Doing Business 2018 Gabon Economy Pro le of Gabon Doing Business 2018 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 Procedures, time and cost to complete all formalities to build a warehouse and the quality control and permits safety mechanisms in the construction permitting system Getting electricity Procedures, time and cost to get connected to the electrical grid, 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 and total tax 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 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 rms. 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 distance to frontier 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 e cient regulation; o ers 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 o ers detailed subnational reports, which exhaustively cover business regulation and reform in di erent 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 rst 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 bene ted 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. Page 2   for insolvency Doing Business Labor market 2018 regulation Gabon Flexibility in employment regulation and aspects of job quality 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 rms. 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 distance to frontier 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 e cient regulation; o ers 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 o ers detailed subnational reports, which exhaustively cover business regulation and reform in di erent 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 rst 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 bene ted 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. The distance to frontier (DTF) measure shows the distance of each economy to the “frontier,” which represents the best performance observed on each of the indicators across all economies in the Doing Business sample since 2005. An economy’s distance to frontier is re ected on a scale from 0 to 100, where 0 represents the lowest performance and 100 represents the frontier. The ease of doing business ranking ranges from 1 to 190. The ranking of 190 economies is determined by sorting the aggregate distance to frontier scores, rounded to two decimals. More about Doing Business (PDF, 5MB) Ease of Doing Business in Region Sub-Saharan Africa DB 2018 Rank 190 1 Gabon Income Category Upper middle income 167 Population 1,979,786 DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) GNI Per Capita (US$) 7,210 0 100 46.19 City Covered Libreville DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 50.43: Regional Average (Sub­Saharan Africa) 47.23: Cameroon (Rank: 163) 46.19: Gabon (Rank: 167) 41.49: Angola (Rank: 175) 37.65: Congo, Dem. Rep. (Rank: 182) Page 3   34.86: Central African Republic (Rank: 184) aggregate distance to frontier scores, rounded to two decimals. More Doingabout 2018 (PDF, Doing Business Business 5MB) Gabon Ease of Doing Business in Region Sub-Saharan Africa DB 2018 Rank 190 1 Gabon Income Category Upper middle income 167 Population 1,979,786 DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) GNI Per Capita (US$) 7,210 0 100 46.19 City Covered Libreville DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 50.43: Regional Average (Sub­Saharan Africa) 47.23: Cameroon (Rank: 163) 46.19: Gabon (Rank: 167) 41.49: Angola (Rank: 175) 37.65: Congo, Dem. Rep. (Rank: 182) 34.86: Central African Republic (Rank: 184) Note: The distance to frontier (DTF) measure shows the distance of each economy to the “frontier,” which represents the best performance observed on each of the indicators across all economies in the Doing Business sample since 2005. An economy’s distance to frontier is re ected on a scale from 0 to 100, where 0 represents the lowest performance and 100 represents the frontier. The ease of doing business ranking ranges from 1 to 190. Rankings on Doing Business topics - Gabon 1 28 55 82 Rank 109 122 126 132 136 149 160 165 169 163 170 173 178 190 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 Distance to Frontier (DTF) on Doing Business topics - Gabon 100 80.48 80 58.33 60 DTF 51.64 43.94 40.21 40.00 40.00 38.33 40 36.11 32.84 20 0 Starting Dealing Getting Registering Getting Protecting Paying Trading Enforcing Resolving a with Electricity Property Credit Minority Taxes across Contracts Insolvency Business Construction Change:-0.59 Change:0.00 Change:0.00 Investors Change:0.00 Borders Change:0.00 Change:-0.07 Change:+6.39 Permits Change:0.00 Change:0.00 Change:+7.57 Starting a Business Page 4   This topic measures the paid-in minimum capital requirement, number of procedures, time and cost for a small- to medium-sized a with Electricity Property Credit Minority Taxes across Contracts Insolvency Business Construction Change:-0.59 Change:0.00 Change:0.00 Investors Change:0.00 Borders Change:0.00 Change:-0.07 Change:+6.39 Permits Change:0.00 Change:0.00 Doing Business 2018 Gabon Change:+7.57 Starting a Business This topic measures the paid-in minimum capital requirement, number of procedures, time and cost for a small- to medium-sized limited liability company to start up and formally operate in 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 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 distance to frontier score for each indicator is the average of the scores obtained for each of the component indicators. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Procedures to legally start and operate a To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions company (number) about the business and the procedures are used. It is assumed that any required information is readily available and that the entrepreneur will pay Pre-registration (for example, name verification no bribes. or reservation, notarization) Registration in economy’s largest business city The business: - Is a limited liability company (or its legal equivalent). If there is more than Post-registration (for example, social security one type of limited liability company in the economy, the most common registration, company seal) among domestic rms is chosen. Information on the most common form is Obtaining approval from spouse to start business obtained from incorporation lawyers or the statistical o ce. or leave home to register company - Operates in the economy’s largest business city and the entire o ce Obtaining any gender-specific permission that space is approximately 929 square meters (10,000 square feet). For 11 can impact company registration, company economies the data are also collected for the second largest business city. operations and process of getting national - Is 100% domestically owned and has ve owners, none of whom is a legal identity card entity; and has a start-up capital of 10 times income per capita and has a Time required to complete each procedure turnover of at least 100 times income per capita. (calendar days) - Performs general industrial or commercial activities, such as the production or sale of goods or services to the public. The business does Does not include time spent gathering not perform foreign trade activities and does not handle products subject information to a special tax regime, for example, liquor or tobacco. It does not use Each procedure starts on a separate day (2 heavily polluting production processes. procedures cannot start on the same day) - Leases the commercial plant or o ces and is not a proprietor of real Procedures fully completed online are recorded estate and the amount of the annual lease for the o ce space is equivalent as ½ day to 1 times income per capita. Procedure is considered completed once final - Does not qualify for investment incentives or any special bene ts. document is received - Has at least 10 and up to 50 employees one month after the commencement of operations, all of whom are domestic nationals. No prior contact with officials - Has a company deed 10 pages long. Cost required to complete each procedure (% of The owners: income per capita) - Have reached the legal age of majority. If there is no legal age of majority, Official costs only, no bribes they are assumed to be 30 years old. No professional fees unless services required by - Are sane, competent, in good health and have no criminal record. law or commonly used in practice - Are married and the marriage is monogamous and registered with the authorities. Paid-in minimum capital (% of income per capita) - Where the answer di ers according to the legal system applicable to the Funds deposited in a bank or with third party woman or man in question (as may be the case in economies where there before registration or up to 3 months after is legal plurality), the answer used will be the one that applies to the incorporation majority of the population. Standardized Company Page 5   before registration or up to 3 months after is legal plurality), the answer used will be the one that applies to the incorporation majority of the population. Doing Business 2018 Gabon Standardized Company Legal form Société à Responsabilité