Doing Business 2019 Congo, Rep. Economy Profile Congo, Rep. Page 1 Doing Business 2019 Congo, Rep. Economy Profile of Congo, Rep. Doing Business 2019 Indicators (in order of appearance in the document) Starting a business Procedures, time, cost and paid-in minimum capital to start a limited liability company Dealing with construction permits Procedures, time and cost to complete all formalities to build a warehouse and the quality control and safety mechanisms in the construction permitting system Getting electricity Procedures, time and cost to get connected to the electrical grid, and the reliability of the electricity supply and the transparency of tariffs Registering property Procedures, time and cost to transfer a property and the quality of the land administration system Getting credit Movable collateral laws and credit information systems Protecting minority investors Minority shareholders’ rights in related-party transactions and in corporate governance Paying taxes Payments, time, total tax and contribution rate for a firm to comply with all tax regulations as well as post-filing processes Trading across borders Time and cost to export the product of comparative advantage and import auto parts Enforcing contracts Time and cost to resolve a commercial dispute and the quality of judicial processes Resolving insolvency Time, cost, outcome and recovery rate for a commercial insolvency and the strength of the legal framework for insolvency Labor market regulation Flexibility in employment regulation and aspects of job quality Page 2 Doing Business 2019 Congo, Rep. About Doing Business The Doing Business project provides objective measures of business regulations and their enforcement across 190 economies and selected cities at the subnational and regional level. The Doing Business project, launched in 2002, looks at domestic small and medium-size companies and measures the regulations applying to them through their life cycle. Doing Business captures several important dimensions of the regulatory environment as it applies to local firms. It provides quantitative indicators on regulation for starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency. Doing Business also measures features of labor market regulation. Although Doing Business does not present rankings of economies on the labor market regulation indicators or include the topic in the aggregate ease of doing business score or ranking on the ease of doing business, it does present the data for these indicators. By gathering and analyzing comprehensive quantitative data to compare business regulation environments across economies and over time, Doing Business encourages economies to compete towards more efficient regulation; offers measurable benchmarks for reform; and serves as a resource for academics, journalists, private sector researchers and others interested in the business climate of each economy. In addition, Doing Business offers detailed subnational reports, which exhaustively cover business regulation and reform in different cities and regions within a nation. These reports provide data on the ease of doing business, rank each location, and recommend reforms to improve performance in each of the indicator areas. Selected cities can compare their business regulations with other cities in the economy or region and with the 190 economies that Doing Business has ranked. The first Doing Business report, published in 2003, covered 5 indicator sets and 133 economies. This year’s report covers 11 indicator sets and 190 economies. Most indicator sets refer to a case scenario in the largest business city of each economy, except for 11 economies that have a population of more than 100 million as of 2013 (Bangladesh, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Russian Federation and the United States) where Doing Business also collected data for the second largest business city. The data for these 11 economies are a population-weighted average for the 2 largest business cities. The project has benefited from feedback from governments, academics, practitioners and reviewers. The initial goal remains: to provide an objective basis for understanding and improving the regulatory environment for business around the world. More about Doing Business (PDF, 5MB) Page 3 Doing Business 2019 Congo, Rep. Ease of Doing Business in Region Sub-Saharan Africa DB 2019 Rank 190 1 Congo, Rep. Income Category Lower middle income 180 DB 2019 Ease of doing business score Population 5,260,750 0 100 City Covered Brazzaville 39.83 DB 2019 Ease of Doing Business Score 0 100 51.61: Regional Average (Sub-Saharan Africa) 47.78: Cameroon (Rank: 166) 43.86: Angola (Rank: 173) 41.94: Equatorial Guinea (Rank: 177) 39.83: Congo, Rep. (Rank: 180) 36.90: Central African Republic (Rank: 183) Note: The ease of doing business score captures the gap of each economy from the best regulatory performance observed on each of the indicators across all economies in the Doing Business sample since 2005. An economy’s ease of doing business score is reflected on a scale from 0 to 100, where 0 represents the lowest and 100 represents the best performance. The ease of doing business ranking ranges from 1 to 190. Rankings on Doing Business topics - Congo, Rep. 1 28 55 82 Rank 109 122 127 134 136 149 155 163 179 177 182 185 184 190 Starting Dealing Getting Registering Getting Protecting Paying Trading Enforcing Resolving a with Electricity Property Credit Minority Taxes across Contracts Insolvency Business Construction Investors Borders Permits Ease of Doing Business Score on Doing Business topics - Congo, Rep. 100 80 64.10 64.04 Score 60 43.99 37.87 40.00 37.81 40 35.00 29.00 26.79 19.68 20 0 Starting Dealing Getting Registering Getting Protecting Paying Trading Enforcing Resolving a with Electricity Property Credit Minority Taxes across Contracts Insolvency Business Construction Investors Borders Permits Page 4 Doing Business 2019 Congo, Rep. Starting a Business This topic measures the number of procedures, time, cost and paid-in minimum capital requirement for a small- to medium-sized limited liability company to start up and formally operate in each economy’s largest business city. To make the data comparable across 190 economies, Doing Business uses a standardized business that is 100% domestically owned, has start-up capital equivalent to 10 times the income per capita, engages in general industrial or commercial activities and employs between 10 and 50 people one month after the commencement of operations, all of whom are domestic nationals. Starting a Business considers two types of local limited liability companies that are identical in all aspects, except that one company is owned by 5 married women and the other by 5 married men. The ranking of economies on the ease of starting a business is determined by sorting their scores for starting a business. These scores are the simple average of the scores for each of the component indicators. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in May 2018. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Procedures to legally start and formally operate To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions about the a company (number) business and the procedures are used. It is assumed that any required information is readily available and that the entrepreneur will pay no bribes. • Preregistration (for example, name verification or reservation, notarization) The business: • Registration in the economy’s largest business - Is a limited liability company (or its legal equivalent). If there is more than one type city of limited liability company in the economy, the most common among domestic firms • Postregistration (for example, social security is chosen. Information on the most common form is obtained from incorporation registration, company seal) lawyers or the statistical office. - Operates in the economy’s largest business city. For 11 economies the data are • Obtaining approval from spouse to start a also collected for the second largest business city. business or to leave the home to register the - The entire office space is approximately 929 square meters (10,000 square feet). company - Is 100% domestically owned and has five owners, none of whom is a legal entity; • Obtaining any gender specific document for has a start-up capital of 10 times income per capita and has a turnover of at least company registration and operation or national 100 times income per capita. identification card - Performs general industrial or commercial activities, such as the production or sale of goods or services to the public. The business does not perform foreign trade Time required to complete each procedure activities and does not handle products subject to a special tax regime, for example, (calendar days) liquor or tobacco. It does not use heavily polluting production processes. • Does not include time spent gathering - Leases the commercial plant or offices and is not a proprietor of real estate and the information amount of the annual lease for the office space is equivalent to the income per capita. • Each procedure starts on a separate day (2 - Does not qualify for investment incentives or any special benefits. procedures cannot start on the same day) - Has at least 10 and up to 50 employees one month after the commencement of • Procedures fully completed online are recorded operations, all of whom are domestic nationals. as ½ day - Has a company deed that is 10 pages long. • Procedure is considered completed once final The owners: document is received - Have reached the legal age of majority. If there is no legal age of majority, they are • No prior contact with officials assumed to be 30 years old. Cost required to complete each procedure (% of - Are sane, competent, in good health and have no criminal record. income per capita) - Are married and the marriage is monogamous and registered with the authorities. - Where the answer differs according to the legal system applicable to the woman or • Official costs only, no bribes man in question (as may be the case in economies where there is legal plurality), the • No professional fees unless services required by answer used will be the one that applies to the majority of the population. law or commonly used in practice Paid-in minimum capital (% of income per capita) • Funds deposited in a bank or with third party before registration or up to 3 months after incorporation Page 5 Doing Business 2019 Congo, Rep. Starting a Business - Congo, Rep. Standardized Company Legal form Société à Responsabilité Limitée (SARL) - Limited Liability Company Paid-in minimum capital requirement XAF 25,000 City Covered Brazzaville Indicator Congo, Rep. Sub-Saharan OECD high Best Regulatory Africa income Performance Procedure – Men (number) 10 7.4 4.9 1 (New Zealand) Time – Men (days) 49 23.3 9.3 0.5 (New Zealand) Cost – Men (% of income per capita) 75.5 44.4 3.1 0.0 (Slovenia) Procedure – Women (number) 11 7.6 4.9 1 (New Zealand) Time – Women (days) 50 23.4 9.3 0.5 (New Zealand) Cost – Women (% of income per capita) 75.5 44.4 3.1 0.0 (Slovenia) Paid-in min. capital (% of income per capita) 2.9 10.0 8.6 0.0 (117 Economies) Figure – Starting a Business in Congo, Rep. and comparator economies – Ranking and Score DB 2019 Starting a Business Score 0 100 86.26: Cameroon (Rank: 92) 80.52: Angola (Rank: 139) 78.52: Regional Average (Sub-Saharan Africa) 64.10: Congo, Rep. (Rank: 179) 60.90: Central African Republic (Rank: 181) 55.74: Equatorial Guinea (Rank: 184) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of starting a business is determined by sorting their scores for starting a business. These scores are the simple average of the scores for each of the component indicators. Page 6 Doing Business 2019 Congo, Rep. Figure – Starting a Business in Congo, Rep. – Procedure, Time and Cost Time (days) Cost (% of income per capita) 50 40 35 Cost (% of income per capita) 40 30 Time (days) 25 30 20 20 15 10 10 5 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 *9 * 10 * 11 Procedures (number) * This symbol is shown beside procedure numbers that take place simultaneously with the previous procedure. Note: Online procedures account for 0.5 days in the total time calculation. For economies that have a different procedure list for men and women, the graph shows the time for women. For more information on methodology, see the Doing Business website (http://doingbusiness.org/en/methodology). For details on the procedures reflected here, see the summary below. Page 7 Doing Business 2019 Congo, Rep. Details – Starting a Business in Congo, Rep. – Procedure, Time and Cost No. Procedures Time to Complete Associated Costs 1 APPLIES TO WOMEN ONLY: Obtain marriage certificate for national 1 day No cost identification card Agency : Brazzaville City Hall According to Decree No. 2007-207 from April 2, 2007, married women must have the name of their husband in their ID card. They must present a marriage certificate while requesting their ID card. Marriage certificates may be requested by married woman in the city hall where the wedding was celebrated. 2 Deposit the legally required capital in a bank and obtain the deposit 1 day no charge evidence Agency : Notary The legally required capital must be deposited to register a company. The bank account deposit is only formalized after presentation of the RCCM and the NIU (Numéro d'Identification Unique). So in practice the minimum capital requirement is deposited with the notary. 3 Draft and notarize the articles of association with the public notary 3 days XAF 300,000 notary Agency : Notary fees + XAF 12,000 The notary prepares and legalizes the articles of association. The notary also for stamps issues the authenticated declaration of subscription and payment, which confirms that the entire initial capital has been deposited at the bank. Companies may choose to have the notary draft the articles of association. In this case, the articles would be drafted before the initial capital is deposited. The entrepreneur would then return to the notary to obtain the declaration of subscription (Déclaration notariée de souscription et de versement). 4 Register articles of association with tax authorities 2 days no charge Agency : Tax Authorities The company's articles of association must be registered with the tax authorities. The Minister of Finance of the Republic of Congo, through the adoption and implementation of the Fiscal Law 2012, abolished the cost for registering the articles of association with the tax authorities. 5 Register articles of association with the commercial registrar at the Clerk’s 1 day included in procedure Office of the Court 5 Agency : Commercial Registry (Greffe du Tribunal de Commerce) To register the articles of association with the Commercial Registrar, the following documents are required: • Identification of managers. • Criminal record of the managers. • Lease (copy). • Notarized articles of association. 