Starting a business in Cameroon
In Cameroon a business comes into being at the Business Creation Formalities Centre (CFCE), a one-stop shop present in every region that issues, in a single pass, registration in the trade and personal property credit register (RCCM), the taxpayer card and the certificate of incorporation. The governing law is OHADA business law, shared by seventeen African countries, supplemented by a 2016 Cameroonian law on limited liability companies. The official deadline is 72 hours; in practice it takes anything from a few days to a few weeks depending on the legal form.
Information checked on
At a glance
- One-stop shop
- CFCE, one per region
- Official deadline
- 72 hours
- Minimum capital of a SARL
- 100,000 CFA francs (Law No. 2016/014)
- Businesses created in 2024
- 21,132 through the CFCEs
Choosing a legal form
Company forms are set by the OHADA Uniform Act on commercial companies and economic interest groups, revised on 30 January 2014 and in force since 5 May 2014. That revision created the simplified joint-stock company (SAS), whose articles freely organise how it is run. For the SARL (private limited company), the Uniform Act sets a default capital of 1 million CFA francs but lets each state change it: Cameroon lowered it to 100,000 CFA francs with Law No. 2016/014 of 14 December 2016, with shares worth at least 5,000 CFA francs each.
| Form | Minimum capital | Members | Notary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entreprenant (OHADA micro-entrepreneur status) | None | One individual | No: a simple declaration of activity at the RCCM |
| Sole proprietorship (établissement) | None | One individual | No |
| SARL (private limited company) | 100,000 CFA francs, shares of at least 5,000 CFA francs | Several | Optional if capital is 1 million CFA francs or less; above that, notarised articles |
| SARLU (single-member SARL) | 100,000 CFA francs | One | Optional, whatever the capital |
| SAS (and single-member SASU) | Freely set by the articles | One or more | Not specified in the sources consulted |
| SA (public limited company) | 10 million CFA francs; 100 million if shares are offered to the public | See the Uniform Act | See the Uniform Act |
When a SARL's articles are drawn up privately, without a notary, the 2016 law makes the CFCE responsible for guaranteeing their authenticity by certifying the handwriting and signatures of all members. The entreprenant, for their part, is a sole entrepreneur who simply declares themselves at the RCCM, with no deed costs; they lose that status if their turnover exceeds the OHADA ceilings for two years running, and must then become a registered trader or set up a company.
The CFCE one-stop shop
According to the Ministry of Finance, the CFCEs have an office in every region, usually housed in the regional delegations of the Ministry of SMEs (MINPMEESA). They issue the registration, the taxpayer card and the certificate of incorporation, publish legal notices and advise small businesses. The regulatory time limit is 72 hours, a figure repeated by the Directorate General of Taxation. According to Ecomatin (December 2025), setting up a business cost on average 482,000 CFA francs and took nearly 30 days before the CFCEs opened; registration fees now come to 41,500 CFA francs.
| Item | Company | Sole proprietorship |
|---|---|---|
| Registration | 41,500 CFA francs | 41,500 CFA francs |
| Legal notice | 13,125 CFA francs | — |
| Stamp duty on the articles | Variable (by number of pages) | — |
Real costs and timescales
On top of the CFCE fees come stamps, the criminal record extract, the notary, depositing the capital at a bank and registering the lease. The eRegulations portals, run with UNCTAD support, have timed the actual steps in Yaoundé and Garoua: their totals give a more faithful idea than the official fees alone.
| Procedure | Steps | Total cost | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sole trader, simplified procedure (Yaoundé) | About ten | 63,800 CFA francs, including 53,000 for the register | 3 to 7 days |
| SARL, simplified procedure (Garoua) | 7 | 135,650 CFA francs; notary at 2% of capital (minimum 20,000), registration duties 42,000, register 41,500 | 4 to 10 days |
| SARL, full procedure (Garoua) | 20 | 191,575 CFA francs, plus 10% of annual rent to register the lease (minimum 5,000) | 16 to 28 days |
Documents required
Indicative list published by the Ministry of Finance. The CFCE may ask for more: check before filing.
