Embassy of Gabon in South Africa - Investment and Regulations in Gabon

Article 1
The present law, taken in implementation of the provisions of article 47 of the constitution institute the charter of investment in the Republic of Gabon.
Article 2
The charter of investment appended to the present law constitutes the general framework of the overall provisions intended to improve the institutional, fiscal and financial environment of companies. Its purpose is to foster the growth and diversification of the economy on the basis of an harmonious development of the private sector and of investment.
Article 3
The provisions contained in the charter of investment are taken up in the different codes, law and texts conforming to the regulation concerned.
Article 4
Particular wording of law completes the provisions of the charter to precise the technical, fiscal and financial conditions of investment and exploitation in certain specific sectors, namely those related to the exploitation and to the transformation of natural resources.
Article 5
The present law, which abrogates all the previous provisions, namely the law n° 7/89 of 6th July 1989 related to the investment code in the Republic of Gabon will be registered and published according to the emergency procedure and implemented as a law of the state.

Done in Libreville, the 23rd July 1998
El Hadj Omar Bongo
By the President of the Republic, Head of State,
By the present charter, named charter of investment, the Republic of Gabon reassert its commitment in a strategy of economic and social development based on the private sector expansion.
The charter gives a new definition of the role of the state, acting as a partner of the private sector. It is listing the objectives and mechanism set up to foster the investment, the expansion of companies and sole traders without discrimination according to the origin of the businessman(woman) investor or the sector of activity in which he/she is operating. In certain sectors of activity namely those related to the exploitation or the transformation of natural resources, specific codes are coming to complete the present charter of investment, taking into consideration particular technical and financial provisions adopted for these sectors.
The institutional framework, the legislative text conforming to the law have been adapted to reach the objective of modernization, of simplification and secure its regulation in a clear and fair way.

Article 1:
- The Republic of Gabon guarantees to each individual or moral entity regularly established or anxious to settle in Gabon respecting the specific rules related to certain sectors of activity.
-The freedom to undertake any activity in the production, in the provision of services or in the trade, whatever nationality he/she may be.
-The equality of treatment in the exercise of an activity according to the principles and prescriptions of the law on competition and the assignment entrusted to the autonomous regulatory agencies for sectors.
-The ownership rights linked to lands, buildings, exploitation materials and those tied up to personal property goods, transferable securities, patents and other elements being a matter for industrial and intellectual property.
-The diligence of the procedure of allocation or acquisition of land and of the awarding of real estate title.
-The possibility for a foreign investor to repatriate the capital invested and the profit made by its business as well as the repatriation of the savings made on wages by its expatriate employees.
-The access to foreign currency and the freedom to transfer capital in the framework of the franc zone rules and specially those of the Bank of Central Africa States (BEAC).
-The fair and clear implementation of business law adopted in accordance with the treaty of the Organization for the Harmonisation of Business Law in Africa (OHADA).
-The fair and clear implementation of labour law and the access to social security elaborated in accordance with the treaty of InterAfrican Conference on social Foresight (CIPRES).
-The independence and the professional competence of courts and specialized jurisdictions.

Article 2:
- To reinforce the general principles and fundamental rights of investors, the Republic of Gabon is member of the main international system of investment guarantee. The Republic of Gabon is member of the World Trade Organisation giving guarantee to investors on the implementation in Gabon of international commercial rules.
-The Republic of Gabon has concluded bilateral agreements and is member of the multilateral treaties in terms of investments guarantee of which the multilateral agency of investment guarantee (MIGA), intended to guarantee investors against political risks and the International Centre for the Settlement of Disagreements related to Investments (CIRDI).
-The Republic of Gabon is member of the New-York Convention on the acknowledgement and the execution of international court decisions, signed in 1958 under the patronage of the United Nations.
-The Republic of Gabon has at its disposal un umpiring mechanism based on the epitome law on the United Nations committee on international commercial law (CNUDI) on the international commercial arbitration of 1985.
-The Republic of Gabon is member of the Organisation for the Harmonisation of Business Law in Africa (OHADA), which is composed by the common court of justice and arbitration (CCJA), responsible for the settlement of conflicts related to the implementation of business law in members countries.

Article 3:
- The state of Gabon through its fundamental duties of administration of the nation, of justice and security, guarantees the good functioning of the economic system on these grounds:
- It is making sure that the overall actors of the system enforce the rules of the game.
- It is providing the maintenance and the development of economic infrastructures , social services, health, education and vocational training and their access for the whole population.
Article 4:
-The Republic of Gabon is favouring partnership with the private sector, namely in the setting up of policies regarding:
-vocational training to provide the adequacy training-employment and to develop a joint management of vocational training and professional improvement centres.
-the development of economic and social infrastructures in relation with the development of activities of production.