6 Register with the Centre des Formalités des Entreprises (One-stop shop) 14 days XAF 300,000 Agency : Centre des Formalités des Entreprises (One-stop shop) The Centre des Formalités des Entreprises (CFE) is a one-stop shop that centralizes several registration procedures. By registering with the CFE, the firm is also registered with the Chamber of Commerce and the Centre National de la Statistique et des Études Économiques (CNSEE). Although the CFE also organizes commercial registration at the court, in practice, it is faster for companies to register directly with the court. The Minister of Finance of the Republic of Congo, through the adoption and implementation of the Fiscal Law 2013, eliminated the requirement to obtain a merchant card to start operations. 7 Register with the tax authorities 14 days included in procedure Agency : Tax Authorities (Centre d'Identification Unique) 5 A limited liability company must be registered with the Centre d'Identification Unique (CIU) to obtain the tax ID or NIU. 8 Publish the notice of company incorporation in a legal journal 4 days XAF 50,000 Agency : Legal Journal (Journal officiel et La Semaine Africaine) The notice of company incorporation can be published either in (a) the Official Gazette, with a 1-month turnaround; or (b) any legal journal, with a 1-week turnaround. The notice includes the company name, capital, and taxpayer identification number (TIN). 9 Notify the Ministry of Labor (ONEMO) of the start of operations 2 days no charge Agency : Ministry of Labor (ONEMO) (simultaneous with Employee contracts must be certified by the labor authorities. previous procedure) Register with the Regional Directorate of Labor 1 day (simultaneous no charge 10 Agency : Regional Directorate of Labor with previous All new businesses must register with the Regional Directorate of Labor. procedure) Page 8 Doing Business 2019 Congo, Rep. Register with the Social Security Authorities 14 days no charge 11 Agency : Social Security Authorities (CNSS) (simultaneous with To register with the Social Security Authorities, the following documents are previous procedure) required: • Manager’s identification • Employees' contracts, certified by the Ministry of Labor. • Manager's commerce card. • Copy of the lease. • Notarized articles of association. Social security contributions are paid one quarter in advance at the rate of 2.8% of the employee's salary and 3.2% of the employer's earnings. Applies to women only. Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure. Page 9 Doing Business 2019 Congo, Rep. Dealing with Construction Permits This topic tracks the procedures, time and cost to build a warehouse—including obtaining necessary the licenses and permits, submitting all required notifications, requesting and receiving all necessary inspections and obtaining utility connections. In addition, the Dealing with Construction Permits indicator measures the building quality control index, evaluating the quality of building regulations, the strength of quality control and safety mechanisms, liability and insurance regimes, and professional certification requirements. The most recent round of data collection was completed in May 2018. See the methodology for more information What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Procedures to legally build a warehouse To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions about the (number) construction company, the warehouse project and the utility connections are used. • Submitting all relevant documents and obtaining The construction company (BuildCo): all necessary clearances, licenses, permits and certificates - Is a limited liability company (or its legal equivalent) and operates in the economy’s largest business city. For 11 economies the data are also collected for the second • Submitting all required notifications and receiving largest business city. all necessary inspections - Is 100% domestically and privately owned; has five owners, none of whom is a • Obtaining utility connections for water and legal entity. Has a licensed architect and a licensed engineer, both registered with sewerage the local association of architects or engineers. BuildCo is not assumed to have any other employees who are technical or licensed experts, such as geological or • Registering and selling the warehouse after its topographical experts. completion - Owns the land on which the warehouse will be built and will sell the warehouse Time required to complete each procedure upon its completion. (calendar days) The warehouse: • Does not include time spent gathering - Will be used for general storage activities, such as storage of books or stationery. information - Will have two stories, both above ground, with a total constructed area of • Each procedure starts on a separate day— approximately 1,300.6 square meters (14,000 square feet). Each floor will be 3 though procedures that can be fully completed meters (9 feet, 10 inches) high and will be located on a land plot of approximately online are an exception to this rule 929 square meters (10,000 square feet) that is 100% owned by BuildCo, and the • Procedure is considered completed once final warehouse is valued at 50 times income per capita. document is received - Will have complete architectural and technical plans prepared by a licensed architect. If preparation of the plans requires such steps as obtaining further • No prior contact with officials documentation or getting prior approvals from external agencies, these are counted as procedures. Cost required to complete each procedure (% of - Will take 30 weeks to construct (excluding all delays due to administrative and income per capita) regulatory requirements). • Official costs only, no bribes The water and sewerage connections: Building quality control index (0-15) - Will be 150 meters (492 feet) from the existing water source and sewer tap. If there • Quality of building regulations (0-2) is no water delivery infrastructure in the economy, a borehole will be dug. If there is no sewerage infrastructure, a septic tank in the smallest size available will be • Quality control before construction (0-1) installed or built. • Quality control during construction (0-3) - Will have an average water use of 662 liters (175 gallons) a day and an average • Quality control after construction (0-3) wastewater flow of 568 liters (150 gallons) a day. Will have a peak water use of 1,325 liters (350 gallons) a day and a peak wastewater flow of 1,136 liters (300 • Liability and insurance regimes (0-2) gallons) a day. • Professional certifications (0-4) - Will have a constant level of water demand and wastewater flow throughout the year; will be 1 inch in diameter for the water connection and 4 inches in diameter for the sewerage connection. Page 10 Doing Business 2019 Congo, Rep. Dealing with Construction Permits - Congo, Rep. Standardized Warehouse Estimated value of warehouse XAF 43,823,159.70 City Covered Brazzaville Indicator Congo, Rep. Sub-Saharan OECD high Best Regulatory Africa income Performance Procedures (number) 12 14.7 12.7 None in 2017/18 Time (days) 164 145.7 153.1 None in 2017/18 Cost (% of warehouse value) 7.9 8.8 1.5 None in 2017/18 Building quality control index (0-15) 9.5 8.5 11.5 15.0 (3 Economies) Figure – Dealing with Construction Permits in Congo, Rep. and comparator economies – Ranking and Score DB 2019 Dealing with Construction Permits Score 0 100 68.93: Angola (Rank: 87) 64.04: Congo, Rep. (Rank: 127) 62.04: Cameroon (Rank: 132) 58.59: Regional Average (Sub-Saharan Africa) 55.01: Equatorial Guinea (Rank: 163) 40.75: Central African Republic (Rank: 181) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of dealing with construction permits is determined by sorting their scores for dealing with construction permits. These scores are the simple average of the scores for each of the component indicators. Figure – Dealing with Construction Permits in Congo, Rep. – Procedure, Time and Cost Time (days) Cost (% of warehouse value) 3 160 140 2.5 Cost (% of warehouse value) 120 2 Time (days) 100 80 1.5 60 1 40 0.5 20 0 0 1 *2 *3 *4 5 6 7 8 9 * 10 11 12 Procedures (number) * This symbol is shown beside procedure numbers that take place simultaneously with the previous procedure. Note: Online procedures account for 0.5 days in the total time calculation. For economies that have a different procedure list for men and women, the graph shows the time for women. For more information on methodology, see the Doing Business website (http://doingbusiness.org/en/methodology). For details on the procedures reflected here, see the summary below. Page 11 Doing Business 2019 Congo, Rep. Figure – Dealing with Construction Permits in Congo, Rep. and comparator economies – Measure of Quality 15 13.0 Index score 9.5 10 8.5 6.0 6.0 5 1.0 0 Congo, Rep. Angola Cameroon Central African Republic Equatorial Guinea Sub-Saharan Africa Details – Dealing with Construction Permits in Congo, Rep. – Procedure, Time and Cost No. Procedures Time to Complete Associated Costs 1 Obtain a geotechnical study 10 days XAF 1,000,000 Agency : BCBTP This is the only agency that conducts this type of study. For the purpose of the Doing Business case study, there will be “2 points de sondage.” This study is mandatory to enable the civil engineer to do the foundation plan (plan de beton arme or BA). This study must also be submitted with the request for a building permit. 2 Obtain survey map 3 days XAF 50,000 Agency : Survey Department (Direction des Cadastres) In Brazzaville, a normal lot is 400 sq. m. and the cost per lot is FCFA 25,000.00. The size of the lot in the Doing Business case study is 929 sq. m. which would constitute 2 lots in Brazzaville. Therefore, the total cost to obtain the cadastral map is FCFA 50,000.00. 3 Obtain a certified copy of the property title 1 day XAF 5,000 Agency : Notary According to Decree 2014-246 dated May 28, 2014, a certified copy of the property title must be submitted when requesting a building permit. 4 Hire an authorized supervision agency 1 day XAF 657,347 Agency : Private Firm According to Law 16-88 implemented on 17 September 1988, a private firm must be hired to do the technical control for certain types of building. The case study of Doing Business will fall under the category requiring this Bureau de Controle. 5 Request and obtain the building permit 45 days XAF 450,000 Agency : Mayor’s Office, Brazzaville The building permit is obtained after notifying the cadastre and curator (conservateur). The required documents to obtain a building permit are the following: • Occupation permit or land title • Survey abstract • Very large-scale boundary plan, drawn up by the Lands and Survey Department (Direction du Cadastre et de la Topographie) • Sketches and drawings of the proposed works, produced by an architect or a certified draftsman • Building permit application (handwritten) • Authorization for the cutting and clearing of trees, if necessary • Certification of party walls (walls shared by tenants of adjoining buildings) • A certified undertaking to build and maintain streets adjoining the elevations Once deposited at the municipality, the files will be internally transmitted to the Ministry of Construction, Urbanism and Habitat for technical analysis of the request. Within 1 -2 weeks, the Ministry will deliver the Accord prealable for an amount of FCFA 25,000.00. This Ministry will conduct an on-site visit and once the final approval is given, the file will be transmitted back to the Municipality for the issuance of the final permit. Payment is done at the Municipality only after the permit is approved. The fee is FCFA 450,000.00 for the Commune de Brazzaville. 6 Receive an inspection from the Fire Department 1 day no charge Agency : Fire Department of Brazzaville This is a mandatory requirement for safety purposes. BuildCo must call the Fire Department to request the inspection, but the Fire Department will visit the construction site regularly (nothing is scheduled and there are not a lot of inspections done). A certificate of conformity will be issued at the end of the construction by the Fire Department. Page 12 Doing Business 2019 Congo, Rep. 7 Request and receive final inspection 1 day no charge Agency : Ministry of Construction, Urbanism and Habitat A final inspection is conducted to verify that the finished building is in compliance with the approved plans. 8 Obtain a certificate of conformity from the Fire Department 15 days XAF 130,000 Agency : Fire Department of Brazzaville There is a two-step inspection to verify that the electrical work is in conformity to the approved plan: there is a first inspection and then a second opinion is necessary to ensure that the first inspection was done properly. This is done by a private company. 9 Register the building with the Direction Générale des Impôts 15 days XAF 1,088,056 Agency : Direction Générale des Impôts -Conservation des Hypothèques et de la Propriété Foncière Once the building is completed and the certificate from the Fire Department is obtained, the building must be registered with the Land Registry to finalize the property title (transcription). The cost of this transaction as set by law is 5% of the market value of the property. Request water connection 1 day no charge 10 Agency : Société Nationale de Distribution d'Eau 11 Receive inspection for water estimate 1 day no charge Agency : Société Nationale de Distribution d'Eau A cost estimate (devis) is needed for a water connection. 