Limitée (SARL) - Limited Liability Company Paid-in minimum capital requirement XAF 100,000 City Covered Libreville Sub-Saharan OECD high Indicator Gabon Africa income Overall Best Performer Procedure – Men (number) 8 7.6 4.9 1.00 (New Zealand) Time – Men (days) 33 24.0 8.5 0.50 (New Zealand) Cost – Men (% of income per capita) 7.2 49.9 3.1 0.00 (United Kingdom) Procedure – Women (number) 8 7.7 4.9 1.00 (New Zealand) Time – Women (days) 33 24.1 8.5 0.50 (New Zealand) Cost – Women (% of income per capita) 7.2 49.9 3.1 0.00 (United Kingdom) Paid-in min. capital (% of income per capita) 2.5 25.6 8.7 0.00 (113 Economies) Figure – Starting a Business in Gabon and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 89.78: Congo, Dem. Rep. (Rank: 62) 82.39: Cameroon (Rank: 122) 80.48: Gabon (Rank: 132) 80.09: Angola (Rank: 134) 76.82: Regional Average (Sub-Saharan Africa) 37.02: Central African Republic (Rank: 188) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of starting a business is determined by sorting their distance to frontier scores for starting a business. These scores are the simple average of the distance to frontier scores for each of the component indicators. Figure – Starting a Business in Gabon – Procedure, Time and Cost Time Cost 6 30 5 ost (% of income per capita) 25 4 20 Time (days) 3 15 2 10 Page 6   starting a business. These scores are the simple average of the distance to frontier scores for each of the component indicators. Doing Business 2018 Gabon Figure – Starting a Business in Gabon – Procedure, Time and Cost Time Cost 6 30 5 Cost (% of income per capita) 25 4 20 Time (days) 3 15 2 10 5 1 0 0 1 2 3 *4 5 *6 *7 *8 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 di erent procedure list for men and women, the graph shows the time for women. For more information on methodology, see the Doing Business website (http://www.doingbusiness.org/methodology). For details on the procedures re ected here, see the summary below. Details – Starting a Business in Gabon – Procedure, Time and Cost No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs 1 Deposit the legally required capital in a bank and obtain the deposit 2 days no charge evidence Agency : Bank Either the founder of the company or the notary public deposits the initial capital in a bank and obtains the deposit evidence. 2 Verify and reserve the company name 1 day XAF 35,000 Agency : Centre de la propriété industrielle du Gabon (CEPIG) it is necessary to verify and reserve the company name with the Industrial Property Center or Centre de la propriété industrielle du Gabon (CEPIG). To avoid future lawsuits, the business founders must pick a name not already in use. 3 Deposit documents for registration with ANPI-Gabon 25 days XAF 50,000 (ANPI- Agency : Agence Nationale De Promotion Des Investissements (ANPI-Gabon) Gabon fees) + XAF 60,000 (registration The company must be registered with the National Investment Promotion fees) + XAF 80,000 Agency, or Agence Nationale De Promotion Des Investissements Du Gabon (stamps) (ANPI-Gabon). Upon receipt of a registration request, ANPI-Gabon registers the company statutes with the Ministry of Finance (Administration de Domaines) and completes the company registration with the court clerk (gre er du tribunal) at the Ministry of Justice (registration number and k- bis). To complete these registrations, ANPI-Gabon must forward the documents to the relevant agencies. Then the General Director at ANPI- Gabon certi es that the registration is complete. Page 7   4 Pay the company registration fees and obtain a receipt 1 day included in (http://www.doingbusiness.org/methodology). For details on the procedures re ected here, see the summary below. Doing Business 2018 Gabon Details – Starting a Business in Gabon – Procedure, Time and Cost No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs 1 Deposit the legally required capital in a bank and obtain the deposit 2 days no charge evidence Agency : Bank Either the founder of the company or the notary public deposits the initial capital in a bank and obtains the deposit evidence. 2 Verify and reserve the company name 1 day XAF 35,000 Agency : Centre de la propriété industrielle du Gabon (CEPIG) it is necessary to verify and reserve the company name with the Industrial Property Center or Centre de la propriété industrielle du Gabon (CEPIG). To avoid future lawsuits, the business founders must pick a name not already in use. 3 Deposit documents for registration with ANPI-Gabon 25 days XAF 50,000 (ANPI- Agency : Agence Nationale De Promotion Des Investissements (ANPI-Gabon) Gabon fees) + XAF 60,000 (registration The company must be registered with the National Investment Promotion fees) + XAF 80,000 Agency, or Agence Nationale De Promotion Des Investissements Du Gabon (stamps) (ANPI-Gabon). Upon receipt of a registration request, ANPI-Gabon registers the company statutes with the Ministry of Finance (Administration de Domaines) and completes the company registration with the court clerk (gre er du tribunal) at the Ministry of Justice (registration number and k- bis). To complete these registrations, ANPI-Gabon must forward the documents to the relevant agencies. Then the General Director at ANPI- Gabon certi es that the registration is complete. 4 Pay the company registration fees and obtain a receipt 1 day included in Agency : Cashier (simultaneous with procedure 5 previous After depositing the documents at ANPI-Gabon, the business founder pays procedure) the fees at the cashier and obtains a receipt. 5 Publish the notice of company creation in a legal journal (Hebdo- 2 days XAF 60,000 informations) Agency : Hebdo-informations New businesses must publish a notice of a company creation in a legal journal (Journal O ciel or Hebdo-informations). It takes from 2 to 30 days to complete this procedure. 6 Register the company with the Tax Authorities to obtain a Tax ID (NIF) 5 days no charge Agency : Tax Authorities (Direction Générale des Impôts) A new company must obtain a Tax ID (Numéro d'Identi cation Fiscal or NIF). For this, a request is made by the entrepreneur or by the company's legal representative to the Tax Authorities' Registration O ce (Bureau des Immatriculations de la Direction Générale des Impôts). 7 Register the employees with the Social Security Authorities 1 day no charge Agency : Social Security (Caisse Nationale de Sécurité Sociale - CNSS and (simultaneous with Caisse nationale d'assurance maladie et de garantie sociale -CNAMGS) previous procedure) A new company must register its employees with the relevant Social Security Authorities, the National Social Security Fund (Caisse Nationale de Sécurité Page 8   Sociale - CNSS) and the National Health Insurance and Social Welfare Fund representative to the Tax Authorities' Registration O ce (Bureau des Business 2018de la Doing Immatriculations Direction Générale des Impôts). Gabon 7 Register the employees with the Social Security Authorities 1 day no charge Agency : Social Security (Caisse Nationale de Sécurité Sociale - CNSS and (simultaneous with Caisse nationale d'assurance maladie et de garantie sociale -CNAMGS) previous procedure) A new company must register its employees with the relevant Social Security Authorities, the National Social Security Fund (Caisse Nationale de Sécurité Sociale - CNSS) and the National Health Insurance and Social Welfare Fund (Caisse nationale d'assurance maladie et de garantie sociale - CNAMGS). 8 Submit an employment declaration to the Labor Inspectorate 1 day no charge Agency : Labor Inspectorate (simultaneous with previous The business founder must submit a declaration of employment to the procedure) Labor Inspectorate, as per article 256 of the Labor Code and by General Decree 3,019 of September 29, 1963. Applies to women only. Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure. 