Equatorial Guinea doesn’t impose import quota limits and instead practices free trade. Equatorial Guinea abides by the 1993-established standard foreign tax rate set by the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC), of which it is a member. Customs duties on imports from other members are not required to be paid.

Import management

An import permit is necessary for imports of products costing more than 50,000 CFA francs. The enterprise is exempt from duties on imported construction equipment and related materials if the activity is for a public works project. But to complete the necessary procedures, a call must be made to the Equatorial Guinean Ministry of Finance. Sanitary products, chemicals, toxic waste, cosmetics, and foods that are bad for human health are prohibited from being imported.

Restrictions on exports

In Equatorial Guinea, export authorization management is in place for both cocoa and lumber. Since 1st January 2019, the export of logs has been banned.

The items that are imported and exported are subject to inspection and quarantine

Equatorial Guinea’s import and export of products are subject to the provisions of the Quarantine Convention for Sub-Saharan Africa. A certificate from the exporting nation confirming inspection and quarantine is required for all plant and animal imports.

Customs regulations

The Central African Economic and Customs Union (UDEAC), of which Equatorial Guinea is a member, has two primary categories of import tariffs here: 

• Import tariff rate, and
• The other imposes a single external tariff for imports from other UDEAC members.

All UDEAC members share the same import rates, except for import levies on petroleum goods and some additional tariffs on alcoholic beverages. The particular tariff rates are as follows: 

• 5% for daily necessities;
• 10% for capital and raw materials; 
• 20% for intermediate and other items; and 
• 30% for luxury goods. 

Additionally, each nation is free to create its company tax, transient surtax, and unique consumption tax. A low tax rate of 3%–6% and a regular tax rate of 7%–18% are the two sorts of business taxes. Up to 30% of the C&F (cost and freight) price of the items is subject to a temporary surtax. A special consumption tax mostly applies to a select group of expensive goods. The average difference in import tariffs across members is one-tenth of the uniform external import duties.

In the Region of Malabo and the Region of Bata, the respective import taxes for tools and materials for contract work range from 20% to 30% and 30% to 40%, respectively. For various materials, different rates are applicable. Contractors can bargain with the government on the specifics of tax rates for important projects that the government of Equatorial Guinea promotes and is concerned about.

Major departments for investment

Investment-related matters are handled by Equatorial Guinea’s Ministry of Trade and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME) Promotion. The Ministry announced the creation of a one-stop business registration platform in 2019 (www.ventanillaempresarialge.com/), which will allow all business registration procedures to be handled in one location and cut the period for business registration to 5 days. A copy of the company’s business license, the articles of association, a list of the management, registered capital, a copy of the legal representative’s passport, a registration permit, a certificate of no criminal conviction, a notary, and a tax ID number are the main documents needed for business registration. A law firm can be handed the majority of the documentation to handle the registration.

Regulations on the industries of investment

Petroleum exploration and extraction, fishing, salt production, livestock farming, cocoa paste production, palm oil production, transportation and communications, water purification and sanitation, agricultural imports, food production, and forestry processing. Small and medium-sized businesses, financial services, education, and healthcare are among the fields and industries in that Equatorial Guinea’s government welcomes foreign investment. Military-related sectors, such as those producing firearms, explosives, and weapons, as well as investments in the manufacture of hazardous, harmful, and radioactive chemicals or waste products, as well as alcoholic beverages (apart from beer), are all forbidden from foreign investment.