ease of doing business records as per the latest World Bank annual ratings. Tanzania has deteriorated to 144 from 137 as ranked in 2017. In the ranking Tanzania has performed well in starting business, getting electricity, getting credit, enforcing contracts, paying taxes, registering property and obtaining construction permits, all being scores that were above 50%. The challenging issues addressed, among others, were cross-border trade, protecting minority investors and resolving insolvency matters.

Doing business in Uganda

In terms of the ease-of-doing-business environment, the 2019 Doing Business Report rates Uganda at 127 out of 190 countries, while the 2018 Global Competitiveness Index rates Uganda at 117 of 140 countries.

Doing business in Zambia

The following make it easy to do business in Zambia – there is a short and effective process of registering a business, affordable rates for post registration requirements and certain company applications can be completed online.

Doing business in Zimbabwe

With “Zimbabwe is Open for Business” as the new mantra, a concerted effort has been made to improve Zimbabwe’s Ease of Doing Business index ranking which is currently 138 out of 190. This has been done through streamlining the regulatory and compliance framework for investments coming into Zimbabwe.