12 Obtain connection to water mains 76 days XAF 73,200 Agency : Société Nationale de Distribution d'Eau The cost for such procedures are estimated as follows: • Study = FCFA 5,000.00 • Connection = FCFA 25,000.00 • Fixed cost = FCFA 28,200.00 • Labor = FCFA 15,000.00 Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure. Page 13 Doing Business 2019 Congo, Rep. Details – Dealing with Construction Permits in Congo, Rep. – Measure of Quality Answer Score Building quality control index (0-15) 9.5 Quality of building regulations index (0-2) 0.5 How accessible are building laws and regulations in your economy? (0-1) Free of charge; 0.5 Not easily accessible. Which requirements for obtaining a building permit are clearly specified in the building List of required 0.0 regulations or on any accessible website, brochure or pamphlet? (0-1) documents. Quality control before construction index (0-1) 1.0 Which third-party entities are required by law to verify that the building plans are in Licensed 1.0 compliance with existing building regulations? (0-1) engineer. Quality control during construction index (0-3) 2.0 What types of inspections (if any) are required by law to be carried out during construction? Inspections by 1.0 (0-2) external engineer or firm; Unscheduled inspections; Inspections at various phases. Do legally mandated inspections occur in practice during construction? (0-1) Mandatory 1.0 inspections are always done in practice. Quality control after construction index (0-3) 2.0 Is there a final inspection required by law to verify that the building was built in accordance Yes, final 2.0 with the approved plans and regulations? (0-2) inspection is done by government agency. Do legally mandated final inspections occur in practice? (0-1) Final inspection 0.0 does not always occur in practice; Final inspection occurs most of the time. Liability and insurance regimes index (0-2) 2.0 Which parties (if any) are held liable by law for structural flaws or problems in the building Architect or 1.0 once it is in use (Latent Defect Liability or Decennial Liability)? (0-1) engineer; Construction company. Which parties (if any) are required by law to obtain an insurance policy to cover possible No party is 1.0 structural flaws or problems in the building once it is in use (Latent Defect Liability Insurance required by law or Decennial Insurance)? (0-1) to obtain insurance ; Construction company. Professional certifications index (0-4) 2.0 What are the qualification requirements for the professional responsible for verifying that the University degree 1.0 architectural plans or drawings are in compliance with existing building regulations? (0-2) in architecture or engineering; Being a registered architect or engineer. Page 14 Doing Business 2019 Congo, Rep. What are the qualification requirements for the professional who supervises the construction University degree 1.0 on the ground? (0-2) in engineering, construction or construction management; Being a registered architect or engineer; Passing a certification exam. Page 15 Doing Business 2019 Congo, Rep. Getting Electricity This topic measures the procedures, time and cost required for a business to obtain a permanent electricity connection for a newly constructed warehouse. Additionally, the reliability of supply and transparency of tariffs index measures reliability of supply, transparency of tariffs and the price of electricity. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in May 2018. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Procedures to obtain an electricity connection To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions about the (number) warehouse, the electricity connection and the monthly consumption are used. • Submitting all relevant documents and obtaining The warehouse: all necessary clearances and permits - Is owned by a local entrepreneur and is used for storage of goods. • Completing all required notifications and - Is located in the economy’s largest business city. For 11 economies the data are receiving all necessary inspections also collected for the second largest business city. • Obtaining external installation works and possibly - Is located in an area where similar warehouses are typically located and is in an purchasing material for these works area with no physical constraints. For example, the property is not near a railway. - Is a new construction and is being connected to electricity for the first time. • Concluding any necessary supply contract and - Has two stories with a total surface area of approximately 1,300.6 square meters obtaining final supply (14,000 square feet). The plot of land on which it is built is 929 square meters Time required to complete each procedure (10,000 square feet). (calendar days) The electricity connection: • Is at least 1 calendar day - Is a permanent one with a three-phase, four-wire Y connection with a subscribed • Each procedure starts on a separate day capacity of 140-kilo-volt-ampere (kVA) with a power factor of 1, when 1 kVA = 1 kilowatt (kW). • Does not include time spent gathering information - Has a length of 150 meters. The connection is to either the low- or medium-voltage distribution network and is either overhead or underground, whichever is more • Reflects the time spent in practice, with little common in the area where the warehouse is located and requires works that involve follow-up and no prior contact with officials the crossing of a 10-meter road (such as by excavation or overhead lines) but are all carried out on public land. There is no crossing of other owners’ private property Cost required to complete each procedure (% of because the warehouse has access to a road. income per capita) - Does not require work to install the internal wiring of the warehouse. This has • Official costs only, no bribes already been completed up to and including the customer’s service panel or switchboard and the meter base. • Value added tax excluded The monthly consumption: The reliability of supply and transparency of tariffs index (0-8) - It is assumed that the warehouse operates 30 days a month from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 • Duration and frequency of power outages (0–3) p.m. (8 hours a day), with equipment utilized at 80% of capacity on average and that there are no electricity cuts (assumed for simplicity reasons) and the monthly energy • Tools to monitor power outages (0–1) consumption is 26,880 kilowatt-hours (kWh); hourly consumption is 112 kWh. • Tools to restore power supply (0–1) - If multiple electricity suppliers exist, the warehouse is served by the cheapest supplier. • Regulatory monitoring of utilities’ performance (0–1) - Tariffs effective in January of the current year are used for calculation of the price of electricity for the warehouse. Although January has 31 days, for calculation • Financial deterrents limiting outages (0–1) purposes only 30 days are used. • Transparency and accessibility of tariffs (0–1) Price of electricity (cents per kilowatt-hour)* • Price based on monthly bill for commercial warehouse in case study *Note: Doing Business measures the price of electricity, but it is not included in the ease of doing business score nor the ranking on the ease of getting electricity. Page 16 Doing Business 2019 Congo, Rep. Getting Electricity - Congo, Rep. Standardized Connection Price of electricity (US cents per kWh) 8.2 Name of utility Société Nationale d'Electricité (SNE) City Covered Brazzaville Indicator Congo, Rep. Sub-Saharan OECD high Best Regulatory Africa income Performance Procedures (number) 6 5.2 4.5 3 (25 Economies) Time (days) 134 112.0 77.2 18 (3 Economies) Cost (% of income per capita) 6769 3456.5 64.2 0.0 (3 Economies) Reliability of supply and transparency of tariff 0 1.6 7.5 8.0 (27 Economies) index (0-8) Figure – Getting Electricity in Congo, Rep. and comparator economies – Ranking and Score DB 2019 Getting Electricity Score 0 100 61.04: Cameroon (Rank: 129) 54.41: Equatorial Guinea (Rank: 150) 54.08: Angola (Rank: 152) 49.00: Regional Average (Sub-Saharan Africa) 29.00: Congo, Rep. (Rank: 182) 24.64: Central African Republic (Rank: 184) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of getting electricity is determined by sorting their scores for getting electricity. These scores are the simple average of the scores for all the component indicators except the price of electricity. Page 17 Doing Business 2019 Congo, Rep. Figure – Getting Electricity in Congo, Rep. – Procedure, Time and Cost Time (days) Cost (% of income per capita) 8000 120 7000 Cost (% of income per capita) 100 6000 Time (days) 5000 80 4000 60 3000 40 2000 20 1000 0 0 1 *2 3 *4 5 *6 Procedures (number) * This symbol is shown beside procedure numbers that take place simultaneously with the previous procedure. Note: Online procedures account for 0.5 days in the total time calculation. For economies that have a different procedure list for men and women, the graph shows the time for women. For more information on methodology, see the Doing Business website (http://doingbusiness.org/en/methodology). For details on the procedures reflected here, see the summary below. Figure – Getting Electricity in Congo, Rep. and comparator economies – Measure of Quality 8 7 6 Index score 5 4 3 3 2 1.6 1 0 0 0 0 0 Congo, Rep. Angola Cameroon Central African Republic Equatorial Guinea Sub-Saharan Africa Page 18 Doing Business 2019 Congo, Rep. Details – Getting Electricity in Congo, Rep. – Procedure, Time and Cost No. Procedures Time to Complete Associated Costs 1 Submit application to SNE and await estimate and technical study 7 calendar days XAF 0 Agency : Société Nationale d'Electricité (SNEL) The client submits the application for a new connection at the utility. The utility conducts a technical study and prepares an estimate. The utility sends the estimate to the client after the site visit. 2 Receive external inspection by SNE 1 calendar day XAF 0 Agency : Société Nationale d'Electricité (SNEL) The utility (SNE) conducts an external site visit to prepare the estimate and the technical study. After the technical study, SNE gives a quote to the customer depending on the material and workforce available. SNE also gives the client a list of companies which can do the external works. 3 Hire licensed electrical contractor, purchase material and carry out external 120 calendar days XAF 58,629,550 works Agency : Electrical Contractor The client hires a licensed electrical contractor. The contractor purchases the material and conducts the external connection works. 4 Obtain excavation permit from municipality 20 calendar days XAF 0 Agency : Municipality The client needs to obtain an excavation permit at the Municipality to cross the road 5 Obtain inspection of works, meter installation and final connection by SNE 7 calendar days XAF 0 Agency : Societe National d'Electricite (SNE) Once the works are done, the electrical contractor informs the utility. The utility comes to the warehouse to inspect the works, followed by the installation of the meter. The electricity will then be turned-on provided that the advance on the consumption has been paid by the customer. 6 Receive and sign supply contract 1 calendar day XAF 697,970.62 Agency : Societe National d'Electricite (SNE) After the inspection, the client calls the utility and goes to the commercial service department to sign the supply contract and pay an advance on the consumption. The advance on consumption depends of the kW contracted and is given back at the end of the supply contract. The advance consumption needs to be paid to receive the electricity turn-on. Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure. Page 19 Doing Business 2019 Congo, Rep. Details – Getting Electricity in Congo, Rep. – Measure of Quality Answer Reliability of supply and transparency of tariff index (0-8) 0 Total duration and frequency of outages per customer a year (0-3) 0 System average interruption duration index (SAIDI) .. System average interruption frequency index (SAIFI) .. What is the minimum outage time (in minutes) that the utility considers for the calculation of SAIDI/SAIFI N/A Mechanisms for monitoring outages (0-1) 0 Does the distribution utility use automated tools to monitor outages? No Mechanisms for restoring service (0-1) 0 Does the distribution utility use automated tools to restore service? No Regulatory monitoring (0-1) 0 Does a regulator—that is, an entity separate from the utility—monitor the utility’s performance on reliability of No supply? Financial deterrents aimed at limiting outages (0-1) 0 Does the utility either pay compensation to customers or face fines by the regulator (or both) if outages No exceed a certain cap? Communication of tariffs and tariff changes (0-1) 0 Are effective tariffs available online? No Link to the website, if available online n.a Are customers notified of a change in tariff ahead of the billing cycle? No Note: If the duration and frequency of outages is 100 or less, the economy is eligible to score on the Reliability of supply and transparency of tariff index. If the duration and frequency of outages is not available, or is over 100, the economy is not eligible to score on the index. If the minimum outage time considered for SAIDI/SAIFI is over 5 minutes, the economy is not eligible to score on the index. Page 20 Doing Business 2019 Congo, Rep. Registering Property This topic examines the steps, time and cost involved in registering property, assuming a standardized case of an entrepreneur who wants to purchase land and a building that is already registered and free of title dispute. In addition, the topic also measures the quality of the land administration system in each economy. The quality of land administration index has five dimensions: reliability of infrastructure, transparency of information, geographic coverage, land dispute resolution, and equal access to property rights. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in May 2018. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Procedures to legally transfer title on To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions about the immovable property (number) parties to the transaction, the property and the procedures are used. • Preregistration procedures (for example, The parties (buyer and seller): checking for liens, notarizing sales agreement, paying property transfer taxes) - Are limited liability companies (or the legal equivalent). - Are located in the periurban area of the economy’s largest business city. For 11 • Registration procedures in the economy's largest economies the data are also collected for the second largest business city. business city. - Are 100% domestically and privately owned. • Postregistration procedures (for example, filling - Have 50 employees each, all of whom are nationals. title with municipality) - Perform general commercial activities. Time required to complete each procedure The property (fully owned by the seller): (calendar days) - Has a value of 50 times income per capita, which equals the sale price. • Does not include time spent gathering - Is fully owned by the seller. information - Has no mortgages attached and has been under the same ownership for the past 10 years. • Each procedure starts on a separate day - - Is registered in the land registry or cadastre, or both, and is free of title disputes. though procedures that can be fully completed online are an exception to this rule - Is located in a periurban commercial zone, and no rezoning is required. - Consists of land and a building. The land area is 557.4 square meters (6,000 • Procedure is considered completed once final square feet). A two-story warehouse of 929 square meters (10,000 square feet) is document is received located on the land. The warehouse is 10 years old, is in good condition, has no • No prior contact with officials heating system and complies with all safety standards, building codes and legal requirements. The property, consisting of land and building, will be transferred in its Cost required to complete each procedure (% of entirety. property value) - Will not be subject to renovations or additional construction following the purchase. - Has no trees, natural water sources, natural reserves or historical monuments of • Official costs only (such as administrative fees, any kind. duties and taxes). - Will not be used for special purposes, and no special permits, such as for • Value Added Tax, Capital Gains Tax and illicit residential use, industrial plants, waste storage or certain types of agricultural payments are excluded activities, are