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 noti cations, 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 certi cation requirements. The most recent round of data collection was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Procedures to legally build a warehouse (number) To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions about the construction company, the warehouse project and the utility Submitting all relevant documents and obtaining connections are used. all necessary clearances, licenses, permits and certificates The construction company (BuildCo): Submitting all required notifications and - Is a limited liability company (or its legal equivalent) and operates in the receiving all necessary inspections economy’s largest business city. For 11 economies the data are also collected for the second largest business city. Obtaining utility connections for water and - Is 100% domestically and privately owned; has ve owners, none of whom sewerage is a legal entity. Has a licensed architect and a licensed engineer, both Registering and selling the warehouse after its registered with the local association of architects or engineers. BuildCo is completion not assumed to have any other employees who are technical or licensed Time required to complete each procedure experts, such as geological or topographical experts. (calendar days) - Owns the land on which the warehouse will be built and will sell the warehouse upon its completion. Does not include time spent gathering information The warehouse: Each procedure starts on a separate day— - Will be used for general storage activities, such as storage of books or though procedures that can be fully completed stationery. online are an exception to this rule - Will have two stories, both above ground, with a total constructed area of Procedure is considered completed once final approximately 1,300.6 square meters (14,000 square feet). Each oor will document is received be 3 meters (9 feet, 10 inches) high and will be located on a land plot of No prior contact with officials approximately 929 square meters (10,000 square feet) that is 100% owned by BuildCo, and the warehouse is valued at 50 times income per capita. Cost required to complete each procedure (% of - Will have complete architectural and technical plans prepared by a warehouse value) licensed architect. If preparation of the plans requires such steps as Official costs only, no bribes obtaining further documentation or getting prior approvals from external Page 9   Building quality control index (0-15) agencies, these are counted as procedures. Applies to women only. Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure. Doing Business 2018 Gabon 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 noti cations, 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 certi cation requirements. The most recent round of data collection was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Procedures to legally build a warehouse (number) To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions about the construction company, the warehouse project and the utility Submitting all relevant documents and obtaining connections are used. all necessary clearances, licenses, permits and certificates The construction company (BuildCo): Submitting all required notifications and - Is a limited liability company (or its legal equivalent) and operates in the receiving all necessary inspections economy’s largest business city. For 11 economies the data are also collected for the second largest business city. Obtaining utility connections for water and - Is 100% domestically and privately owned; has ve owners, none of whom sewerage is a legal entity. Has a licensed architect and a licensed engineer, both Registering and selling the warehouse after its registered with the local association of architects or engineers. BuildCo is completion not assumed to have any other employees who are technical or licensed Time required to complete each procedure experts, such as geological or topographical experts. (calendar days) - Owns the land on which the warehouse will be built and will sell the warehouse upon its completion. Does not include time spent gathering information The warehouse: Each procedure starts on a separate day— - Will be used for general storage activities, such as storage of books or though procedures that can be fully completed stationery. online are an exception to this rule - Will have two stories, both above ground, with a total constructed area of Procedure is considered completed once final approximately 1,300.6 square meters (14,000 square feet). Each oor will document is received be 3 meters (9 feet, 10 inches) high and will be located on a land plot of No prior contact with officials approximately 929 square meters (10,000 square feet) that is 100% owned by BuildCo, and the warehouse is valued at 50 times income per capita. Cost required to complete each procedure (% of - Will have complete architectural and technical plans prepared by a warehouse value) licensed architect. If preparation of the plans requires such steps as Official costs only, no bribes obtaining further documentation or getting prior approvals from external Building quality control index (0-15) agencies, these are counted as procedures. - Will take 30 weeks to construct (excluding all delays due to administrative Sum of the scores of six component indices: and regulatory requirements). Quality of building regulations (0-2) The water and sewerage connections: Quality control before construction (0-1) - Will be 150 meters (492 feet) from the existing water source and sewer Quality control during construction (0-3) tap. If there is no water delivery infrastructure in the economy, a borehole Quality control after construction (0-3) will be dug. If there is no sewerage infrastructure, a septic tank in the smallest size available will be installed or built. Liability and insurance regimes (0-2) - Will have an average water use of 662 liters (175 gallons) a day and an Professional certifications (0-4) average wastewater ow 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 ow of 1,136 liters (300 gallons) a day. - Will have a constant level of water demand and wastewater ow throughout the year; will be 1 inch in diameter for the water connection and 4 inches in diameter for the sewerage connection. Standardized Warehouse Page 10   and 4 inches in diameter for the sewerage connection. Doing Business 2018 Gabon Standardized Warehouse Estimated value of warehouse XAF 196,633,252.10 City Covered Libreville Sub-Saharan OECD high Indicator Gabon Africa income Overall Best Performer Procedures (number) 14 14.8 12.5 7.00 (Denmark) Time (days) 276 147.5 154.6 27.5 (Korea, Rep.) Cost (% of warehouse value) 1.1 9.9 1.6 0.10 (5 Economies) Building quality control index (0-15) 7.0 8.0 11.4 15.00 (3 Economies) Figure – Dealing with Construction Permits in Gabon and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 68.80: Angola (Rank: 80) 63.91: Congo, Dem. Rep. (Rank: 121) 59.74: Cameroon (Rank: 140) 58.33: Gabon (Rank: 149) 56.91: Regional Average (Sub-Saharan Africa) 38.86: Central African Republic (Rank: 180) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of dealing with construction permits is determined by sorting their distance to frontier scores for dealing with construction permits. These scores are the simple average of the distance to frontier scores for each of the component indicators. Figure – Dealing with Construction Permits in Gabon – Procedure, Time and Cost Time Cost 0.7 250 0.6 Cost (% of warehouse value) 200 0.5 Time (days) 0.4 150 0.3 100 0.2 50 0.1 0 0 1 *2 *3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 * 12 13 14 Procedures (number) * This symbol is shown beside procedure numbers that take place simultaneously with the previous procedure. Page 11   component indicators. Doing Business 2018 Gabon Figure – Dealing with Construction Permits in Gabon – Procedure, Time and Cost Time Cost 0.7 250 0.6 Cost (% of warehouse value) 200 0.5 Time (days) 0.4 150 0.3 100 0.2 50 0.1 0 0 1 *2 *3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 * 12 13 14 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 di erent procedure list for men and women, the graph shows the time for women. For more information on methodology, see the Doing Business website (http://www.doingbusiness.org/methodology). For details on the procedures re ected here, see the summary below. Figure – Dealing with Construction Permits in Gabon and comparator economies – Measure of Quality 14 13.0 12 10 Index score 8.0 8.0 8 7.0 6.0 6.0 6 4 2 0 Gabon Angola Cameroon Central African Republic Congo, Dem. Rep. Sub-Saharan Africa Details – Dealing with Construction Permits in Gabon – Procedure, Time and Cost No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs 1 Obtain a topographical survey 7 days XAF 125,000 Agency : Private Firm For the requirement of establishing the site plan, a topograhical survey is required to obtain a better understanding of the land plot. 2 Obtain a re safety approval from the Fire Department 7 days XAF 150,000 Agency : Fire Department BuildCo must obtain a re safety report (rapport Sapeur-Pompier) prior to requesting the building permit. 3 Buy 2 municipal stamps from City Hall to attach to building permit 1 day XAF 2,000 Page 12   application Gabon Angola Cameroon Central African Republic Congo, Dem. Rep. Sub-Saharan Africa Doing Business 2018 Gabon Details – Dealing with Construction Permits in Gabon – Procedure, Time and Cost No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs 1 Obtain a topographical survey 7 days XAF 125,000 Agency : Private Firm For the requirement of establishing the site plan, a topograhical survey is required to obtain a better understanding of the land plot. 2 Obtain a re safety approval from the Fire Department 7 days XAF 150,000 Agency : Fire Department BuildCo must obtain a re safety report (rapport Sapeur-Pompier) prior to requesting the building permit. 3 Buy 2 municipal stamps from City Hall to attach to building permit 1 day XAF 2,000 application Agency : City Hall (Mairie) Once BuildCo is ready to submit its building permit application, it must go to City Hall (Mairie) to purchase 2 municipal stamps (timbres scaux). These stamps cost FCFA 1,000.00 each and will be used to legalize the building permit. 