Article 5:
The State management and its decisions in terms of budget and economic policies are led so as to guarantee a macro-economic framework viable and able to foster growth and investment.

Article 6:
– The Republic of Gabon has set up an investment promotion agency responsible to promote national and international investment in Gabon. Its missions is:
- The reception, the research, the direction and the advice to investors
- The diffusion of the relevant information to the potential investors
- The proposition and supervision of measures and procedures to ease the relation between companies and the administration.
Article 7:
The investment promotion agency is taking care of the unique desk centre in which promoters fulfil the necessary formalities to create companies
Article 8:
For the activities which do not come under the specific codes and not under the regulated profession, promoters are submitted to a system of a simple declaration of creation of activity.
In this case, the unique desk is transmitting this declaration the very day it receives it to the concerned administration, which have 48 hours to formulate a possible refusal.
The registration number in the Business Register and the national statistic number are then given to the promoter after this time.
Article 9:
For companies that come under specific codes, the approval is given by the concerned Minister, on the advice of a deciding committee gathering all the concerned administrations in charge of the administrative process of the project submitted by the investor within a period maximum of 30days after giving the file to the unique desk.
Article 10:
For the activities that come under the regulated professions, the approval is given by the organization or the professional association concerned, within a period maximum of 15 days after giving the file to the unique desk.
Article 11:
On this preliminary basis, for the last two cases, the unique desk deals with formalities for the creation of companies when asked by the promoter.

Article 12:
The tax system adopted by the Republic of Gabon is based on principles of equity between taxpayer and of moderation so as to covers the slightest costs of administrative assignments, of the state investment assignments and of incentive for rational management of the country resources.
Article 13:
The tax deduction from companies is made on investment revenue and not on the investment itself in proportions comparable to those used on the international level.
Article 14:
To reach these objectives and respect these principles, the provisions in force in the framework of the customs code, of the direct and indirect tax general code and of the registration code, of the revenue on transferable securities and on the stamp value are centred around:

Customs:
– The implementation of moderate harmonized custom duties in the framework of the common external tariff of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (cemac)
– The suspension of custom duties in the form of temporary admission or of entry in exemption for research activities in terms of natural recources, in the framework of specific codes.
– The suspension of custom duties in the form of temporary admission or entry in exemption and of active improvement mechanism for activities turned towards export.
2) Direct and Indirect taxation:
- The generalized implementation on the Value Added Tax (VAT), thus maintaining an indirect tax system simplified and neutral for companies.
- The enforcement at a null rate of the VAT on exported products allowing the repayment of the VAT settled on investment and exploitation expenses of exporting companies.
- The enforcement of equivalent system to the suspension of the payment of the VAT on investment in the framework of specific codes.
- The tax exemption on companies in their first three years of life.
- The possibility to carry out the paying out on a decreasing scale and the authorization of postponement to a later date of negative results on later accounting period to improve companies cash flow in their stage of profit improvement.
- The implementation of tax credit system aiming at favouring technological research, vocational training, and environment protection according to specific codes.
- The enforcement of tax credit system of compensation or equipment bonuses in return of investment and functioning expenses made by companies in rural zones in terms of social services corresponding to the current assignment of the state in the case where this latter would be unable to carry them out.
- The maintenance of real estate tax at a level corresponding to the service provided by the local authorities and the state in terms of urban infrastructures and public services.
Estate and registration
- The moderation of the rights to register for the creation of companies, the capital increases, mergers, the changes of shares and social shares.

Article 15:
The Republic of Gabon, member of the Franczone, guarantees the free conversion of its currency and the access to foreign currencies necessary to commercial transactions and to financial companies’ duties, namely in terms of the repatriation of capital, profit and savings made on wages by their expatriate employees.
Article 16:
The Republic of Gabon, member of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC), guarantees through the treaties instituting the banking Committee of Central Africa (COBAC), a healthy and secure banking system, equipped with a monetary market at the sub-regional level.
Article 17:
The Republic of Gabon, maintains and reinforces for the benefit of small and medium sizes companies, systems allowing access to privileged financing Through:
- the refinancing of commercial banks
- the existence of a system of guarantee
- the access to a capital with risks counter
- the financial support in the elaboration of investment project and of management assistance.
Article 18:
The Republic of Gabon, to foster external trade, becomes member of the African Import and Export Bank (AFREXIM).
Article 19:
The Republic of Gabon, to foster the mobilization of national and foreign saving in the form of shares and obligations towards private investment and secure transactions of transferable securities has on one hand set up a regulation for the financial market or any institution to control this market. In this way the Republic of Gabon support the creation of a regional Stock Exchange market or any institution of the same nature into which the Gabon’s financial market would become part of.
A Pan African institution intended to finance import and export credit operations.
Article 20:
The Republic of Gabon guarantees in the insurance sector through the Inter African Insurance Market (CIMA), the viability of the sector and the security of subscribers.