required. - Has no occupants, and no other party holds a legal interest in it. Quality of land administration index (0-30) • Reliability of infrastructure index (0-8) • Transparency of information index (0–6) • Geographic coverage index (0–8) • Land dispute resolution index (0–8) • Equal access to property rights index (-2–0) Page 21 Doing Business 2019 Congo, Rep. Registering Property - Congo, Rep. Indicator Congo, Rep. Sub-Saharan OECD high Best Regulatory Africa income Performance Procedures (number) 6 6.2 4.7 1 (4 Economies) Time (days) 55 53.9 20.1 1 (New Zealand) Cost (% of property value) 13.9 7.6 4.2 0.0 (Saudi Arabia) Quality of the land administration index (0-30) 3.5 8.8 23.0 None in 2017/18 Figure – Registering Property in Congo, Rep. and comparator economies – Ranking and Score DB 2019 Registering Property Score 0 100 52.62: Regional Average (Sub-Saharan Africa) 44.45: Equatorial Guinea (Rank: 164) 43.16: Angola (Rank: 170) 41.94: Central African Republic (Rank: 172) 37.93: Cameroon (Rank: 176) 37.87: Congo, Rep. (Rank: 177) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of registering property is determined by sorting their scores for registering property. These scores are the simple average of the scores for each of the component indicators. Figure – Registering Property in Congo, Rep. – Procedure, Time and Cost Time (days) Cost (% of property value) 10 50 Cost (% of property value) 8 40 Time (days) 6 30 4 20 10 2 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Procedures (number) * This symbol is shown beside procedure numbers that take place simultaneously with the previous procedure. Note: Online procedures account for 0.5 days in the total time calculation. For economies that have a different procedure list for men and women, the graph shows the time for women. For more information on methodology, see the Doing Business website (http://doingbusiness.org/en/methodology). For details on the procedures reflected here, see the summary below. Page 22 Doing Business 2019 Congo, Rep. Figure – Registering Property in Congo, Rep. and comparator economies – Measure of Quality 30 25 Index score 20 15 10 8.8 7.0 7.0 5 3.5 3.0 4.0 0 Congo, Rep. Angola Cameroon Central African Republic Equatorial Guinea Sub-Saharan Africa Details – Registering Property in Congo, Rep. – Procedure, Time and Cost No. Procedures Time to Complete Associated Costs 1 Sale agreement ("protocole de vente") is signed by parties at Cadaster 2 days XAF 10,000 Agency : Departement des affaires foncieres, du cadastre et de la topographie Both buyer and seller must go first to the Cadastre and sign a "protocol de vente" without mentioning the sale price. The Cadastre will make sure that the seller is the rightful owner and is entitled to sell this property. 2 Evaluation of the property ("enquete parcellaire") 21 days XAF 121,821.6; (30 Agency : Cadastre FCFA per square The cadastre will conduct an "enquete parcellaire" to draw a ‘plan de bornage’ or meter (survey fee) + delimitation of the land. 5% (additional tax on survey fee) + 40,000 FCFA (survey report fee) + 20,000 FCFA (cadastral report fee) + 15,000 FCFA (reprography fee)) 3 The notary checks for encumbrances on the property (land and building) 2 days XAF 20,000 Agency : Property Registry (Conservation Fonciere) The notary will check for encumbrances at the Conservation Fonciere and obtain a certificate "de non-inscription d'hypotheques". The cost is fixed by the Art.94. Régime de la propriété foncière - Loi n°17-2000 du 30 décembre 2000 (2000 CFA/year). 4 Notary drafts the sale agreement and both parties sign 1 day XAF 1,876,463.09; Agency : Notary (Notary fees on a The parties can draw the sale agreement among themselves, but this sale sliding scale agreement must be notarized. Therefore most parties will retain the services of a 0 to 5 000 000 7% notary to draw the sale agreement. 5 000 001 to 20 000 000 5% 20 000 001 to 50 000 000 3% 50 000 001 to 100 000 000 2% 100 000 001 and over 0.50% VAT: 18% Additional Tax on VAT: 5%) Page 23 Doing Business 2019 Congo, Rep. 5 Register the sale agreement with the Property Registry 1 day XAF 4,064,107.53; Agency : Property Registry (Conservation Fonciere) (8% property value The Conservateur will check the file and transmit it to one colleague to calculate (registration fee) + if all costs are accurate. 5% of the registration fee + 0.5% property value (transfer tax) + 0.2% Frais de conservation + Frais de depot 10,000 CFA + Publication fees 10, 000 CFA + Frais d'ordonnance 10, 000 CFA + Transcription fees 5,000 CFA + Copy fees 10,000 CFA + Stamp duty 1300 CFA/page (maximum of 6 pages and the notary must do 4 copies of the sale agreement = 6 *4 *1300)) 6 Land title is prepared and issued to the new owner 28 days (included in Agency : Property Registry (Conservation Fonciere) Procedure 5) The Land registrar (conservateur des titres fonciers) will change the name on the property title ("transcription") and issue a copy of the land title ("Titre Foncier") to the Limited Liability Company and keep the technical file. First-time registrations only will be published as a legal announcement in the Semaine Africaine. According to the law, 17/200 du 30 December 2000, article 93 -94, only first-time registration ("immatriculation") is subject to a publication as a legal notice in the newspaper( La Semaine Africaine). The Conservateur makes this announcement and there is a two months wait period to receive any disputes to the registration. After this period the registrar writes a certificate of contestation or no contestation and gives the relevant file to the president of the court in the area where the property is located. In case of no contestation, the president of said court orders the registration and the transcription of the rights of the buyer to the property. After publication, the land title is prepared and issued in the name of the Company. Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure. Page 24 Doing Business 2019 Congo, Rep. Details – Registering Property in Congo, Rep. – Measure of Quality Answer Score Reliability of infrastructure index (0-8) 0.0 What is the institution in charge of immovable property registration? Property Registry (Conservation foncière) In what format are the majority of title or deed records kept in the largest business city—in a Paper 0.0 paper format or in a computerized format (scanned or fully digital)? Is there an electronic database for checking for encumbrances (liens, mortgages, restrictions No 0.0 and the like)? Institution in charge of the plans showing legal boundaries in the largest business city: Direction Départementale des Affaires Foncières, du Cadastre et de la Topographie de Brazzaville In what format are the majority of maps of land plots kept in the largest business city—in a Paper 0.0 paper format or in a computerized format (scanned or fully digital)? Is there an electronic database for recording boundaries, checking plans and providing No 0.0 cadastral information (geographic information system)? Is the information recorded by the immovable property registration agency and the cadastral Separate 0.0 or mapping agency kept in a single database, in different but linked databases or in separate databases databases? Do the immovable property registration agency and cadastral or mapping agency use the No 0.0 same identification number for properties? Transparency of information index (0–6) 1.0 Who is able to obtain information on land ownership at the agency in charge of immovable Only 0.0 property registration in the largest business city? intermediaries and interested parties Is the list of documents that are required to complete any type of property transaction made Yes, on public 0.5 publicly available–and if so, how? boards Link for online access: Is the applicable fee schedule for any property transaction at the agency in charge of No 0.0 immovable property registration in the largest business city made publicly available–and if so, how? Link for online access: Does the agency in charge of immovable property registration commit to delivering a legally No 0.0 binding document that proves property ownership within a specific time frame–and if so, how does it communicate the service standard? Link for online access: Is there a specific and separate mechanism for filing complaints about a problem that No 0.0 occurred at the agency in charge of immovable property registration? Contact information: Are there publicly available official statistics tracking the number of transactions at the No 0.0 immovable property registration agency? Number of property transfers in the largest business city in 2017: Who is able to consult maps of land plots in the largest business city? Only 0.0 intermediaries and interested parties Is the applicable fee schedule for accessing maps of land plots made publicly available— Yes, on public 0.5 and if so, how? boards Page 25 Doing Business 2019 Congo, Rep. Link for online access: Does the cadastral or mapping agency commit to delivering an updated map within a No 0.0 specific time frame—and if so, how does it communicate the service standard? Link for online access: Is there a specific and separate mechanism for filing complaints about a problem that No 0.0 occurred at the cadastral or mapping agency? Contact information: Geographic coverage index (0–8) 0.0 Are all privately held land plots in the economy formally registered at the immovable property No 0.0 registry? Are all privately held land plots in the largest business city formally registered at the No 0.0 immovable property registry? Are all privately held land plots in the economy mapped? No 0.0 Are all privately held land plots in the largest business city mapped? No 0.0 Land dispute resolution index (0–8) 3.5 Does the law require that all property sale transactions be registered at the immovable Yes 1.5 property registry to make them opposable to third parties? Is the system of immovable property registration subject to a state or private guarantee? No 0.0 Is there a specific compensation mechanism to cover for losses incurred by parties who No 0.0 engaged in good faith in a property transaction based on erroneous information certified by the immovable property registry? Does the legal system require a control of legality of the documents necessary for a property Yes 0.5 transaction (e.g., checking the compliance of contracts with requirements of the law)? If yes, who is responsible for checking the legality of the documents? Registrar; Notary; Does the legal system require verification of the identity of the parties to a property Yes 0.5 transaction? If yes, who is responsible for verifying the identity of the parties? Registrar; Notary; Is there a national database to verify the accuracy of identity documents? No 0.0 For a standard land dispute between two local businesses over tenure rights of a property Le Tribunal de worth 50 times gross national income (GNI) per capita and located in the largest business Grande Instance city, what court would be in charge of the case in the first instance? How long does it take on average to obtain a decision from the first-instance court for such a Between 2 and 3 1.0 case (without appeal)? years Are there any statistics on the number of land disputes in the first instance? No 0.0 Number of land disputes in the largest business city in 2017: Equal access to property rights index (-2–0) -1.0 Do unmarried men and unmarried women have equal ownership rights to property? Yes Do married men and married women have equal ownership rights to property? No -1.0 Page 26 Doing Business 2019 Congo, Rep. Getting Credit This topic explores two sets of issues—the strength of credit reporting systems and the effectiveness of collateral and bankruptcy laws in facilitating lending. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in May 2018. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Strength of legal rights index (0–12) Doing Business assesses the sharing of credit information and the legal rights of borrowers and lenders with respect to secured transactions through 2 sets of • Rights of borrowers and lenders through indicators. The depth of credit information index measures rules and practices collateral laws (0-10) affecting the coverage, scope and accessibility of credit information available • Protection of secured creditors’ rights through through a credit registry or a credit bureau. The strength of legal rights index bankruptcy laws (0-2) measures the degree to which collateral and bankruptcy laws protect the rights of borrowers and lenders and thus facilitate lending. For each economy it is first Depth of credit information index (0–8) determined whether a unitary secured transactions system exists. Then two case • Scope and accessibility of credit information scenarios, case A and case B, are used to determine how a nonpossessory security distributed by credit bureaus and credit registries interest is created, publicized and enforced according to the law. Special emphasis (0-8) is given to how the collateral registry operates (if registration of security interests is possible). The case scenarios involve a secured borrower, company ABC, and a Credit bureau coverage (% of adults) secured lender, BizBank. • Number of individuals and firms listed in largest In some economies the legal framework for secured transactions will allow only case credit bureau as a percentage of adult population A or case B (not both) to apply. Both cases examine the same set of legal provisions relating to the use of movable collateral. Credit registry coverage (% of adults) • Number of individuals and firms listed in credit Several assumptions about the secured borrower (ABC) and lender (BizBank) registry as a percentage of adult population are used: - ABC is a domestic limited liability company (or its legal equivalent). - ABC has up to 50 employees. - ABC has its headquarters and only base of operations in the economy’s largest business city. For 11 economies the data are also collected for the second largest business city. - Both ABC and BizBank are 100% domestically owned. The case scenarios also involve assumptions. In case A, as collateral for the loan, ABC grants BizBank a nonpossessory security interest in one category of movable assets, for example, its machinery or its inventory. ABC wants to keep both possession and ownership of the collateral. In economies where the law does not allow nonpossessory security interests in movable property, ABC and BizBank use a fiduciary transfer-of-title arrangement (or a similar substitute for nonpossessory security interests). In case B, ABC grants BizBank a business charge, enterprise charge, floating charge or any charge that gives BizBank a security interest over ABC’s combined movable assets (or as much of ABC’s movable assets as possible). ABC keeps ownership and possession of the assets. Page 27 Doing Business 2019 Congo, Rep. Getting Credit - Congo, Rep. Indicator Congo, Rep. Sub-Saharan OECD high Best Regulatory