4 Request the building permit at the Agence Nationale de l'Urbanisme 60 days XAF 55,000 Agency : Agence Nationale de l’Urbanisme, des Travaux Topographiques et du Cadastre (ANUTTC) BuildCo must request the building permit at the Agence Nationale de l’Urbanisme. First the application form must be bought. When applying, the following documents must be provided: 5 copies of the building plan, one copy of the title, and other documents depending on the usage, the complexity and location of the project ( re report, plans safety and re, soil studies, studies of environmental impact review of civil aviation etc.). The application must include either a land title or a provisional decree, a certi cate from the Directorate of Taxes which certi es that the company is currently in the process of obtaining a land title, with single copies of cadaster enough that a nal deed of sale. The examination of the le is FCFA 50,000. Once the request has been approved, the le is transmitted to the City Hall for further examination. There is a site visit by the City Hall and the nal approval is given. The cost is FCFA 50 000 5 Obtain the building permit from City Hall 30 days XAF 50,000 Agency : Municipality of Libreville The building permit application is reviewed by a committee of the building which includes 14 representatives and is chaired by the mayor. The Commission meets every Wednesday and usually works on 10 les each time. On average, the Commission received 15 applications a week. So if BuildCo submits an application on a Monday and among the rst 10 applicants, the application will be considered during that week. Otherwise, the application will be discussed the following week. BuildCo can therefore provide between 3 and 10 days to see its application approved by the Commission. The Commission will verify, among other things, that the plans have been designed by an architect who is either a member of the Order of Page 13   Architects of Gabon and is a graduate of one of the leading universities in There is a site visit by the City Hall and the nal approval is given. The cost is Doing FCFA 50 000 2018 Business Gabon 5 Obtain the building permit from City Hall 30 days XAF 50,000 Agency : Municipality of Libreville The building permit application is reviewed by a committee of the building which includes 14 representatives and is chaired by the mayor. The Commission meets every Wednesday and usually works on 10 les each time. On average, the Commission received 15 applications a week. So if BuildCo submits an application on a Monday and among the rst 10 applicants, the application will be considered during that week. Otherwise, the application will be discussed the following week. BuildCo can therefore provide between 3 and 10 days to see its application approved by the Commission. The Commission will verify, among other things, that the plans have been designed by an architect who is either a member of the Order of Architects of Gabon and is a graduate of one of the leading universities in the region. If the request is approved, the Head of Department will send a "be transmitted" to the cadastre asking him to conduct an inspection (implantation). The topographer will visit the proposed site for the construction and mark the location of the building on the lot to ensure that the plans conform to the plan of the lot (boundary plan) that was submitted. If the service manager sends the "be sent" a Thursday, it usually happens on Friday. The Cadastre will then send a bill for the establishment to the applicant. Zoning is one of the stages of the Commission's evaluation process that takes more time. There is no separate zoning process, but applicants must indicate in their application the usage of the building: residential, commercial or industrial purposes, and must verify that this is consistent with the zoning map Planning the city. 6 Receive random inspection by City Brigade - I 1 day no charge Agency : City Brigade In addition to the checks done by the Direction General de l’Urbanisme, 2 city brigades (one located in the south and one in the north of the city) will randomly check companies to ensure they are building legally. A project such as the warehouse assessed by Doing Business will likely receive 2 such random inspections. 7 Receive random inspection by City Brigade - II 1 day no charge Agency : City Brigade In addition to the checks done by the Direction General de l’Urbanisme, 2 city brigades (one located in the south and one in the north of the city) will randomly check companies to ensure they are building legally. A project such as the warehouse assessed by Doing Business will likely receive 2 such random inspections. 8 Receive inspection after construction is completed by the Direction 1 day no charge Generale de l'Urbanisme Agency : Agence Nationale de l’Urbanisme, des Travaux Topographiques et du Cadastre (ANUTTC) When the construction is completed, a representative from the Direction générale de l’Urbanisme will inspect the warehouse to verify that it was built according to the plans. 9 Obtain certi cate of conformity 14 days no charge Agency : Agence Nationale de l’Urbanisme, des Travaux Topographiques et du Cadastre (ANUTTC) Without the certi cate of conformity, BuildCo cannot start using the building. Page 14   10 Receive on-site visit by the Cadastre for the "constat de mise-en-valeur" 10 days no charge générale de l’Urbanisme will inspect the warehouse to verify that it was built Doing according Business the plans. to2018 Gabon 9 Obtain certi cate of conformity 14 days no charge Agency : Agence Nationale de l’Urbanisme, des Travaux Topographiques et du Cadastre (ANUTTC) Without the certi cate of conformity, BuildCo cannot start using the building. 10 Receive on-site visit by the Cadastre for the "constat de mise-en-valeur" 10 days no charge Agency : Cadastre The Cadastre will inspect the property to check that there is a building on the land (Constat de mise en valeur de la propriété). After that, they will issue a certi cate of "mise en valeur." 11 Register the property with the Land Registry 120 days XAF 1,199,800 Agency : Land Registry With the nal decree (Decret nal du certi cat de mise en valeur), the owner will register the building with the Land Registry (Service des Domaines) and a property title is issued to the owner. The following documents must be presented at the Land Registry: • Decret de nitif ( nal decree) • Survey of the land (plan de bornage de nitif) • Proces verbal de nitif Apply for water connection 1 day XAF 500,000 12 Agency : Société d'Electricité et d’Eaux du Gabon 13 Receive water inspection 1 day no charge Agency : Société d'Electricité et d’Eaux du Gabon 14 Obtain water connection 30 days no charge Agency : Société d'Electricité et d’Eaux du Gabon Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure. Details – Dealing with Construction Permits in Gabon – Measure of Quality Answer Score Building quality control index (0-15) 7.0 Quality of building regulations index (0-2) 2.0 How accessible are building laws and regulations in your economy? (0-1) Available online; 1.0 Free of charge. Which requirements for obtaining a building permit are clearly speci ed in the building List of required 1.0 regulations or on any accessible website, brochure or pamphlet? (0-1) documents; Fees to be paid; Required preapprovals. 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) architect; Licensed Page 15   engineer. Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure. Doing Business 2018 Gabon Details – Dealing with Construction Permits in Gabon – Measure of Quality Answer Score Building quality control index (0-15) 7.0 Quality of building regulations index (0-2) 2.0 How accessible are building laws and regulations in your economy? (0-1) Available online; 1.0 Free of charge. Which requirements for obtaining a building permit are clearly speci ed in the building List of required 1.0 regulations or on any accessible website, brochure or pamphlet? (0-1) documents; Fees to be paid; Required preapprovals. 