Starting a business in Côte d'Ivoire: foreigner's guide (2026)

CEPICI reports 26,948 companies created in 2025—a 6% rise over 2024—with the one-stop-shop processing roughly 150 files per day and 24-hour online registration now standard. This marks a dramatic shift from around 20 registrations per day when GUFE launched in 2013.

Ordinance N° 2024-857 revised the 2018 Investment Code to rationalize fiscal and customs incentives, refocus tax advantages on priority sectors, and create dedicated incentive categories for SMEs. CEPICI's role as national investment promotion and one-stop-shop body was simultaneously reinforced under a 2024–2026 reform agenda.

Côte d'Ivoire adopted a Startup Act establishing an official 'label of merit' that grants qualifying startups a favorable legislative and regulatory framework, streamlined administrative procedures, and targeted incentives—placing Côte d'Ivoire among the African countries with dedicated startup legislation.

Doing Business 2019 ranked Côte d'Ivoire among the ten economies with the most notable overall improvement globally, crediting sustained simplification of business registration, construction permits, and tax compliance; the 'Start a Business' indicator improved from 155th to 44th place over the full CEPICI reform period.

Ordinance N° 2018-646 replaced the 2012 code with a zone-based and sector-based incentive architecture, mandatory local-content requirements, and enhanced investor-state dispute settlement mechanisms—attracting more structured foreign direct investment and broadening eligible investment categories.

Decree N° 2016-1120 gave the Agence CI PME (mandated by Law 2014-140) full legal standing and defined its attributions to promote SME creation, improve SME access to financing and markets, and foster entrepreneurial culture—establishing a dedicated institutional pillar for the small-business sector.

Law N° 2014-140 of 24 March 2014 defined the legal status of SMEs (fewer than 200 employees; annual turnover ≤ 1 billion CFA francs) and mandated the creation of Agence CI PME to coordinate support—formalizing small-business promotion as a core government priority with a dedicated institutional framework.

Under Decree 2012-867, CEPICI launched the Guichet Unique de Formalités d'Entreprises (GUFE), consolidating the commercial registry (RCCM), tax authority (DGI), and social security (CNPS) into a single window; average creation time fell from 40 days (2008) to 7 days within a few years, and registration cost was cut from CFAF 50,000 to CFAF 15,000 for corporate entities.

Presidential Decree N° 2012-867 created CEPICI as a public administrative institution under the President's authority and designated it as the national single window for all investment formalities—replacing a fragmented multi-agency process that had required separate visits to the commercial court, tax office, and social security fund.

Ordinance N° 2012-487 introduced a structured fiscal-incentive regime for investors in post-crisis Côte d'Ivoire and laid the institutional groundwork for the CEPICI one-stop-shop reforms; it was later expanded and superseded by the 2018 Investment Code.

OHADA adopted its first Uniform Act on Commercial Companies and Economic Interest Groups, standardizing the SA, SARL, and GIE legal forms across all member states including Côte d'Ivoire—replacing fragmented national company codes with a single, directly applicable regional law governing how businesses are formed and governed.