Africa income Performance Strength of legal rights index (0-12) 6 5.2 6.1 12 (5 Economies) Depth of credit information index (0-8) 1 3.3 6.7 8 (42 Economies) Credit registry coverage (% of adults) 12.4 7.0 21.8 100.0 (4 Economies) Credit bureau coverage (% of adults) 0 8.9 65.3 100.0 (25 Economies) Figure – Getting Credit in Congo, Rep. and comparator economies – Ranking and Score DB 2019 Getting Credit Score 0 100 60.00: Cameroon (Rank: 73) 5.00: Angola (Rank: 184) 42.08: Regional Average (Sub-Saharan Africa) 40.00: Equatorial Guinea (Rank: 124) 35.00: Congo, Rep. (Rank: 134) 30.00: Central African Republic (Rank: 144) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of getting credit is determined by sorting their scores for getting credit. These scores are the sum of the scores for the strength of legal rights index and the depth of credit information index. Figure – Legal Rights in Congo, Rep. and comparator economies 8 7 6 6 6 6 6 5.2 Index Score 5 4 3 2 1 1 0 Congo, Rep. Angola Cameroon Central African Republic Equatorial Guinea Sub-Saharan Africa Page 28 Doing Business 2019 Congo, Rep. Details – Legal Rights in Congo, Rep. Strength of legal rights index (0-12) 6 Does an integrated or unified legal framework for secured transactions that extends to the creation, publicity and Yes enforcement of functional equivalents to security interests in movable assets exist in the economy? Does the law allow businesses to grant a non possessory security right in a single category of movable assets, without Yes requiring a specific description of collateral? Does the law allow businesses to grant a non possessory security right in substantially all of its assets, without requiring a Yes specific description of collateral? May a security right extend to future or after-acquired assets, and does it extend automatically to the products, proceeds and Yes replacements of the original assets? Is a general description of debts and obligations permitted in collateral agreements; can all types of debts and obligations be Yes secured between parties; and can the collateral agreement include a maximum amount for which the assets are encumbered? Is a collateral registry in operation for both incorporated and non-incorporated entities, that is unified geographically and by No asset type, with an electronic database indexed by debtor's name? Does a notice-based collateral registry exist in which all functional equivalents can be registered? No Does a modern collateral registry exist in which registrations, amendments, cancellations and searches can be performed No online by any interested third party? Are secured creditors paid first (i.e. before tax claims and employee claims) when a debtor defaults outside an insolvency No procedure? Are secured creditors paid first (i.e. before tax claims and employee claims) when a business is liquidated? No Are secured creditors subject to an automatic stay on enforcement when a debtor enters a court-supervised reorganization No procedure? Does the law protect secured creditors’ rights by providing clear grounds for relief from the stay and sets a time limit for it? Does the law allow parties to agree on out of court enforcement at the time a security interest is created? Does the law allow Yes the secured creditor to sell the collateral through public auction or private tender, as well as, for the secured creditor to keep the asset in satisfaction of the debt? Figure – Credit Information in Congo, Rep. and comparator economies 8 7 6 6 Index Score 5 4 3.3 3 2 2 1 1 0 0 0 Congo, Rep. Angola Cameroon Central African Republic Equatorial Guinea Sub-Saharan Africa Page 29 Doing Business 2019 Congo, Rep. Details – Credit Information in Congo, Rep. Depth of credit information index (0-8) Credit Credit Score bureau registry Are data on both firms and individuals distributed? No Yes 1 Are both positive and negative credit data distributed? No No 0 Are data from retailers or utility companies - in addition to data from banks and No No 0 financial institutions - distributed? Are at least 2 years of historical data distributed? (Credit bureaus and registries No No 0 that distribute more than 10 years of negative data or erase data on defaults as soon as they are repaid obtain a score of 0 for this component.) Are data on loan amounts below 1% of income per capita distributed? No No 0 By law, do borrowers have the right to access their data in the credit bureau or No No 0 credit registry? Can banks and financial institutions access borrowers’ credit information online No No 0 (for example, through an online platform, a system-to-system connection or both)? Are bureau or registry credit scores offered as a value-added service to help No No 0 banks and financial institutions assess the creditworthiness of borrowers? Total Score ("yes" to either public bureau or private registry) 1 Note: An economy receives a score of 1 if there is a "yes" to either bureau or registry. If the credit bureau or registry is not operational or covers less than 5% of the adult population, the total score on the depth of credit information index is 0. Coverage Credit bureau Credit registry Number of individuals 0 318,667 Number of firms 0 36,483 Total 0 355,150 Percentage of adult population 0 12.4 Page 30 Doing Business 2019 Congo, Rep. Protecting Minority Investors This topic measures the strength of minority shareholder protections against misuse of corporate assets by directors for their personal gain as well as shareholder rights, governance safeguards and corporate transparency requirements that reduce the risk of abuse. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in May 2018. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions • Extent of disclosure index (0–10): Review and To make the data comparable across economies, a case study uses several approval requirements for related-party assumptions about the business and the transaction. transactions; Disclosure requirements for related- party transactions The business (Buyer): • Extent of director liability index (0–10): Ability - Is a publicly traded corporation listed on the economy’s most important stock of minority shareholders to sue and hold exchange. If there are fewer than ten listed companies or if there is no stock interested directors liable for prejudicial related- exchange in the economy, it is assumed that Buyer is a large private company with party transactions; Available legal remedies multiple shareholders. (damages, disgorgement of profits, fines, - Has a board of directors and a chief executive officer (CEO) who may legally act on imprisonment, rescission of the transaction) behalf of Buyer where permitted, even if this is not specifically required by law. - Has a supervisory board in economies with a two-tier board system on which Mr. • Ease of shareholder suits index (0–10): Access to internal corporate documents; James appointed 60% of the shareholder-elected members. Evidence obtainable during trial and allocation of - Has not adopted bylaws or articles of association that go beyond the minimum legal expenses requirements. Does not follow codes, principles, recommendations or guidelines that are not mandatory. • Extent of conflict of interest regulation index - Is a manufacturing company with its own distribution network. (0–10): Simple average of the extent of disclosure, extent of director liability and ease of The transaction involves the following details: shareholder indices - Mr. James owns 60% of Buyer, sits on Buyer’s board of directors and elected two • Extent of shareholder rights index (0-10): directors to Buyer’s five-member board. Shareholders’ rights and role in major corporate - Mr. James also owns 90% of Seller, a company that operates a chain of retail decisions hardware stores. Seller recently closed a large number of its stores. - Mr. James proposes that Buyer purchase Seller’s unused fleet of trucks to expand • Extent of ownership and control index (0-10): Buyer’s distribution of its food products, a proposal to which Buyer agrees. The price Governance safeguards protecting shareholders is equal to 10% of Buyer’s assets and is higher than the market value. from undue board control and entrenchment - The proposed transaction is part of the company’s principal activity and is not • Extent of corporate transparency index (0-10): outside the authority of the company. Corporate transparency on ownership stakes, - Buyer enters into the transaction. All required approvals are obtained, and all compensation, audits and financial prospects required disclosures made—that is, the transaction was not entered into fraudulently. • Extent of shareholder governance index (0– - The transaction causes damages to Buyer. Shareholders sue Mr. James and the 10): Simple average of the extent of shareholders executives and directors that approved the transaction. rights, extent of ownership and control and extent of corporate transparency indices • Strength of minority investor protection index (0–10): Simple average of the extent of conflict of interest regulation and extent of shareholder governance indices Page 31 Doing Business 2019 Congo, Rep. Protecting Minority Investors - Congo, Rep. Indicator Congo, Rep. Sub-Saharan OECD high Best Regulatory Africa income Performance Extent of disclosure index (0-10) 7.0 5.5 6.5 10 (13 Economies) Extent of director liability index (0-10) 1.0 3.5 5.3 10 (Cambodia) Ease of shareholder suits index (0-10) 5.0 5.5 7.3 10 (Djibouti) Extent of shareholder rights index (0-10) 4.0 4.6 6.4 10 (Kazakhstan) Extent of ownership and control index (0-10) 3.0 3.4 5.4 None in 2017/18 Extent of corporate transparency index (0-10) 4.0 4.1 7.6 10 (6 Economies) Figure – Protecting Minority Investors in Congo, Rep. and comparator economies – Ranking and Score DB 2019 Protecting Minority Investors Score 0 100 55.00: Angola (Rank: 89) 44.55: Regional Average (Sub-Saharan Africa) 41.67: Cameroon (Rank: 140) 40.00: Central African Republic (Rank: 149) 40.00: Congo, Rep. (Rank: 149) 40.00: Equatorial Guinea (Rank: 149) Note: The ranking of economies on the strength of minority investor protections is determined by sorting their scores for protecting minority investors. These scores are the simple average of the scores for the extent of conflict of interest regulation index and the extent of shareholder governance index. Figure – Protecting Minority Investors in Congo, Rep. and comparator economies – Measure of Quality the Republic of Congo 4 1 7 3 4 5 Angola 4 6 4 6 7 6 Cameroon 4 1 7 3 4 6 Central African Republic 4 1 7 3 4 5 Equatorial Guinea 4 1 7 3 4 5 OECD high income 7.4 5.5 6.5 5.2 6.3 7.4 Sub-Saharan Africa 4.3 3.6 5.6 3.4 4.7 5.6 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 Sub-Indicator Score Extent of corporate transparency index (0-10) Extent of director liability index (0-10) Extent of disclosure index (0-10) Extent of ownership and control index (0-10) Extent of shareholder rights index (0-10) Ease of shareholder suits index (0-10) Page 32 Doing Business 2019 Congo, Rep. Details – Protecting Minority Investors in Congo, Rep. – Measure of Quality Answer Score Extent of conflict of interest regulation index (0-10) 4.3 Extent of disclosure index (0-10) 7.0 Whose decision is sufficient to approve the Buyer-Seller transaction? (0-3) Shareholders 3.0 excluding interested parties Must an external body review the terms of the transaction before it takes place? (0-1) No 0.0 Must Mr. James disclose his conflict of interest to the board of directors? (0-2) Full disclosure of 2.0 all material facts Must Buyer disclose the transaction in periodic filings (e.g. annual reports)? (0-2) Disclosure on the 2.0 transaction and on the conflict of interest Must Buyer immediately disclose the transaction to the public? (0-2) No disclosure 0.0 obligation Extent of director liability index (0-10) 1.0 Can shareholders representing 10% of Buyer's share capital sue for the damage the Yes 1.0 transaction caused to Buyer? (0-1) Can shareholders hold Mr. James liable for the damage the transaction caused to Buyer? (0- Not liable 0.0 2) Can shareholders hold the other directors liable for the damage the transaction caused to Not liable 0.0 Buyer (0-2) Must Mr. James pay damages for the harm caused to Buyer upon a successful claim by No 0.0 shareholders? (0-1) Must Mr. James repay profits made from the transaction upon a successful claim by No 0.0 shareholders? (0-1) Is Mr. James disqualified upon a successful claim by shareholders? (0-1) No 0.0 Can a court void the transaction upon a successful claim by shareholders? (0-2) Only in case of 0.0 fraud or bad faith Ease of shareholder suits index (0-10) 5.0 Before suing, can shareholders representing 10% of Buyer's share capital inspect the Yes 1.0 transaction documents? (0-1) Can the plaintiff obtain any documents from the defendant and witnesses at trial? (0-3) Any relevant 3.0 document Can the plaintiff request categories of documents from the defendant without identifying No 0.0 specific ones? (0-1) Can the plaintiff directly question the defendant and witnesses at trial? (0-2) No 0.0 Is the level of proof required for civil suits lower than that of criminal cases? (0-1) No 0.0 Can shareholder plaintiffs recover their legal expenses from the company? (0-2) Yes if successful 1.0 Extent of shareholder governance index (0-10) 3.7 Extent of shareholder rights index (0-10) 4.0 Does the sale of 51% of Buyer's assets require shareholder approval? No 0.0 Can shareholders representing 10% of Buyer's share capital call for a meeting of Yes 1.0 shareholders? Must Buyer obtain its shareholders’ approval every time it issues new shares? Yes 1.0 Do shareholders automatically receive preemption rights every time Buyer issues new No 0.0 shares? Must shareholders approve the election and dismissal of the external auditor? Yes 1.0 Page 33 Doing Business 2019 Congo, Rep. Are changes to the rights of a class of shares only possible if the holders of the affected Yes 1.0 shares approve? Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, does the sale of 51% of its assets require No 0.0 member approval? Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, can members representing 10% call for a No 0.0 meeting of members? Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, must all or almost all members consent to add a No 0.0 new member? Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, must a member first offer to sell their interest to No 0.0 the existing members before they can sell to non-members? Extent of ownership and control index (0-10) 3.0 Is it forbidden to appoint the same individual as CEO and chairperson of the board of No 0.0 directors? Must the board of directors include independent and nonexecutive board members? No 0.0 Can shareholders remove members of the board of directors without cause before the end Yes 1.0 of their term? Must the board of directors include a separate audit committee exclusively comprising board No 0.0 members? Must a potential acquirer make a tender offer to all shareholders upon acquiring 50% of No 0.0 Buyer? Must Buyer pay declared dividends within a maximum period set by law? Yes 1.0 Is a subsidiary prohibited from acquiring shares issued by its parent company? No 0.0 Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, must Buyer have a mechanism to resolve No 0.0 disagreements among members? Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, must a potential acquirer make a tender offer to No 0.0 all shareholders upon acquiring 50% of Buyer? Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, must Buyer distribute profits within a maximum Yes 1.0 period set by law? Extent of corporate transparency index (0-10) 4.0 Must Buyer disclose direct and indirect beneficial ownership stakes representing 5%? No 0.0 Must Buyer disclose information about board members’ primary employment and No 0.0 directorships in other companies? Must Buyer disclose the compensation of individual managers? No 0.0 Must a detailed notice of general meeting be sent 21 days before the meeting? No 0.0 Can shareholders representing 5% of Buyer’s share capital put items on the general meeting Yes 1.0 agenda? Must Buyer's annual financial statements be audited by an external auditor? Yes 1.0 Must Buyer disclose its audit reports to the public? No 0.0 Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, must members meet at least once a year? Yes 1.0 Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, can members representing 5% put items on the No 0.0 meeting agenda? Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, must Buyer's annual financial statements be Yes 1.0 audited by an external auditor? Page 34 Doing Business 2019 Congo, Rep. Paying Taxes This topic records the taxes and mandatory contributions that a medium-size company must pay or withhold in a given year, as well as the administrative burden of paying taxes and contributions and complying with postfiling procedures (VAT refund and tax audit). The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in May 2018 covering for the Paying Taxes indicator calendar year 2017 (January 1, 2017 – December 31, 2017). See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Tax payments for a manufacturing company in Using a case scenario, Doing Business records taxes and mandatory contributions a 2017 (number per year adjusted for electronic medium size company must pay in a year, and measures the administrative burden and joint filing and payment) of paying taxes, contributions and dealing with postfiling processes. Information is also compiled on frequency of filing and payments, time taken to comply with tax • Total number of taxes and contributions paid or laws, time taken to comply with the requirements of postfiling processes and time withheld, including consumption taxes (value waiting. added tax, sales tax or goods and service tax) • Method and frequency of filing and payment To make data comparable across economies, several assumptions are used: - TaxpayerCo is a medium-size business that started operations on January 1, 2016. Time required to comply with 3 major taxes It produces ceramic flowerpots and sells them at retail. All taxes and contributions (hours per year) recorded are paid in the second year of operation (calendar year 2017). Taxes and mandatory contributions are measured at all levels of government. • Collecting information, computing tax payable • Preparing separate tax accounting books, if The VAT refund process: required - In June 2017, TaxpayerCo. makes a large capital purchase: the value of the • Completing tax return, filing with agencies machine is 65 times income per capita of the economy. Sales are equally spread per month (1,050 times income per capita divided by 12) and cost of goods sold are • Arranging payment or withholding equally expensed per month (875 times income per capita divided by 12). The machinery seller is registered for VAT and excess input VAT incurred in June will be Total tax and contribution rate (% of commercial fully recovered after four consecutive months if the VAT rate is the same for inputs, profits) sales and the machine and the tax reporting period is every month. Input VAT will • Profit or corporate income tax exceed Output VAT in June 2017. • Social contributions, labor taxes paid by The corporate income tax audit process: employer - An error in calculation of income tax liability (for example, use of incorrect tax • Property and property transfer taxes depreciation rates, or incorrectly treating an expense as tax deductible) leads to an incorrect income tax return and a corporate income tax underpayment. TaxpayerCo. • Dividend, capital gains, financial transactions discovered the error and voluntarily notified the tax authority. The value of the taxes underpaid income tax liability is 5% of the corporate income tax liability • Waste collection, vehicle, road and other taxes due. TaxpayerCo. submits corrected information after the deadline for submitting the annual tax return, but within the tax assessment period. Postfiling Index • Time to comply with a VAT refund (hours) • Time to obtain a VAT refund (weeks) • Time to comply with a corporate income tax correction (hours) • Time to complete a corporate income tax correction (weeks) Page 35 Doing Business 2019 Congo, Rep. Paying Taxes - Congo, Rep. Indicator Congo, Rep. Sub-Saharan OECD high Best Regulatory Africa income Performance Payments (number per year) 50 37.4 11.2 3 (Hong Kong SAR, China) Time (hours per year) 602 280.6 159.4 49 (Singapore) Total tax and contribution rate (% of profit) 54.3 46.8 39.8 26.1% (32 Economies) Postfiling index (0-100) 12.29 54.63 84.41 None in 2017/18 Figure – Paying Taxes in Congo, Rep. and comparator economies – Ranking and Score DB 2019 Paying Taxes Score 0 100 69.54: Angola (Rank: 104) 57.52: Regional Average (Sub-Saharan Africa) 41.54: Equatorial Guinea (Rank: 179) 36.34: Cameroon (Rank: 182) 26.79: Congo, Rep. (Rank: 185) 18.89: Central African Republic (Rank: 187) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of paying taxes is determined by sorting their scores for paying taxes. These scores are the simple average of the scores for each of the component indicators, with a threshold and a nonlinear transformation applied to one of the component indicators, the total tax and contribution rate. The threshold is defined as the total tax and contribution rate at the 15th percentile of the overall distribution for all years included in the analysis up to and including Doing Business 2015, which is 26.1%. All economies with a total tax and contribution rate below this threshold receive the same score as the economy at the threshold. Figure – Paying Taxes in Congo, Rep. and comparator economies – Measure of Quality 100 94.95 93.12 80 Index score 60 54.63 49.31 40 20 12.29 5.13 0 Congo, Rep. Angola Cameroon Central African Republic Equatorial Guinea Sub-Saharan Africa Page 36 Doing Business 2019 Congo, Rep. Details – Paying Taxes in Congo, Rep. Tax or Payments Notes on Time Statutory Tax base Total tax Notes on mandatory (number) Payments (hours) tax rate and TTCR contribution contribution rate (% of profit) Social 12.0 146.0 20.285% gross salaries 22.88 security contributions Minimum flat 1.0 1% turnover 17.68 tax Single Tax on 12.0 7.5% gross salaries 8.46 Salaries Business tax 1.0 Various rates Annual 3.18 Turnover Sales tax 0.0 jointly 0.9% value added 2.65 not included Environmenta 1.0 various 0.99 l taxes brackets Tax on 1.0 various rates Fixed rate 0.66 occupancy of building (Taxe d'occupation des locaux). Vehicle tax 1.0 various rates horse power 0.26 of engine Registration 1.0 5% annual rental 0.16 fees on lease value agreements Apprenticeshi 0.0 jointly 0% gross salaries 0.00 included in p tax other taxes Municipal 1.0 XAF 2,000 fixed fee 0.00 withheld employees per employee tax Fuel tax 0.0 18% value of fuel 0.00 small amount (Irrecoverable consumption VAT) Corporate 5.0 275.0 30% taxable profit 0.00 income tax Social 0.0 0.00 withheld security contributions on employee Stamp duty 1.0 fixed fee or 0.00 small amount proportional fee depending on the amount of transaction Tax on 1.0 various amount of 0.00 small amount insurance brackets insurance contracts contract Value added 12.0 181.0 18% value added 0.00 not included tax (VAT) Totals 50 602 54.3 Page 37 Doing Business 2019 Congo, Rep. Details – Paying Taxes in Congo, Rep. – Tax by Type Taxes by type Answer Profit tax (% of profit) 0 Labor tax and contributions (% of profit) 31.3 Other taxes (% of profit) 22.9 Page 38 Doing Business 2019 Congo, Rep. Details – Paying Taxes in Congo, Rep. – Measure of Quality Answer Score Postfiling index (0-100) 12.29 VAT refunds Does VAT exist? Yes Does a VAT refund process exist per the case study? No Restrictions on VAT refund process Restricted to international traders and others Percentage of cases exposed to a VAT audit (%) Not applicable Is there a mandatory carry forward period? No Time to comply with VAT refund (hours) No VAT refund 0 per case study scenario Time to obtain a VAT refund (weeks) No VAT refund 0 per case study scenario Corporate income tax audits Does corporate income tax exist? Yes Percentage of cases exposed to a corporate income tax audit (%) 75% - 100% Time to comply with a corporate income tax correction (hours) 36.5 35.78 Time to complete a corporate income tax correction (weeks) 27.7 13.39 Notes: Names of taxes have been standardized. For instance income tax, profit tax, tax on company's income are all named corporate income tax in this table. The hours for VAT include all the VAT and sales taxes applicable. The hours for Social Security include all the hours for labor taxes and mandatory contributions in general. The postfiling index is the average of the scores on time to comply with VAT refund, time to obtain a VAT refund, time to comply with a corporate income tax correction and time to complete a corporate income tax correction. N/A = Not applicable. Page 39 Doing Business 2019 Congo, Rep. Trading across Borders Doing Business records the time and cost associated with the logistical process of exporting and importing goods. Doing Business measures the time and cost (excluding tariffs) associated with three sets of procedures—documentary compliance, border compliance and domestic transport—within the overall process of exporting or importing a shipment of goods. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in May 2018. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Documentary compliance To make the data comparable across economies, a few assumptions are made about the traded goods and the transactions: • Obtaining, preparing and submitting documents during transport, clearance, inspections and port Time: Time is measured in hours, and 1 day is 24 hours (for example, 22 days are or border handling in origin economy recorded as 22×24=528 hours). If customs clearance takes 7.5 hours, the data are • Obtaining, preparing and submitting documents recorded as is. Alternatively, suppose documents are submitted to a customs agency required by destination economy and any transit at 8:00a.m., are processed overnight and can be picked up at 8:00a.m. the next day. economies The time for customs clearance would be recorded as 24 hours because the actual procedure took 24 hours. • Covers all documents required by law and in practice, including electronic submissions of Cost: Insurance cost and informal payments for which no receipt is issued are information excluded from the costs recorded. Costs are reported in U.S. dollars. Contributors Border compliance are asked to convert local currency into U.S. dollars based on the exchange rate prevailing on the day they answer the questionnaire. Contributors are private sector • Customs clearance and inspections experts in international trade logistics and are informed about exchange rates. • Inspections by other agencies (if applied to more Assumptions of the case study: than 20% of shipments) - For all 190 economies covered by Doing Business, it is assumed a shipment is in a • Handling and inspections that take place at the warehouse in the largest business city of the exporting economy and travels to a economy’s port or border warehouse in the largest business city of the importing economy. - It is assumed each economy imports 15 metric tons of containerized auto parts (HS Domestic transport 8708) from its natural import partner—the economy from which it imports the largest • Loading or unloading of the shipment at the value (price times quantity) of auto parts. It is assumed each economy exports the warehouse or port/border product of its comparative advantage (defined by the largest export value) to its natural export partner—the economy that is the largest purchaser of this product. • Transport between warehouse and port/border Shipment value is assumed to be $50,000. • Traffic delays and road police checks while - The mode of transport is the one most widely used for the chosen export or import shipment is en route product and the trading partner, as is the seaport or land border crossing. - All electronic information submissions requested by any government agency in connection with the shipment are considered to be documents obtained, prepared and submitted during the export or import process. - A port or border is a place (seaport or land border crossing) where merchandise can enter or leave an economy. - Relevant government agencies include customs, port authorities, road police, border guards, standardization agencies, ministries or departments of agriculture or industry, national security agencies and any other government authorities. Page 40 Doing Business 2019 Congo, Rep. Trading across Borders - Congo, Rep. Indicator Congo, Rep. Sub-Saharan OECD high Best Regulatory Africa income Performance Time to export: Border compliance (hours) 276 97.3 12.5 1 (19 Economies) Cost to export: Border compliance (USD) 1975 605.8 139.1 0 (19 Economies) Time to export: Documentary compliance (hours) 120 72.8 2.4 1 (26 Economies) Cost to export: Documentary compliance (USD) 165 168.8 35.2 0 (20 Economies) Time to import: Border compliance (hours) 397 126.3 8.5 0 (25 Economies) Cost to import: Border compliance (USD) 1581 684.3 100.2 0 (28 Economies) Time to import: Documentary compliance (hours) 208 97.7 3.4 1 (30 Economies) Cost to import: Documentary compliance (USD) 310 283.5 24.9 0 (30 Economies) Figure – Trading across Borders in Congo, Rep. and comparator economies – Ranking and Score DB 2019 Trading Across Borders Score 0 100 53.59: Regional Average (Sub-Saharan Africa) 52.36: Central African Republic (Rank: 163) 36.15: Angola (Rank: 174) 32.05: Equatorial Guinea (Rank: 175) 19.68: Congo, Rep. (Rank: 184) 15.99: Cameroon (Rank: 186) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of trading across borders is determined by sorting their scores for trading across borders. These scores are the simple average of the scores for the time and cost for documentary compliance and border compliance to export and import. Figure – Trading across Borders in Congo, Rep. – Time and Cost Time (hours) Cost (USD) 450 2500 397 400 1975 350 2000 Time (hours) 1581 Cost (USD) 300 276 1500 250 208 200 1000 150 120 100 310 500 50 165 0 0 Export Export Import Import - - - - Border Documentary Border Documentary Compliance Compliance Compliance Compliance Page 41 Doing Business 2019 Congo, Rep. Details – Trading across Borders in Congo, Rep. Characteristics Export Import Product HS 84 : Nuclear reactors, boilers, HS 8708: Parts and accessories of motor machinery and mechanical appliances; vehicles parts thereof Trade partner Angola France Border Pointe-Noire port Pointe-Noire port Distance (km) 560 560 Domestic transport time (hours) 120 136 Domestic transport cost (USD) 1694 2033 Details – Trading across Borders in Congo, Rep. – Components of Border Compliance Time to Complete (hours) Associated Costs (USD) Export: Clearance and inspections required 168.0 775.0 by customs authorities Export: Clearance and inspections required 0.0 0.0 by agencies other than customs Export: Port or border handling 276.0 1200.0 Import: Clearance and inspections required 229.3 775.0 by customs authorities Import: Clearance and inspections required 130.7 0.0 by agencies other than customs Import: Port or border handling 266.7 805.6 Page 42 Doing Business 2019 Congo, Rep. Details – Trading across Borders in Congo, Rep. – Trade Documents Export Import Commercial invoice Commercial invoice Packing list Bill of lading Bill of lading BESC Certificate of origin Import declaration Export declaration Certificate of origin SOLAS certificate Attestation of value COTECNA NIU (Unique Identification Number for importer), Bon à enlever SOLAS certificate Page 43 Doing Business 2019 Congo, Rep. Enforcing Contracts The enforcing contracts indicator measures the time and cost for resolving a commercial dispute through a local first-instance court, and the quality of judicial processes index, evaluating whether each economy has adopted a series of good practices that promote quality and efficiency in the court system. The most recent round of data collection was completed in May 2018. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Time required to enforce a contract through the The dispute in the case study involves the breach of a sales contract between 2 courts (calendar days) domestic businesses. The case study assumes that the court hears an expert on the quality of the goods in dispute. This distinguishes the case from simple debt • Time to file and serve the case enforcement. • Time for trial and to obtain the judgment To make the data comparable across economies, Doing Business uses several • Time to enforce the judgment assumptions about the case: Cost required to enforce a contract through the - The dispute concerns a lawful transaction between two businesses (Seller and courts (% of claim) Buyer), both located in the economy’s largest business city. For 11 economies the data are also collected for the second largest business city. • Attorney fees - The buyer orders custom-made goods, then fails to pay alleging that the goods are not of adequate quality. • Court fees - The value of the dispute is 200% of the income per capita or the equivalent in local • Enforcement fees currency of USD 5,000, whichever is greater. - The seller sues the buyer before the court with jurisdiction over commercial cases Quality of judicial processes index (0-18) worth 200% of income per capita or $5,000. • Court structure and proceedings (-1-5) - The seller requests the pretrial attachment of the defendant’s movable assets to secure the claim. • Case management (0-6) - The dispute on the quality of the goods requires an expert opinion. • Court automation (0-4) - The judge decides in favor of the seller; there is no appeal. - The seller enforces the judgment through a public sale of the buyer’s movable • Alternative dispute resolution (0-3) assets. Page 44 Doing Business 2019 Congo, Rep. Enforcing Contracts - Congo, Rep. Standardized Case Claim value XAF 2,492,778 Court name Brazzaville Commercial Court City Covered Brazzaville Indicator Congo, Rep. Sub-Saharan OECD high Best Regulatory Africa income Performance Time (days) 560 655.1 582.4 None in 2017/18 Cost (% of claim value) 53.2 42.3 21.2 None in 2017/18 Quality of judicial processes index (0-18) 5.0 6.7 11.5 None in 2017/18 Figure – Enforcing Contracts in Congo, Rep. and comparator economies – Ranking and Score DB 2019 Enforcing Contracts Score 0 100 56.17: Equatorial Guinea (Rank: 101) 48.87: Regional Average (Sub-Saharan Africa) 43.99: Congo, Rep. (Rank: 155) 39.91: Cameroon (Rank: 166) 31.39: Central African Republic (Rank: 183) 26.26: Angola (Rank: 186) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of enforcing contracts is determined by sorting their scores for enforcing contracts. These scores are the simple average of the scores for each of the component indicators. Figure – Enforcing Contracts in Congo, Rep. – Time and Cost Time (days) Cost (% of claim value) 1400 1296 82.0 90 Cost (% of claim value) 1200 80 70 1000 Time (days) 53.2 60 800 800 44.4 46.6 50 660 655.1 42.3 560 582.4 40 600 475 30 400 19.5 21.2 20 200 10 0 0 Angola Cameroon Central Congo, Equatorial OECD Sub-Saharan African Rep. Guinea high Africa Republic income Page 45 Doing Business 2019 Congo, Rep. Figure – Enforcing Contracts in Congo, Rep. and comparator economies – Measure of Quality the Republic of Congo 2.5 0 2.5 Angola 1.5 1.5 0 1.5 Cameroon 2.5 0 2.5 Central African Republic 2.5 0 3 Equatorial Guinea 2 0.5 0 1 OECD high income 2.5 3.1 2.3 3.6 Sub-Saharan Africa 2.2 1.1 0.3 3.1 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 Sub-Indicator Score Alternative dispute resolution (0-3) Case management (0-6) Court automation (0-4) Court structure and proceedings (-1-5) Details – Enforcing Contracts in Congo, Rep. Indicator Time (days) 560 Filing and service 18 Trial and judgment 242 Enforcement of judgment 300 Cost (% of claim value) 53.2 Attorney fees 34.7 Court fees 12.5 Enforcement fees 6 Quality of judicial processes index (0-18) 5.0 Court structure and proceedings (-1-5) 2.5 Case management (0-6) 0.0 Court automation (0-4) 0.0 Alternative dispute resolution (0-3) 2.5 Page 46 Doing Business 2019 Congo, Rep. Details – Enforcing Contracts in Congo, Rep. – Measure of Quality Answer Score Quality of judicial processes index (0-18) 5.0 Court structure and proceedings (-1-5) 2.5 1. Is there a court or division of a court dedicated solely to hearing commercial cases? Yes 1.5 2. Small claims court 0.0 2.a. Is there a small claims court or a fast-track procedure for small claims? No 2.b. If yes, is self-representation allowed? n.a. 3. Is pretrial attachment available? Yes 1.0 4. Are new cases assigned randomly to judges? No 0.0 5. Does a woman's testimony carry the same evidentiary weight in court as a man's? Yes 0.0 Case management (0-6) 0.0 1. Time standards 0.0 1.a. Are there laws setting overall time standards for key court events in a civil No case? 1.b. If yes, are the time standards set for at least three court events? n.a. 1.c. Are these time standards respected in more than 50% of cases? n.a. 2. Adjournments 0.0 2.a. Does the law regulate the maximum number of adjournments that can be No granted? 2.b. Are adjournments limited to unforeseen and exceptional circumstances? No 2.c. If rules on adjournments exist, are they respected in more than 50% of cases? n.a. 3. Can two of the following four reports be generated about the competent court: (i) time to No 0.0 disposition report; (ii) clearance rate report; (iii) age of pending cases report; and (iv) single case progress report? 4. Is a pretrial conference among the case management techniques used before the No 0.0 competent court? 5. Are there any electronic case management tools in place within the competent court for No 0.0 use by judges? 6. Are there any electronic case management tools in place within the competent court for No 0.0 use by lawyers? Court automation (0-4) 0.0 1. Can the initial complaint be filed electronically through a dedicated platform within the no 0.0 competent court? 2. Is it possible to carry out service of process electronically for claims filed before the No 0.0 competent court? 3. Can court fees be paid electronically within the competent court? No 0.0 4. Publication of judgments 0.0 4.a Are judgments rendered in commercial cases at all levels made available to the No general public through publication in official gazettes, in newspapers or on the internet or court website? 4.b. Are judgments rendered in commercial cases at the appellate and supreme No court level made available to the general public through publication in official gazettes, in newspapers or on the internet or court website? Alternative dispute resolution (0-3) 2.5 1. Arbitration 1.5 Page 47 Doing Business 2019 Congo, Rep. 1.a. Is domestic commercial arbitration governed by a consolidated law or Yes consolidated chapter or section of the applicable code of civil procedure encompassing substantially all its aspects? 1.b. Are there any commercial disputes—aside from those that deal with public No order or public policy—that cannot be submitted to arbitration? 1.c. Are valid arbitration clauses or agreements usually enforced by the courts? Yes 2. Mediation/Conciliation 1.0 2.a. Is voluntary mediation or conciliation available? Yes 2.b. Are mediation, conciliation or both governed by a consolidated law or Yes consolidated chapter or section of the applicable code of civil procedure encompassing substantially all their aspects? 2.c. Are there financial incentives for parties to attempt mediation or conciliation No (i.e., if mediation or conciliation is successful, a refund of court filing fees, income tax credits or the like)? Page 48 Doing Business 2019 Congo, Rep. Resolving Insolvency Doing Business studies the time, cost and outcome of insolvency proceedings involving domestic legal entities. These variables are used to calculate the recovery rate, which is recorded as cents on the dollar recovered by secured creditors through reorganization, liquidation or debt enforcement (foreclosure or receivership) proceedings. To determine the present value of the amount recovered by creditors, Doing Business uses the lending rates from the International Monetary Fund, supplemented with data from central banks and the Economist Intelligence Unit. The most recent round of data collection was completed in May 2018. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Time required to recover debt (years) To make the data on the time, cost and outcome comparable across economies, several assumptions about the business and the case are used: • Measured in calendar years • Appeals and requests for extension are included - A hotel located in the largest city (or cities) has 201 employees and 50 suppliers. The hotel experiences financial difficulties. Cost required to recover debt (% of debtor’s - The value of the hotel is 100% of the income per capita or the equivalent in local estate) currency of USD 200,000, whichever is greater. - The hotel has a loan from a domestic bank, secured by a mortgage over the hotel’s • Measured as percentage of estate value real estate. The hotel cannot pay back the loan, but makes enough money to • Court fees operate otherwise. • Fees of insolvency administrators In addition, Doing Business evaluates the quality of legal framework applicable to • Lawyers’ fees judicial liquidation and reorganization proceedings and the extent to which best • Assessors’ and auctioneers’ fees insolvency practices have been implemented in each economy covered. • Other related fees Outcome • Whether business continues operating as a going concern or business assets are sold piecemeal Recovery rate for creditors • Measures the cents on the dollar recovered by secured creditors • Outcome for the business (survival or not) determines the maximum value that can be recovered • Official costs of the insolvency proceedings are deducted • Depreciation of furniture is taken into account • Present value of debt recovered Strength of insolvency framework index (0- 16) • Sum of the scores of four component indices: • Commencement of proceedings index (0-3) • Management of debtor’s assets index (0-6) • Reorganization proceedings index (0-3) • Creditor participation index (0-4) Page 49 Doing Business 2019 Congo, Rep. Resolving Insolvency - Congo, Rep. Indicator Congo, Rep. Sub-Saharan OECD high Best Regulatory Africa income Performance Recovery rate (cents on the dollar) 18.0 20.3 70.5 None in 2017/18 Time (years) 3.3 2.9 1.7 0.4 (Ireland) Cost (% of estate) 25.0 22.7 9.3 1.0 (Norway) Outcome (0 as piecemeal sale and 1 as going 0 .. .. .. concern) Strength of insolvency framework index (0-16) 9.0 6.4 11.9 None in 2017/18 Figure – Resolving Insolvency in Congo, Rep. and comparator economies – Ranking and Score DB 2019 Resolving Insolvency Score 0 100 37.81: Congo, Rep. (Rank: 122) 36.63: Cameroon (Rank: 127) 30.80: Regional Average (Sub-Saharan Africa) 28.13: Central African Republic (Rank: 154) 0.00: Angola (Rank: 168) 0.00: Equatorial Guinea (Rank: 168) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of resolving insolvency is determined by sorting their scores for resolving insolvency. These scores are the simple average of the scores for the recovery rate and the strength of insolvency framework index. Figure – Resolving Insolvency in Congo, Rep. – Time and Cost Time (years) Cost (% of estate) 6 76.0 80 4.8 70 Cost (% of estate) 5 60 Time (years) 4 3.3 50 2.8 2.9 3 33.5 40 25.0 1.7 22.7 30 2 20 1 9.3 10 0 0 No Cameroon Central Congo, No OECD Sub-Saharan Practice African Rep. Practice high Africa Angola Republic Equatorial income Guinea Page 50 Doing Business 2019 Congo, Rep. Figure – Resolving Insolvency in Congo, Rep. and comparator economies – Measure of Quality the Republic of Congo 5.5 2 1 0.5 Angola 4 2 0 Cameroon 5.5 2 1 0.5 Central African Republic 5.5 2 1 0.5 Equatorial Guinea 5.5 2 1 0.5 OECD high income 5.3 2.8 2.2 1.9 Sub-Saharan Africa 4.1 2.3 1 0.5 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 Sub-Indicator Score Management of debtor's assets index (0-6) Commencement of proceedings index (0-3) Creditor participation index (0-4) Reorganization proceedings index (0-3) Note: Even if the economy’s legal framework includes provisions related to insolvency proceedings (liquidation or reorganization), the economy receives 0 points for the strength of insolvency framework index, if time, cost and outcome indicators are recorded as “no practice.” Figure – Resolving Insolvency in Congo, Rep. and comparator economies – Recovery Rate Recovery rate(cents on the dollar) 100 80 60 40 18.0 20.3 20 15.