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) architect; Licensed engineer. Quality control during construction index (0-3) 0.0 What types of inspections (if any) are required by law to be carried out during Unscheduled 0.0 construction? (0-2) inspections. Do legally mandated inspections occur in practice during construction? (0-1) Mandatory 0.0 inspections are not always done in practice during construction. Quality control after construction index (0-3) 2.0 Is there a nal inspection required by law to verify that the building was built in Yes, nal 2.0 accordance with the approved plans and regulations? (0-2) inspection is done by government agency. Do legally mandated nal inspections occur in practice? (0-1) Final inspection 0.0 does not always occur in practice. Liability and insurance regimes index (0-2) 0.0 Which parties (if any) are held liable by law for structural aws or problems in the No party is held 0.0 building once it is in use (Latent Defect Liability or Decennial Liability)? (0-1) liable under the law. Which parties (if any) are required by law to obtain an insurance policy to cover No party is 0.0 possible structural aws or problems in the building once it is in use (Latent Defect required by law Liability Insurance or Decennial Insurance)? (0-1) to obtain insurance . Page 16   Professional certi cations index (0-4) 2.0 building once it is in use (Latent Defect Liability or Decennial Liability)? (0-1) liable under the Doing Business 2018 Gabon law. Which parties (if any) are required by law to obtain an insurance policy to cover No party is 0.0 possible structural aws or problems in the building once it is in use (Latent Defect required by law Liability Insurance or Decennial Insurance)? (0-1) to obtain insurance . Professional certi cations index (0-4) 2.0 What are the quali cation requirements for the professional responsible for verifying Minimum 2.0 that the architectural plans or drawings are in compliance with existing building number of years regulations? (0-2) of experience; University degree in architecture or engineering; Being a registered architect or engineer. What are the quali cation requirements for the professional who supervises the There are no 0.0 construction on the ground? (0-2) speci c requirements. 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 tari s index measures reliability of supply, transparency of tari s and the price of electricity. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2017. 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 are (number) 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 receiving all necessary inspections data are 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 purchasing material for these works in an area with no physical constraints. For example, the property is not Concluding any necessary supply contract and near a railway. obtaining final supply - Is a new construction and is being connected to electricity for the rst time. Time required to complete each procedure - Has two stories with a total surface area of approximately 1,300.6 square (calendar days) meters (14,000 square feet). The plot of land on which it is built is 929 Is at least 1 calendar day square meters (10,000 square feet). Each procedure starts on a separate day Does not include time spent gathering The electricity connection: information - Is a permanent one with a three-phase, four-wire Y connection with a subscribed capacity of 140-kilo-volt-ampere (kVA) with a power factor of 1, Reflects the time spent in practice, with little when 1 kVA = 1 kilowatt (kW). follow-up and no prior contact with officials - Has a length of 150 meters. The connection is to either the low- or Cost required to complete each procedure (% of medium-voltage distribution network and is either overhead or income per capita) underground, whichever is more common in the area where the warehouse is located and requires works that involve the crossing of a 10- Page 17   Official costs only, no bribes meter road (such as by excavation or overhead lines) but are all carried out construction on the ground? (0-2) speci c requirements. Doing Business 2018 Gabon 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 tari s index measures reliability of supply, transparency of tari s and the price of electricity. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2017. 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 are (number) 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 receiving all necessary inspections data are 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 purchasing material for these works in an area with no physical constraints. For example, the property is not Concluding any necessary supply contract and near a railway. obtaining final supply - Is a new construction and is being connected to electricity for the rst time. Time required to complete each procedure - Has two stories with a total surface area of approximately 1,300.6 square (calendar days) meters (14,000 square feet). The plot of land on which it is built is 929 Is at least 1 calendar day square meters (10,000 square feet). Each procedure starts on a separate day Does not include time spent gathering The electricity connection: information - Is a permanent one with a three-phase, four-wire Y connection with a subscribed capacity of 140-kilo-volt-ampere (kVA) with a power factor of 1, Reflects the time spent in practice, with little when 1 kVA = 1 kilowatt (kW). follow-up and no prior contact with officials - Has a length of 150 meters. The connection is to either the low- or Cost required to complete each procedure (% of medium-voltage distribution network and is either overhead or income per capita) underground, whichever is more common in the area where the warehouse is located and requires works that involve the crossing of a 10- Official costs only, no bribes meter road (such as by excavation or overhead lines) but are all carried out Value added tax excluded on public land. There is no crossing of other owners’ private property The reliability of supply and transparency of because the warehouse has access to a road. tari s index (0-8) - Does not require work to install the internal wiring of the warehouse. This has already been completed up to and including the customer’s service Duration and frequency of power outages (0–3) panel or switchboard and the meter base. Tools to monitor power outages (0–1) Tools to restore power supply (0–1) The monthly consumption: Regulatory monitoring of utilities’ performance - It is assumed that the warehouse operates 30 days a month from 9:00 (0–1) a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (8 hours a day), with equipment utilized at 80% of capacity Financial deterrents limiting outages (0–1) on average and that there are no electricity cuts (assumed for simplicity reasons) and the monthly energy consumption is 26,880 kilowatt-hours Transparency and accessibility of tariffs (0–1) (kWh); hourly consumption is 112 kWh. Price of electricity (cents per kilowatt-hour)* - If multiple electricity suppliers exist, the warehouse is served by the Price based on monthly bill for commercial cheapest supplier. warehouse in case study - Tari s e ective in March of the current year are used for calculation of the price of electricity for the warehouse. Although March has 31 days, for * N o t e : Doing Business m e a s u r e s t h e p r i c e o f calculation purposes only 30 days are used. electricity, but it is not included in the distance to frontier score nor the ranking on the ease of getting electricity. Page 18   Standardized Connection frontier score nor the ranking on the ease of getting electricity. Doing Business 2018 Gabon Standardized Connection Price of electricity (US cents per kWh) 19.4 Name of utility Société d’Energie et d’Eau du Gabon (SEEG) City Covered Libreville Sub-Saharan OECD high Indicator Gabon Africa income Overall Best Performer Procedures (number) 7 5.3 4.7 2 (United Arab Emirates) Time (days) 148 115.3 79.1 10 (United Arab Emirates) Cost (% of income per capita) 1294.5 3737.0 63.0 0.00 (Japan) Reliability of supply and transparency of tariff 0 0.9 7.4 8.00 (28 Economies) index (0-8) Figure – Getting Electricity in Gabon and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 60.35: Cameroon (Rank: 121) 45.91: Regional Average (Sub-Saharan Africa) 44.08: Angola (Rank: 165) 40.21: Gabon (Rank: 170) 33.59: Congo, Dem. Rep. (Rank: 175) 24.64: Central African Republic (Rank: 183) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of getting electricity is determined by sorting their distance to frontier scores for getting electricity. These scores are the simple average of the distance to frontier scores for each of the component indicators. Figure – Getting Electricity in Gabon – Procedure, Time and Cost Time Cost 1400 140 1200 120 Cost (% of income per capita) 1000 100 Time (days) 800 80 600 60 40 400 20 Page 19   200 getting electricity. These scores are the simple average of the distance to frontier scores for each of the component indicators. Doing Business 2018 Gabon Figure – Getting Electricity in Gabon – Procedure, Time and Cost Time Cost 1400 140 1200 120 Cost (% of income per capita) 1000 100 Time (days) 800 80 600 60 40 400 20 200 0 0 1 *2 3 *4 5 *6 7 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 di erent procedure list for men and women, the graph shows the time for women. For more information on methodology, see the Doing Business website (http://www.doingbusiness.org/methodology). For details on the procedures re ected here, see the summary below. Figure – Getting Electricity in Gabon and comparator economies – Measure of Quality 1 0.9 0.9 0.8 0.7 Index score 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 Gabon Angola Cameroon Central African Republic Congo, Dem. Rep. Sub-Saharan Africa Details – Getting Electricity in Gabon – Procedure, Time and Cost No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs 1 Submit application to SEEG and await technical requirements 30 calendar days