Investing in Equatorial Guinea

Direct investment can cover productive projects in sectors such as agriculture, logistics, energy and other approved activities. Foreign investors generally apply in Spanish with two copies and provide notarized or legalized evidence about the company, capital, activity, investors, banks and project. The file normally includes planned goods or services, exports, national salaries and training, health and safety, and environmental information. The published framework provides for transferring 30% of the investment budget to national banks or supplying a bank guarantee. A complete-file notice can take up to three business days, registration is listed at up to 20 business days, and project approval at up to 60 business days. Post-approval import, export and foreign-staff permits are listed with a 15-day period, but the current validity of these timelines should be checked because the investment framework is undergoing reform. Registered foreign investors are generally treated on the same published terms as nationals. The framework excludes arms, explosives and war materiel, toxic or radioactive waste handling, storage or disposal, and alcoholic beverages other than beer. Approved projects may qualify for incentives such as a 50% deduction for national salaries, a 200% deduction for non-salary national training, a 15% tax credit on non-traditional exports, and selected tax or customs privileges. These benefits depend on approval, verification, tax law and proper accounting. Registered investors may remit audited net profits after tax and may transfer capital, interest, royalties and proceeds from a sale, liquidation or capital reduction in freely convertible currency after tax. They must keep annual accounts and balances, support national employment and training, meet health, safety and environmental duties, and comply with Equatorial Guinean law. Breaches can suspend incentive and repatriation guarantees. International arbitration applies only when the foreign project certificate provides for it; otherwise, the published default is UNCITRAL arbitration with Spanish proceedings, while disputes involving national investors go to Equatorial Guinean courts. Government securities are issued through the CEMAC and BEAC market. Equatorial Guinea joined this market on 9 September 2015. Treasury bills, known as BTA, have maturities of 13, 26 or 52 weeks, a nominal value of 1,000,000 XAF and precomputed interest. Treasury bonds, known as OTA, run for at least two years, have a nominal value of 10,000 XAF and pay annual interest. Primary-market access is limited to approved SVT institutions, while secondary trading takes place through SVT institutions. Resident and non-resident individuals and entities are eligible to participate under the stated market rules. CRCT provides central custody and settlement. Each issue still requires a check of the notice, maturity, yield, allocation and available SVT channel. Regional shares and bonds trade through BVMAC. BANGE is listed there under code GQ0000010050, and BANGE Sociedad de Valores is an Equatorial Guinea-based securities firm. COSUMAF's second-half 2025 list recorded 26 securities dealers, including one based in Equatorial Guinea, ten investment firms, including L'Archer Capital Guinea Ecuatorial, and no Equatorial Guinea-based portfolio-management company or depositary. No Equatorial Guinea-based trading and custody company was evidenced in that list. A BVMAC quotation therefore does not guarantee that an investor can sell quickly at a desired price. The maximum COSUMAF secondary-market brokerage tariff published for 2024 was 0.5% of the gross transaction, with additional intermediary, custody, settlement, bank, tax, foreign-exchange, legal and audit costs depending on the transaction. Regional collective products such as OPCVM and OPCI exist, but no Equatorial Guinea-based portfolio-management company or depositary was evidenced. No regulated local retail equivalent for cryptoassets, crowdfunding or comparable alternative investments was found in the research. Access to international diversification across CEMAC or other markets requires separate checks on cross-border access, tax treatment, foreign exchange and custody. A portfolio concentrated in Equatorial Guinea, hydrocarbons or sovereign securities can amplify the effects of declining hydrocarbon production and revenue, weak growth or recession pressure, reserve losses, banking undercapitalization, governance risk, legal uncertainty, land-titling barriers, limited credit and weak digital public services.