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 Congo, Rep. Angola Cameroon Central African Republic Equatorial Guinea Sub-Saharan Africa Page 51 Doing Business 2019 Congo, Rep. Details – Resolving Insolvency in Congo, Rep. Indicator Answer Score Proceeding liquidation (after As Mirage will not be able to settle its current liabilities with its available assets, it will file a an attempt at declaration of cessation of payments (article 25 of the Uniform Act Organizing Collective reorganization) Proceedings for Wiping Off Debts). In order to continue operating, Mirage will try to obtain the opening of reorganization proceedings and avoid liquidation. Under article 27, a composition proposal is a proposal lodged no later than 15 days following the declaration of cessation of payments, specifying the measures and conditions envisaged to redress the company. According to our information, Mirage will not reach an agreement with its creditors, so the composition proposal will not succeed and the court will convert the proceedings to liquidation some months after the lodging of the proposal (article 33 of the Uniform Act). A reorganization proceeding that is later converted into liquidation is the most likely proceeding in the Republic of Congo. Outcome piecemeal sale According to our estimations, the reorganization attempt will fail and the proceedings will probably be converted to liquidation. The hotel will stop operating and will be dismantled, and the assets of the debtor will be sold separately. Time (in years) 3.3 Mirage will file a declaration of cessation of payments to obtain the opening of reorganization proceedings. The declaration has to be done 30 days following the cessation of payments. The competent court will then declare cessation of payments and open reorganization proceedings. The composition proposal will fail, so the proceedings will be converted to liquidation. According to our estimations, the complete process of a reorganization attempt that is then converted to liquidation takes approximately 40 months. Cost (% of 25.0 According to our estimations, a reorganization attempt that is later converted into liquidation costs estate) approximately XAF 31,700,000 (25% of the value of the estate). The following cost components are applicable: lawyer fees (15%), fees of the official receiver and receivers (5%) and bailiffs and assignees (5%) appointed under articles 39, 41 and 48. Recovery rate 18.0 (cents on the dollar) Page 52 Doing Business 2019 Congo, Rep. Details – Resolving Insolvency in Congo, Rep. – Measure of Quality Answer Score Strength of insolvency framework index (0-16) 9.0 Commencement of proceedings index (0-3) 2.0 What procedures are available to a DEBTOR when commencing insolvency proceedings? (c) Debtor may 0.5 file for reorganization only Does the insolvency framework allow a CREDITOR to file for insolvency of the debtor? (b) Yes, but a 0.5 creditor may file for liquidation only What basis for commencement of the insolvency proceedings is allowed under the (a) Debtor is 1.0 insolvency framework? generally unable to pay its debts as they mature Management of debtor's assets index (0-6) 5.5 Does the insolvency framework allow the continuation of contracts supplying essential goods Yes 1.0 and services to the debtor? Does the insolvency framework allow the rejection by the debtor of overly burdensome Yes 1.0 contracts? Does the insolvency framework allow avoidance of preferential transactions? Yes 1.0 Does the insolvency framework allow avoidance of undervalued transactions? Yes 1.0 Does the insolvency framework provide for the possibility of the debtor obtaining credit after Yes 1.0 commencement of insolvency proceedings? Does the insolvency framework assign priority to post-commencement credit? (a) Yes over all 0.5 pre- commencement creditors, secured or unsecured Reorganization proceedings index (0-3) 0.5 Which creditors vote on the proposed reorganization plan? (a) All creditors 0.5 Does the insolvency framework require that dissenting creditors in reorganization receive at No 0.0 least as much as what they would obtain in a liquidation? Are the creditors divided into classes for the purposes of voting on the reorganization plan, No 0.0 does each class vote separately and are creditors in the same class treated equally? Creditor participation index (0-4) 1.0 Does the insolvency framework require approval by the creditors for selection or No 0.0 appointment of the insolvency representative? Does the insolvency framework require approval by the creditors for sale of substantial No 0.0 assets of the debtor? Does the insolvency framework provide that a creditor has the right to request information No 0.0 from the insolvency representative? Does the insolvency framework provide that a creditor has the right to object to decisions Yes 1.0 accepting or rejecting creditors' claims? Note: Even if the economy’s legal framework includes provisions related to insolvency proceedings (liquidation or reorganization), the economy receives 0 points for the strength of insolvency framework index, if time, cost and outcome indicators are recorded as “no practice.” Page 53 Doing Business 2019 Congo, Rep. Labor Market Regulation Doing Business presents detailed data for the labor market regulation indicators on the Doing Business website (http://www.doingbusiness.org). The report does not present rankings of economies on these indicators or include the topic in the aggregate ease of doing business score or ranking on the ease of doing business. The most recent round of data collection was completed in May 2018. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Hiring To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions about the (i) whether fixed-term contracts are prohibited for worker and the business are used. permanent tasks; (ii) maximum cumulative duration of fixed-term contracts; (iii) length of the The worker: probationary period; (iv) minimum wage. - Is a cashier in a supermarket or grocery store, age 19, with one year of work experience. Working hours - Is a full-time employee. (i) maximum number of working days allowed per - Is not a member of the labor union, unless membership is mandatory. week; (ii) premiums for work: at night, on a weekly rest day and overtime; (iii) whether there are The business: restrictions on work at night, work on a weekly rest - Is a limited liability company (or the equivalent in the economy). day and for overtime work; (iv) whether - Operates a supermarket or grocery store in the economy’s largest business city. nonpregnant and nonnursing women can work For 11 economies the data are also collected for the second largest business city. same night hours as men; (v) length of paid annual - Has 60 employees. leave. - Is subject to collective bargaining agreements if such agreements cover more than 50% of the food retail sector and they apply even to firms that are not party to them. Redundancy rules - Abides by every law and regulation but does not grant workers more benefits than (i) whether redundancy can be basis for terminating those mandated by law, regulation or (if applicable) collective bargaining workers; (ii) whether employer needs to notify agreements. and/or get approval from third party to terminate 1 redundant worker and a group of 9 redundant workers; (iii) whether law requires employer to reassign or retrain a worker before making worker redundant; (iv) whether priority rules apply for redundancies and reemployment. Redundancy cost (i) notice period for redundancy dismissal; (ii) severance payments due when terminating a redundant worker. Job quality (i) whether law mandates equal remuneration for work of equal value and nondiscrimination based on gender in hiring; (ii) whether law mandates paid or unpaid maternity leave; (iii) length of paid maternity leave; (iv) whether employees on maternity leave receive 100% of wages; (v) availability of five fully paid days of sick leave a year; (vi) eligibility requirements for unemployment protection. Page 54 Doing Business 2019 Congo, Rep. Labor Market Regulation - Congo, Rep. Details – Labor Market Regulation in Congo, Rep. Answer Hiring Fixed-term contracts prohibited for permanent tasks? Yes Maximum length of a single fixed-term contract (months) 24.0 Maximum length of fixed-term contracts, including renewals (months) 24.0 Minimum wage applicable to the worker assumed in the case study (US$/month) 153.6 Ratio of minimum wage to value added per worker 0.7 Maximum length of probationary period (months) 4.0 Working hours Standard workday 7.0 Maximum number of working days per week 6.0 Premium for night work (% of hourly pay) 0.0 Premium for work on weekly rest day (% of hourly pay) 0.0 Premium for overtime work (% of hourly pay) 13.7 Restrictions on night work? No Whether nonpregnant and nonnursing women can work the same night hours as men Yes Restrictions on weekly holiday? Yes Restrictions on overtime work? Yes Paid annual leave for a worker with 1 year of tenure (working days) 26.0 Paid annual leave for a worker with 5 years of tenure (working days) 31.0 Paid annual leave for a worker with 10 years of tenure (working days) 32.0 Paid annual leave (average for workers with 1, 5 and 10 years of tenure, in working days) 29.7 Redundancy rules Dismissal due to redundancy allowed by law? Yes Third-party notification if one worker is dismissed? Yes Third-party approval if one worker is dismissed? Yes Third-party notification if nine workers are dismissed? Yes Third-party approval if nine workers are dismissed? Yes Retraining or reassignment obligation before redundancy? No Priority rules for redundancies? Yes Priority rules for reemployment? Yes Redundancy cost Notice period for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 1 year of tenure 8.7 Notice period for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 5 years of tenure 8.7 Notice period for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 10 years of tenure 8.7 Notice period for redundancy dismissal (average for workers with 1, 5 and 10 years of tenure) 8.7 Severance pay for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 1 year of tenure 0.0 Page 55 Doing Business 2019 Congo, Rep. Severance pay for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 5 years of tenure 6.5 Severance pay for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 10 years of tenure 14.3 Severance pay for redundancy dismissal (average for workers with 1, 5 and 10 years of tenure) 6.9 Job quality Equal remuneration for work of equal value? No Gender nondiscrimination in hiring? No Paid or unpaid maternity leave mandated by law? Yes Minimum length of maternity leave (calendar days)? 105.0 Receive 100% of wages on maternity leave? Yes Five fully paid days of sick leave a year? Yes Unemployment protection after one year of employment? No Minimum contribution period for unemployment protection (months)? n.a. Page 56 Doing Business 2019 Congo, Rep. Business Reforms in Congo, Rep. In the past year, Doing Business observed a peaking of reform activity worldwide. From June 2, 2017, to May 1, 2018, 128 economies implemented a record 314 regulatory reforms improving the business climate. Reforms inspired by Doing Business have been implemented by economies in all regions. The following are reforms implemented since Doing Business 2008. = Doing Business reform making it easier to do business. = Change making it more difficult to do business. DB2019 Registering Property: The Republic of Congo made property registration easier by reducing the property transfer fee. Enforcing Contracts: The Republic of Congo made enforcing contracts easier by adopting a law that regulates all aspects of mediation as an alternative dispute resolution mechanism. DB2018 Starting a Business: The Republic of Congo made starting a business easier by reducing the minimum capital requirement for business incorporation and by replacing the requirement for the managers’ criminal records with a sworn declaration at the time of the company’s registration. DB2017 Resolving Insolvency: The Republic of Congo made resolving insolvency easier by introducing a new conciliation procedure for companies in financial difficulties and a simplified preventive settlement procedure for small companies. DB2016 Registering Property: The Republic of Congo made transferring property less costly by lowering the property transfer tax rate. DB2015 Protecting Minority Investors: The Republic of Congo strengthened minority investor protections by introducing greater requirements for disclosure of related-party transactions to the board of directors and by making it possible for shareholders to inspect the documents pertaining to related-party transactions and to appoint auditors to conduct an inspection of such transactions. Paying Taxes: The Republic of Congo made paying taxes easier for companies by reducing the corporate income tax rate and by abolishing the tax on the rental value of business premises and the tax on company-owned cars. DB2014 Starting a Business: The Republic of Congo made starting a business easier by reducing the registration costs and eliminating the merchant card. Paying Taxes: The Republic of Congo made paying taxes easier and less costly for companies by merging several employment taxes into a single tax and lowering the tax rate on rental value. Trading across Borders: The Republic of Congo made trading across borders easier by implementing prearrival processing of ship manifests and making improvements in customs administration. DB2013 Starting a Business: The Republic of Congo made starting a business easier by eliminating or reducing several administrative costs associated with incorporation. Dealing with Construction Permits: The Republic of Congo made dealing with construction permits less expensive by reducing the cost of registering a new building at the land registry. DB2012 Registering Property: The Republic of Congo made registering property more expensive by reversing a previous law that reduced the registration fee. Getting Credit: Access to credit in the Republic of Congo was improved through amendments to the OHADA Uniform Act on Secured Transactions that broaden the range of assets that can be used as collateral (including future assets), extend the security interest to the proceeds of the original asset and introduce the possibility of out-of-court enforcement. DB2011 Paying Taxes: The Republic of Congo reduced its corporate income tax rate from 38% to 36% in 2010. Page 57 Doing Business 2019 Congo, Rep. DB2009 Starting a Business: The Republic of Congo made starting a business more difficult through longer delays in registering with the Centre des Formalités des Entreprises, with the tax authority and with the social security administration. Registering Property: The Republic of Congo reduced the cost and time to register property by lowering the registration fee and allowing private appraisers to evaluate property. Getting Credit: In the Republic of Congo and other members of the Central African Monetary Union, the regional public credit registry provided online access to information for banks, simplifying the task of filing and retrieving information in the public registry and allowing expanded coverage of borrowers. Page 58 Doing Business 2019 Congo, Rep. Page 59