XAF 4,500,000 Agency : Société d'Energie et d'Eau du Gabon (SEEG) The client applies for an electricity connection from the Société d’Energie et d’Eau du Gabon (SEEG) and pays the fees for the initial study. For non-standard connections (as is the case), it is necessary count about 30 calendar days between the full application and the production of the quantitative description (DQ) by the SEEG - after which the works can then be performed by one of the subcontractors referenced by the SEEG. Page 20   2 Receive external inspection and quantitative description by SEEG 1 calendar day XAF 0 Gabon Angola Cameroon Central African Republic Congo, Dem. Rep. Sub-Saharan Africa Doing Business 2018 Gabon Details – Getting Electricity in Gabon – Procedure, Time and Cost No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs 1 Submit application to SEEG and await technical requirements 30 calendar days XAF 4,500,000 Agency : Société d'Energie et d'Eau du Gabon (SEEG) The client applies for an electricity connection from the Société d’Energie et d’Eau du Gabon (SEEG) and pays the fees for the initial study. For non-standard connections (as is the case), it is necessary count about 30 calendar days between the full application and the production of the quantitative description (DQ) by the SEEG - after which the works can then be performed by one of the subcontractors referenced by the SEEG. 2 Receive external inspection and quantitative description by SEEG 1 calendar day XAF 0 Agency : Société d'Energie et d'Eau du Gabon (SEEG) After receiving the application, the Société d’Energie et d’Eau du Gabon (SEEG) inspects the customer’s site to determine the technical requirements for the connection. 3 Hire private rm to design and carry out external works 90 calendar days XAF 45,000,000 Agency : Accredited Electrical Contractor The customer is given a list of accredited electrical companies to carry out the external works for him. There are about 10 such companies in Libreville. The customer then picks the best o er. In parallel, SEEG sends to the client an invoice for the supervision of the works. Once the bill is paid, the contractor retained by the customer transmits to SEEG the plan for external works. After agreement by SEEG on the plan for external works, the contractor signs a certi cate of non-commencement of work and lodges a request to picket to SEEG. The subcontractor then performs the work, equips the transformer substation, carries out the opening of the trench and rehabilitates the road. Subsequently, the contractor begins the application process to connect to the existing network. SEEG and the contractor should then proceed with the provisional approval of the site. 4 Obtain excavation permit 14 calendar days XAF 0 Agency : Ministry of Public Works or Libreville Municipality The private contractor requests and obtains an excavation permit in order to cut the road and carry out the works 5 Obtain inspection of external works by SEEG and await estimates for 21 calendar days XAF 0 supply contract and security deposit Agency : Société d'Energie et d'Eau du Gabon (SEEG) A few days before the expected end date of the works the client's contractor requests from the Société d’Energie et d’Eau du Gabon (SEEG) to inspect the site. Upon provisional acceptance of the works, SEEG establishes the electricity supply contract and the amount of the security deposit. 6 Sign supply contract and pay security deposit 7 calendar days XAF 1,406,856.47 Agency : Société d'Energie et d'Eau du Gabon (SEEG) The client pays a deposit and signs a supply contract with the utility, so that Page 21   site. Upon provisional acceptance of the works, SEEG establishes the Doing electricity Business 2018contract supply Gabon and the amount of the security deposit. 6 Sign supply contract and pay security deposit 7 calendar days XAF 1,406,856.47 Agency : Société d'Energie et d'Eau du Gabon (SEEG) The client pays a deposit and signs a supply contract with the utility, so that the meter can be installed and supply can be turned on. 7 Receive meter installation and turn-on of electricity 7 calendar days XAF 0 Agency : Société d'Energie et d'Eau du Gabon (SEEG) When the supply contract has been signed and paid, and the security deposit has been made, the meter is installed and the nal connection is carried out. The customer is then connected. Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure. Details – Getting Electricity in Gabon – Measure of Quality Answer Reliability of supply and transparency of tari 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) 1 Does the distribution utility use automated tools to monitor outages? Yes Mechanisms for restoring service (0-1) 1 Does the distribution utility use automated tools to restore service? Yes Regulatory monitoring (0-1) 0 Does a regulator—that is, an entity separate from the utility—monitor the utility’s performance on No reliability of supply? Financial deterrents aimed at limiting outages (0-1) 0 Does the utility either pay compensation to customers or face nes by the regulator (or both) if outages No exceed a certain cap? Communication of tari s and tari changes (0-1) 0 Are e ective tari s available online? Yes Link to the website, if available online http://www.seeg.ga/ activites/relation- clientele/demande- de-branchement Are customers noti ed of a change in tari ahead of the billing cycle? No Note: Page 22   If the duration and frequency of outages is 100 or less, the economy is eligible to score on the Reliability of supply and transparency Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure. Doing Business 2018 Gabon Details – Getting Electricity in Gabon – Measure of Quality Answer Reliability of supply and transparency of tari 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) 1 Does the distribution utility use automated tools to monitor outages? Yes Mechanisms for restoring service (0-1) 1 Does the distribution utility use automated tools to restore service? Yes Regulatory monitoring (0-1) 0 Does a regulator—that is, an entity separate from the utility—monitor the utility’s performance on No reliability of supply? Financial deterrents aimed at limiting outages (0-1) 0 Does the utility either pay compensation to customers or face nes by the regulator (or both) if outages No exceed a certain cap? Communication of tari s and tari changes (0-1) 0 Are e ective tari s available online? Yes Link to the website, if available online http://www.seeg.ga/ activites/relation- clientele/demande- de-branchement Are customers noti ed of a change in tari 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 tari 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. 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 ve 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 June 2017. See the methodology for more information. Page 23   If the minimum outage time considered for SAIDI/SAIFI is over 5 minutes, the economy is not eligible to score on the index. Doing Business 2018 Gabon 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 ve 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 June 2017. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Procedures to legally transfer title on immovable To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions property (number) about the parties to the transaction, the property and the procedures are used. Preregistration procedures (for example, checking for liens, notarizing sales agreement, The parties (buyer and seller): paying property transfer taxes) - Are limited liability companies (or the legal equivalent). Registration procedures in the economy's largest - Are located in the periurban area of the economy’s largest business city. business citya. For 11 economies the data are also collected for the second largest Postregistration procedures (for example, filling business city. title with municipality) - Are 100% domestically and privately owned. Time required to complete each procedure - Have 50 employees each, all of whom are nationals. (calendar days) - Perform general commercial activities. Does not include time spent gathering information The property (fully owned by the seller): - Has a value of 50 times income per capita, which equals the sale price. Each procedure starts on a separate day - though - Is fully owned by the seller. procedures that can be fully completed online - Has no mortgages attached and has been under the same ownership for are an exception to this rule the past 10 years. Procedure is considered completed once final - Is registered in the land registry or cadastre, or both, and is free of title document is received disputes. No prior contact with officials - Is located in a periurban commercial zone, and no rezoning is required. Cost required to complete each procedure (% of - Consists of land and a building. The land area is 557.4 square meters property value) (6,000 square feet). A two-story warehouse of 929 square meters (10,000 square feet) is located on the land. The warehouse is 10 years old, is in Official costs only (such as administrative fees, good