Investing in Haiti

Private investment in Haiti commonly takes the form of starting or buying into a company, financing a project, acquiring real estate or infrastructure, or joining a local partnership. Possible structures include an individual enterprise, a Société Anonyme (S.A.), a Société en Nom Collectif (SNC) or a Société en Commandite Simple (SCS). Productive sectors identified for investment include agriculture, agro-industry, fisheries and aquaculture, tourism and hotels, textile and export manufacturing, free zones, renewable energy, BPO and ICT, and the blue economy. Foreign direct investment represented 0.1% of GDP in FY2024, so the local investment environment is much more focused on individual projects and business participation than on broad retail portfolio products. The Centre de Facilitation des Investissements (CFI), an autonomous body under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, provides investment guidance and operates the guichet unique, or single-window process. An applicant submits the project to CFI, which checks completeness and eligibility, obtains views from sector authorities, and forwards the matter to the Commission Interministérielle des Investissements (CII) when investment recognition or incentives are requested. A business plan with five-year projections, a project and import list, company records, NIF and CIP documents, patent or registration documents where relevant, tax-clearance documents, and an opening balance sheet can be required. An existing company may also need to identify a new project or business line separately. The Code des investissements generally covers properly established Haitian or foreign natural and legal persons and provides the same basic legal guarantees regardless of nationality. These protections concern ownership, freedom to operate a business and intellectual property. CFI states that profits and dividends can be repatriated, but tax, customs and withholding obligations should be checked before any transfer. Incentives are not automatic: the CII must recognize the project, and benefits can depend on compliance with the approved conditions. Tax and customs advantages may run for up to seven years after applicable budget changes, while some free-zone regimes may extend to 15 years. A benefit can be affected by legal violations, failure to perform obligations, misuse or failure to meet the approved project conditions. The Banque de la République d'Haïti (BRH) handles monetary policy, the formal foreign-exchange market and financial supervision. Bons BRH are book-entry instruments with maturities from 7 to 364 days, but the available research does not establish direct individual access; access is through banks and non-bank financial institutions. There is no documented local retail standard for brokerage or securities custody, and no reliable evidence of a domestic ETF or investment-fund infrastructure. Direct investments therefore rely on company, contract, ownership and project records, while resale and exit liquidity can be limited. Investment planning must account for armed violence, transport blockades, supply interruptions, political and institutional uncertainty, corruption, weak enforcement, title and contract disputes, import and energy failures, infrastructure shortages, climate and disaster exposure, and counterparty or governance problems. Inflation reached 31.9% in FY2025 and real GDP contracted by 2.7%. The Haitian gourde (HTG) also faces depreciation and a dual foreign-exchange market with formal and informal channels. Investors may separate USD and HTG exposures, diversify across sectors, use local partnerships or export and re-export models, and obtain security, site, title, regulatory and counterparty reviews. Public-private partnerships may be possible in selected cases, but the legal and transparency framework remains an area of continuing strengthening. Diaspora investors can use support from Haitian Business Advocates (HBA).