Setting up a company in Guinea: steps, documents, costs

The one-stop shop: who does what in 2026

Business formalisation goes through a single entry point: the one-stop shop of the Private Investment Promotion Agency (APIP). It receives entrepreneurs, records and publishes company deeds and trade names, and handles registration with the Trade and Personal Property Credit Register (RCCM) together with the other administrative registrations needed to start trading.

Under a decree read on 6 March 2026, APIP became part of the Guinea Development Board (GDB), a new development agency supervised by the presidency. The one-stop shop has not gone away: in June 2026, at the SADEN entrepreneurs’ fair, Saïkou Oumar Sow, introduced as head of the GDB’s formalisation one-stop shop, walked the public through the incorporation steps. In Conakry, the desk is at APIP’s historic headquarters on rue Notre-Dame-du-Mali in Boulbinet, Kaloum district. There are branches in Boké, Kindia, Labé, Kankan, N’Zérékoré and Mamou, and a mobile office, APIP Mobile, that travels to entrepreneurs.

Choosing a legal form under OHADA

Guinea is an OHADA member: company law is the regional Uniform Act, which applies directly. APIP offers six forms:

• Sole proprietorship (entreprise individuelle): trading in your own name, with no separation of personal and business assets.
• SARL (limited liability company): the most common form in Guinea and across OHADA. It can have a single partner (a single-member SARL, or SARLU). A May 2017 decree abolished the minimum share value, so partners set the capital freely in the articles.
• SA (public limited company): suited to large projects or fundraising; the articles and founding minutes must be drawn up by a notary.
• SAS (simplified joint-stock company): governance largely set freely in the articles.
• Branch (succursale): an establishment of a foreign company, with no separate legal personality.
• GIE (economic interest group): for several businesses pooling an activity.

The US State Department notes that 100% foreign control is allowed in most sectors, except print media, radio and television. It also points out that under OHADA rules, executives can be held personally and even criminally liable for serious mismanagement.

Required documents

APIP’s 2025 information sheets list the following documents for an SARL:

• the company’s articles of association and the minutes of the founding general meeting;
• a copy of each director’s ID;
• a certificate of residence for each director;
• a certificate showing the share capital has been paid up;
• two recent passport photos.

For an SA, add a criminal record extract less than three months old (or a sworn statement), and the articles must be notarised. For a sole proprietorship, the file is limited to a biometric ID card or passport, two photos and a certificate of residence.

The steps, from filing to collection

For a company, APIP describes the following route:

1. File received at the front desk.
2. Articles submitted to the legal department for approval.
3. Fees paid at the cashier.
4. Articles lodged with the formalities centre, then sent to the administration for registration.
5. A letter issued so you can open a bank account and deposit the share capital.
6. RCCM registration by the court clerk, along with the other administrative registrations.
7. Collection of the completed file at the desk.

Deeds are published on SyNERGUI, the agency’s legal notices platform. You can have a notary prepare the file before finalising it at the desk, which is mandatory for an SA. For a sole proprietorship, the route is shorter: reception, filing, payment, registration, collection.

Timelines and costs: what is official

APIP advertises incorporation “in under 72 hours after the share capital is paid up”. The clock therefore starts when the funds are deposited, not when the articles are drafted. The State Department, for its part, notes that many firms still find licensing beyond basic registration complicated, and often hire local consultants.

Three precautions save time. First, reserve the trade name, a service the agency offers online. Second, have the legal department approve the articles before tying up the capital, since that approval is what triggers the letter for opening the bank account. Third, allow for the bank’s own lead time to open the account and issue the certificate that the capital has been paid up; neither depends on the one-stop shop. For a non-resident director, the required certificate of residence deserves early attention: APIP’s sheet does not say which supporting documents are accepted, so it is worth asking at the desk before filing. Foreign groups that only need a local presence for a limited contract may also compare a branch with a subsidiary SARL, since a branch has no legal personality of its own and commits the parent company directly.

APIP’s sheets also list later fees: GNF 400,000 to amend or deregister an SA; GNF 150,000 to amend or deregister a sole proprietorship at the Conakry Commercial Court. These schedules date from 2025, before the merger into the GDB, so it is wise to have them confirmed at the desk before filing.

After registration

• Investment Code benefits: if the activity qualifies (agriculture, fishing, livestock, industry, tourism and so on), the certificate application is filed on the PLAGED platform and the project is presented to a review committee.
• Sector permits: since January 2026, the Commerce Ministry’s Landaya portal centralises industrial permits, operating certificates and approvals.
• Local content: the 2022 law sets hiring and subcontracting priorities for Guineans, enforced by the ARCCL authority.
• Tenders: according to the GDB, a business must be registered with the trade register and the administration before bidding for any contract, public or private.

Setting up a company usually means several appointments in Kaloum, with the notary, the bank and the one-stop shop. For those trips, we offer furnished apartments in Conakry for stays from a few nights to several months, including in Kaloum, Camayenne and Kipé.