condition, has no heating system and complies with all safety duties and taxes). standards, building codes and legal requirements. The property, Value Added Tax, Capital Gains Tax and illicit consisting of land and building, will be transferred in its entirety. payments are excluded - Will not be subject to renovations or additional construction following the purchase. Quality of land administration index (0-30) - Has no trees, natural water sources, natural reserves or historical Reliability of infrastructure index (0-8) monuments of any kind. Transparency of information index (0–6) - Will not be used for special purposes, and no special permits, such as for Geographic coverage index (0–8) residential use, industrial plants, waste storage or certain types of agricultural activities, are required. Land dispute resolution index (0–8) - Has no occupants, and no other party holds a legal interest in it. Equal access to property rights index (-2–0) Standard Property Transfer Property value XAF 196,633,252.10 City Covered Libreville Page 24   Sub-Saharan OECD high Doing Business 2018 Gabon Standard Property Transfer Property value XAF 196,633,252.10 City Covered Libreville Sub-Saharan OECD high Indicator Gabon Africa income Overall Best Performer Procedures (number) 5 6.2 4.6 1.00 (4 Economies) Time (days) 102 59.3 22.3 1.00 (3 Economies) Cost (% of property value) 10.5 7.8 4.2 0.00 (5 Economies) Quality of the land administration index (0-30) 3.5 8.6 22.7 29.00 (Singapore) Figure – Registering Property in Gabon and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 51.71: Regional Average (Sub-Saharan Africa) 45.85: Congo, Dem. Rep. (Rank: 158) 41.92: Central African Republic (Rank: 169) 40.86: Angola (Rank: 172) 40.00: Gabon (Rank: 173) 37.33: Cameroon (Rank: 176) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of registering property is determined by sorting their distance to frontier scores for registering property. These scores are the simple average of the distance to frontier scores for each of the component indicators. Figure – Registering Property in Gabon – Procedure, Time and Cost Time Cost 12 100 10 80 Cost (% of property value) 8 Time (days) 60 6 40 4 20 2 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 Procedures (number) * This symbol is shown beside procedure numbers that take place simultaneously with the previous procedure. Page 25   Note: Online procedures account for 0.5 days in the total time calculation. For economies that have a di erent procedure list for registering property. These scores are the simple average of the distance to frontier scores for each of the component indicators. Doing Business 2018 Gabon Figure – Registering Property in Gabon – Procedure, Time and Cost Time Cost 12 100 10 80 Cost (% of property value) 8 Time (days) 60 6 40 4 20 2 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 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 di erent procedure list for men and women, the graph shows the time for women. For more information on methodology, see the Doing Business website (http://www.doingbusiness.org/methodology). For details on the procedures re ected here, see the summary below. Figure – Registering Property in Gabon and comparator economies – Measure of Quality 12 10.0 10 8.6 8 Index score 7.0 7.0 6 4 3.5 3.0 2 0 Gabon Angola Cameroon Central African Republic Congo, Dem. Rep. Sub-Saharan Africa Details – Registering Property in Gabon – Procedure, Time and Cost No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs 1 Search the title at the property registry (Conservation Foncière) 1-2 months (included in Agency : Property Registry (Conservation de la Propriété Foncière et des Procedure 3) Hypothèques) The Notary obtains an o cial copy of the title (livre foncier) from the registry. The title includes all relevant information on the property, such as its history of ownership, boundaries of the property and the building. 2 Check for unpaid utilities bills at the SEEG (Service de l’Eau et de 1 day no cost l’Electricite de Gabon) Agency : Utility company (SEEG, Service de l’Eau et de l’Electricite de Gabon) It is standard practice for the Notary to check for any unpaid utilities bills Page 26   Gabon Angola Cameroon Central African Republic Congo, Dem. Rep. Sub-Saharan Africa Doing Business 2018 Gabon Details – Registering Property in Gabon – Procedure, Time and Cost No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs 1 Search the title at the property registry (Conservation Foncière) 1-2 months (included in Agency : Property Registry (Conservation de la Propriété Foncière et des Procedure 3) Hypothèques) The Notary obtains an o cial copy of the title (livre foncier) from the registry. The title includes all relevant information on the property, such as its history of ownership, boundaries of the property and the building. 2 Check for unpaid utilities bills at the SEEG (Service de l’Eau et de 1 day no cost l’Electricite de Gabon) Agency : Utility company (SEEG, Service de l’Eau et de l’Electricite de Gabon) It is standard practice for the Notary to check for any unpaid utilities bills associated with the property prior to the transfer. The parties can also carry out this procedure. 3 Notary drafts and parties execute the sale-purchase agreement 1 day 10.5% property value Agency : Notary (notary fees plus other taxes and fees) It is standard practice for the buyer and the seller, as companies, to contract a notary to conduct all Procedures. They pay his fees and the transfer taxes/fees to be incurred at the time of contracting him. After carrying out all the necessary due diligence procedures, the notary drafts the sale-purchase agreement for the parties, which they then sign. The notary then notarizes the signed agreement. 4 Register the sale purchase agreement at the land administration 10 days 8% of the property (Service des Domaines) value (paid in Agency : Direction Generale des Impots, Service de l’Enregistrement et Procedure 3) timbres The transfer deed is registered at the Direction Generale des Impots, Service de l’Enregistrement et timbres, or the administrative authority that keeps the technical records on lands. The notary will then prepare all the necessary documents to request a change of name on the property title at the Conservation Foncière. Note: If there is a mortgage on the property, there is an additional cost of 0.3% property value fee. 5 Register the sale-purchase agreement at the property registry 1-2 months 0.6% property value (Conservation Foncière) (registration fees– Agency : Property Registry (Conservation de la Propriété Foncière et des included in Hypothèques) Procedure 3) The registrar transcribes the transfer and publishes it in the registry books under the name of the new owner. Two copies of the transfer deed are submitted: one without stamps for the Conservation Fonciere, and one with stamps,which the buyer will receive back after registration. The original transfer deed stays with the notary. Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure. Page 27   Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure. Doing Business 2018 Gabon Details – Registering Property in Gabon – Measure of Quality Answer Score Quality of the land administration index (0-30) 3.5 Reliability of infrastructure index (0-8) 0.0 What is the institution in charge of immovable property registration? La Conservation Foncière et des Hypothèques In what format are the majority of title or deed records kept in the largest business city Paper 0.0 —in a paper format or in a computerized format (scanned or fully digital)? Is there an electronic database for checking for encumbrances (liens, mortgages, No 0.0 restrictions and the like)? Institution in charge of the plans showing legal boundaries in the largest business city: Agence Nationale de l'Urbanisme, des Travaux Topographiques et du Cadastre In what format are the majority of maps of land plots kept in the largest business city— Paper 0.0 in a 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 Separate 0.0 cadastral or mapping agency kept in a single database, in di erent but linked databases databases or in separate databases? Do the immovable property registration agency and cadastral or mapping agency use No 0.0 the same identi cation number for properties? Transparency of information index (0–6) 0.0 Who is able to obtain information on land ownership at the agency in charge of Only 0.0 immovable 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 No 0.0 made publicly available–and if so, how? Link for online access: Is the applicable fee schedule for any property transaction at the agency in charge of Yes, in person 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 No 0.0 legally binding document that proves property ownership within a speci c time frame– and if so, how does it communicate the service standard? Page 28   Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure. Doing Business 2018 Gabon Details – Registering Property in Gabon – Measure of Quality Answer Score Quality of the land administration