Cameroon

Operating a Business in Cameroon

Types of companies and capital (max/min)	Number of partners/shareholders and liability	Registration fees
Private Limited Company FCA 1 million divided into shares	Minimum 2 partners. Liability is limited to the amount contributed.	Verification and reservation of the proposed company name: FCFA 38,500. Obtain an attestation of business premises: FCFA 12,500. Have an attorney/notary draft the memorandum and article of association: FCFA 500,000. Have the signed bylaws duly registered with the Registration and Stamp Duty Office: 0.25% of the share capital. Publish the incorporation of the company in the legal journal : FCFA 76,000. Pay the business tax (patente): FCFA 67,200. Obtain a taxpayer card: FCFA 1,500.
Public Limited Company FCA 10 million divided into shares	Minimum 7 shareholders. Liability is limited to the amount contributed.	Verification and reservation of the proposed company name: FCFA 38,500. Obtain an attestation of business premises: FCFA 12,500. Have an attorney/notary draft the memorandum and article of association: FCFA 500,000. Have the signed bylaws duly registered with the Registration and Stamp Duty Office: 0.25% of the share capital. Publish the incorporation of the company in the legal journal : FCFA 76,000. Pay the business tax (patente): FCFA 67,200. Obtain a taxpayer card: FCFA 1,500.

Business setup procedures: The formalities to be completed after the creation of a company are the following. Firstly, a registration should be done with the Registry of Commerce (RC) of a High Court. After this, a tax-payer's number should be obtained from the Divisional Centre of Taxes. Finally, a business tax, final tax or a license fee needs to be paid.
The competent organization: Any kind of creation of a branch or a subsidiary of a Company should be communicated to the Office of Change in order to benefit from repatriation of foreign exchange.

Legal weekly duration: The legal duration of work is 40 hours in the non-agricultural sector and 48 hours for the agricultural sector.
Retirement age: The retirement age is 60 years.
Working contracts: The work contract is outlined by law and collective conventions. Company agreements and individual negotiation complement it. Its form is extremely rigid. However, hiring conditions and lay-off conditions are very flexible.

Minimum wage: 23,514 CFAF (USD 47)
Average wage: The average salary in Cameroon is close to 80 euros, taking into consideration the numerous unemployed people and rural inhabitants, who generally do not have salaries.
Social contributions: Social security contributions paid by employers: The employer has to pay a social security contribution of 16.2%.
Social security contributions paid by employees: The employee has to pay a social security contribution of 2.8%.

Social dialogue and involvement of social partners: Presently, the trade unions are very diverse and scattered to have any real impact in negotiations. During the last 40 years, the number of trade unions continued to increase to reach a number of 200 unions! Each trade union stands for a precise cause and none wants to break away from their positions. In addition, they suffer from a weak support from workers. Very few of them follow the initiatives of the trade unions. The trade union the most influential among these is the Union of Employers (GICAM).
Unions: CSTC: Cameroon Workers Trade Union Confederation
GICAM: Inter-Employers Grouping of Cameroon
Unionization rate: The national unionization rate was 46.85% in 1996.
Labor regulation bodies: Ministry of Employment and Social Security