The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a vast state territory located in the heart of Africa. With a surface area of 2,345,410 Km² extending from 5°30’ north latitude to 13°50’ south latitude and from 12°15’ to 31°15’ longitude, it is counted among the giants of Africa. In this respect, it is sometimes described, to truly reflect the vastness of its territory, as “a subcontinent” or “a continent within a continent”. The capital, Kinshasa, located on the banks of the majestic Congo River, is sometimes in the same time zone as Brussels and Paris
The country has a narrow maritime opening: The Atlantic coastline, a coastal strip no more than 50 km from where the mouth of the Congo River stretches
The democratic republic of Congo is an independent state located in east Africa. It borders Tanzania, Central Africa Republic, Zambia, South Sudan and near to other East Africa countries like Kenya.
The official currency is CDF, but the USD serves as a secondary currency. The abbreviation CG is for republic of the Congo and the most common legal entity type in the republic of the Congo is an LLC(SARL)
DRC Congo is the second largest and the fourth most populous country in Africa. The state language is French. Congo is a member of WTO, AOU, UDEAK, IBRD and EAC.
The DRC Congo legal system is based on Belgian civil law as well as customary and tribal law.
The government of Congo has a positive attitude towards foreign investment. The law in force regarding the creation of businesses in the DRC is the OHADA code which recognizes three categories of businesses namely: commercial businesses, personal businesses and profit associations.
When creating a commercial enterprise, the entrepreneur chooses to carry out his activities under the cover of the Congo laws. According to the provisions of Article 6 of the Uniform Act of 30 January 2014 relating to the law on commercial companies and economic interest grouping, the legal forms of companies recognized in the DRC are as follows:
- General partnerships(SNC)
- Simple limited partnerships(SCS)
- Private liability liability companies(SPRL)
- Limited liability joint stock companies(SARL)
- Cooperative societies(SC)
- Registered branch of foreign company
- Representation or liaison office
- The economic interest grouping(EIG)
- sole proprietorship
Private limited liability company require a minimum of one shareholder and director.no local shareholding and director is required. There is no requirement to appoint accompany secretary but the companies must have a statutory auditor.
Every company shall have a registered office which shall be indicated in the articles of association. The address of the company accountant or lawyer can be used as registered address for interim period. There are no shelf companies available in DRC. Companies are registered at the commercial registry and it takes approximately three days to complete registration once all the required documents have been submitted.
A company is resident in the DRC if it is incorporated in the DRC and its head office and principal place of business are located in DRC. Most foreigners looking to do business in the Democratic Republic of Congo usually prefer a Branch company or as a subsidiary company. The choice between the two is primarily based on convenience, privacy, and tax considerations. The issue of risk, or rather the limit of risk, comes into play at times.
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