- Sole proprietorship: copy of the national identity card or birth certificate, marriage certificate where relevant, criminal record extract, location map, a cardboard folder.
- Company: several copies of the articles, declarations of regularity and compliance, criminal record extracts and ID of the managers, location map, PO box and phone number.
- For a SARL: certificate of capital deposit from the bank where the account of the company in formation was opened, plus the declaration of subscription and payment.
RCCM, NIU, taxpayer card and business licence
The RCCM number identifies the business in the trade and personal property credit register, kept at the court registry. The unique identification number (NIU), printed on the taxpayer card, is the tax identifier: it appears on invoices and is used for every dealing with the tax office. The CFCE issues both. Individuals who need an NIU without starting a business use the immatriculation.dgi.cm portal.
According to the Directorate General of Taxation, a newly created SME is exempt from the business licence tax (patente) for one year, and for two years if it joins an approved management centre. Since 2025, businesses with turnover under 50 million CFA francs come under the general synthetic tax: see the page on business taxes for details.
Registering online?
According to the European Union delegation, the MyBusiness.cm platform, launched in 2016 under the Competitiveness Support Programme (PACOM) and run by UNCTAD, let entrepreneurs file their application online and track its progress; it had been used to formalise more than 25,000 businesses in the North, Centre and Littoral regions, and was then extended to the CFCEs in Maroua, Limbe, Bertoua and Ngaoundéré. On 27 October 2026 the mybusiness.cm address showed only a domain-for-sale page. The eRegulations portals (Yaoundé, Douala, Garoua) describe each step but do not let you register the business.
How many businesses are created each year?
| Year | New businesses |
|---|---|
| 2010 | 712 |
| 2024 | 21,132 (+7.5% on 2023) |
| 2025 | Nearly 21,000 |
In 2024 women accounted for 31.39% of new businesses, 4.84 points more than in 2023, and they have been the majority in crafts since 2022 (53.37%). For scale, the National Institute of Statistics counted 209,482 economic units in 2016, according to Ecomatin.
Foreign nationals and the diaspora
A foreign national can set up a business in Cameroon using the same legal forms. The practical guides consulted say the CFCE then asks for a passport or residence card, and that extra documents (residence permit, business visa) may be required; no official list specific to foreigners was found on public websites. Residence and work authorisation are covered on the work permit page.
Frequently asked questions
What is the minimum capital for a SARL in Cameroon?
100,000 CFA francs since Law No. 2016/014 of 14 December 2016, divided into shares of at least 5,000 CFA francs. OHADA law sets 1 million by default, but Cameroon lowered it.
Do you need a notary to set up a SARL in Cameroon?
Not for a single-member SARL or one with capital of 1 million CFA francs or less: the articles can then be authenticated at the CFCE. Above that, a notary is still required.
How much does it cost to register a business in Cameroon?
CFCE registration fees are 41,500 CFA francs. All in, eRegulations records about 63,800 for a sole trader in Yaoundé and 135,650 to 191,575 for a SARL in Garoua.
How long does it take to register a business at the CFCE?
The official deadline is 72 hours. The full process, with bank and notary, takes 3 to 7 days for a sole trader and 4 to 28 days for a SARL according to eRegulations.
What is the NIU in Cameroon?
The unique identification number is the tax identifier printed on the taxpayer card. The CFCE issues it on registration; individuals get one at immatriculation.dgi.cm.
Can you register a business online in Cameroon?
The MyBusiness.cm platform allowed it from 2016, but its address no longer worked on 27 October 2026. Applications are therefore filed at the regional CFCE.
Handle with care
Registration fees vary by source: 41,500 CFA francs according to the Ministry of Finance, 53,000 in the Yaoundé procedure described by eRegulations; some articles quote 51,500 for a company. The turnover ceilings for entreprenant status do not match: one summary of OHADA law (Loidici) gives 60 million CFA francs for trading and 30 million for services, other sources a single 30 million ceiling. The notary rules and number of shareholders for an SA were not checked in the text of the Uniform Act itself. No official list of documents required from foreigners was found.