Investing in Burundi

Burundi offers formal investment opportunities through the Treasury market and through direct investments in companies or projects under the 2021 Investment Code (Code des investissements). Treasury bills (Bons du Trésor) typically have maturities of 13, 26, or 52 weeks and a face value of 10,000 BIF. Government bonds (Obligations du Trésor) have maturities of at least two years and a face value of 100,000 BIF. The Bank of the Republic of Burundi (Banque de la République du Burundi), or BRB, publishes tenders, results, and information on yields and the secondary market. Bids may be submitted competitively or non-competitively. The secondary market operates but remains limited: in 2024, 94 sales totaling 17.41 billion BIF were recorded. Access to Treasury securities is provided through the central securities depository (CSD). Holders of a BRB account may participate directly; other investors use a direct CSD participant or a bank as an intermediary and need their own client sub-account. Settlement links the real-time gross payment system with the CSD under the delivery-versus-payment principle. Banks such as BANCOBU, BCB, BGF, FINBANK, IBB, BBCI, KCB, CRDB, ECOBANK Burundi, and BCAB are currently named as authorized specialists in government securities (SVT). Fees and settlement windows should be checked with the BRB or the relevant institution before each order. Direct investments may finance the establishment, expansion, restoration, or modernization of a company or project. The Code lists, among other areas, agriculture, fisheries, livestock and storage, manufacturing, mining, tourism and hotels, the cultural economy, energy, transport, ports, airports, railways, healthcare, information and communication technology, education, commercial complexes, industrial parks, cyber villages, industrial equipment, and packaging. To qualify for incentives under the Code, the project must belong to a priority area and qualify as a new, expanded, restored, or modernized project. Foreign investors need at least USD 500,000 for this purpose; local investors must demonstrate the corresponding BIF amount in Bujumbura and half that amount elsewhere. These thresholds apply to the Code's incentives and not automatically to every investment. The Development Agency of Burundi (Agence de Développement du Burundi), or ADB, supports registration, eligibility, and investor procedures. Typical documents include a commercial register entry (RCCM), tax identification number (NIF), articles of association, business plan, market and profitability study, a five-year revenue forecast, investment plan, and schedule. Depending on the project, an environmental certificate, operating permit, staffing plan, and building permit may also be required. The application dossier costs USD 500 and is non-refundable. Eligible projects may, subject to conditions, benefit from exemptions from transfer duties, VAT, and customs duties on certain imported building materials, equipment, and production inputs. After the profit phase begins, profit tax may be reduced during the first five years by 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, and 25%; the incentive applies for no more than five years, or in certain sectors no more than ten years, and an extension may under certain conditions last up to two years. Tangible assets may include the purchase or lease of land and buildings as well as contributions in kind. Depending on the legal basis, state land or buildings may be sold, leased, or contributed in kind. Before such an investment, the review should include proof of ownership, a concession, building permit, right of use, environmental requirements, insurance, and tax status. This also applies to a company that appears valuable mainly because of land, buildings, or an operating permit. A portfolio should keep a liquid reserve separate from tied-up project capital. Maturities can be staggered, individual projects and issuers limited, and income and liabilities planned in the same currency wherever possible. Investors should assess the issuer's creditworthiness and financial strength, return and inflation, BIF depreciation and access to foreign currency, exit options, project cash flow, beneficial owners, corporate governance, permits, environmental and social effects, insurance, and the later transfer of profits. After tax has been paid, profits may generally be transferred in foreign currency, but remain subject to foreign-exchange controls, transfer-pricing rules, and anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorist-financing requirements. The main risks are sovereign and fiscal risks, inflation and depreciation of the BIF, interest-rate and maturity risks, limited market liquidity, and defaults by banks, intermediaries, or custodians. Projects also involve execution failures, poor corporate governance, fraud, missing permits, land disputes, commodity and climate risks, and political or regulatory changes. Informal savings arrangements such as rotating savings groups (Tontinen), savings and credit associations (AVEC), village savings and loan associations (VICOBA), and savings and internal lending communities (SILC) are mentioned in Burundi, but they are not automatically regulated asset classes and should not be equated with Treasury securities or audited corporate investments. For foreign platforms and digital assets, counterparty risks, tax issues, anti-money-laundering rules, and the lack of local equivalence require separate review.