index (0-30) 3.5 Reliability of infrastructure index (0-8) 0.0 What is the institution in charge of immovable property registration? La Conservation Foncière et des Hypothèques In what format are the majority of title or deed records kept in the largest business city Paper 0.0 —in a paper format or in a computerized format (scanned or fully digital)? Is there an electronic database for checking for encumbrances (liens, mortgages, No 0.0 restrictions and the like)? Institution in charge of the plans showing legal boundaries in the largest business city: Agence Nationale de l'Urbanisme, des Travaux Topographiques et du Cadastre In what format are the majority of maps of land plots kept in the largest business city— Paper 0.0 in a 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 Separate 0.0 cadastral or mapping agency kept in a single database, in di erent but linked databases databases or in separate databases? Do the immovable property registration agency and cadastral or mapping agency use No 0.0 the same identi cation number for properties? Transparency of information index (0–6) 0.0 Who is able to obtain information on land ownership at the agency in charge of Only 0.0 immovable 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 No 0.0 made publicly available–and if so, how? Link for online access: Is the applicable fee schedule for any property transaction at the agency in charge of Yes, in person 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 No 0.0 legally binding document that proves property ownership within a speci c time frame– and if so, how does it communicate the service standard? Page 29   Link for Doing online access: Business 2018 Gabon Does the agency in charge of immovable property registration commit to delivering a No 0.0 legally binding document that proves property ownership within a speci c time frame– and if so, how does it communicate the service standard? Link for online access: Is there a speci c and separate mechanism for ling complaints about a problem that No 0.0 occurred at the agency in charge of immovable property registration? Contact information: Are there publicly available o cial statistics tracking the number of transactions at the 0.0 immovable property registration agency? Number of property transfers in the largest business city in 2015: Who is able to consult maps of land plots in the largest business city? Only 0.0 intermediaries (notaries, lawyers, etc.) Is the applicable fee schedule for accessing maps of land plots made publicly available No 0.0 —and if so, how? Link for online access: Does the cadastral or mapping agency commit to delivering an updated map within a No 0.0 speci c time frame—and if so, how does it communicate the service standard? Link for online access: Is there a speci c and separate mechanism for ling 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 No 0.0 property 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) 4.5 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 Yes 0.5 guarantee? Is there a speci c compensation mechanism to cover for losses incurred by parties who Yes 0.5 engaged in good faith in a property transaction based on erroneous information certi ed by the immovable property registry? Page 30   Does the legal system require a control of legality of the documents necessary for a Yes 0.5 Is the system of immovable property registration subject to a state or private Yes 0.5 guarantee? Doing Business 2018 Gabon Is there a speci c compensation mechanism to cover for losses incurred by parties who Yes 0.5 engaged in good faith in a property transaction based on erroneous information certi ed by the immovable property registry? Does the legal system require a control of legality of the documents necessary for a Yes 0.5 property 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? Notary; Lawyer. Does the legal system require veri cation 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. 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 Le Tribunal de property worth 50 times gross national income (GNI) per capita and located in the Libreville largest business city, what court would be in charge of the case in the rst instance? How long does it take on average to obtain a decision from the rst-instance court for Between 2 and 3 1.0 such a case (without appeal)? years Are there any statistics on the number of land disputes in the rst instance? No 0.0 Number of land disputes in the largest business city in 2015: Equal access to property rights index (-2–0) -1.0 Do unmarried men and unmarried women have equal ownership rights to property? Yes 0.0 Do married men and married women have equal ownership rights to property? No -1.0 Getting Credit This topic explores two sets of issues—the strength of credit reporting systems and the e ectiveness of collateral and bankruptcy laws in facilitating lending. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2017. 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 Rights of borrowers and lenders through through 2 sets of indicators. The depth of credit information index collateral laws (0-10) measures rules and practices a ecting the coverage, scope and Protection of secured creditors’ rights through accessibility of credit information available through a credit registry or a bankruptcy laws (0-2) credit bureau. The strength of legal rights index measures the degree to Depth of credit information index (0–8) which collateral and bankruptcy laws protect the rights of borrowers and lenders and thus facilitate lending. For each economy it is first determined Scope and accessibility of credit information whether a unitary secured transactions system exists. Then two case distributed by credit bureaus and credit scenarios, case A and case B, are used to determine how a nonpossessory registries (0-8) security interest is created, publicized and enforced according to the law. Credit bureau coverage (% of adults) Special emphasis is given to how the collateral registry operates (if Number of individuals and firms listed in largest registration of security interests is possible). The case scenarios involve a credit bureau as a percentage of adult population secured borrower, company ABC, and a secured lender, BizBank. Page 31   Credit registry coverage (% of adults) In some economies the legal framework for secured transactions will allow Do married men and married women have equal ownership rights to property? No -1.0 Doing Business 2018 Gabon Getting Credit This topic explores two sets of issues—the strength of credit reporting systems and the e ectiveness of collateral and bankruptcy laws in facilitating lending. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2017. 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 Rights of borrowers and lenders through through 2 sets of indicators. The depth of credit information index collateral laws (0-10) measures rules and practices a ecting the coverage, scope and Protection of secured creditors’ rights through accessibility of credit information available through a credit registry or a bankruptcy laws (0-2) credit bureau. The strength of legal rights index measures the degree to Depth of credit information index (0–8) which collateral and bankruptcy laws protect the rights of borrowers and lenders and thus facilitate lending. For each economy it is first determined Scope and accessibility of credit information whether a unitary secured transactions system exists. Then two case distributed by credit bureaus and credit scenarios, case A and case B, are used to determine how a nonpossessory registries (0-8) security interest is created, publicized and enforced according to the law. Credit bureau coverage (% of adults) Special emphasis is given to how the collateral registry operates (if Number of individuals and firms listed in largest registration of security interests is possible). The case scenarios involve a credit bureau as a percentage of adult population secured borrower, company ABC, and a secured lender, BizBank. Credit registry coverage (% of adults) In some economies the legal framework for secured transactions will allow Number of individuals and firms listed in credit only case A or case B (not both) to apply. Both cases examine the same set registry as a percentage of adult population of legal provisions relating to the use of movable collateral. Several assumptions about the secured borrower (ABC) and lender (BizBank) 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. Sub-Saharan OECD high Indicator Gabon Africa income Overall Best Performer Strength of legal rights index (0-12) 6 5.1 6.0 12.00 (4 Economies) Depth of credit information index (0-8) 2 3.0 6.6 8.00 (34 Economies) Page 32   Credit registry coverage (% of adults) 28.9 6.3 18.3 100.00 (3 Economies) possible). ABC keeps ownership and possession of the assets. Doing Business 2018 Gabon Sub-Saharan OECD high Indicator Gabon Africa income Overall Best Performer Strength of legal rights index (0-12) 6 5.1 6.0 12.00 (4 Economies) Depth of credit information index (0-8) 2 3.0 6.6 8.00 (34 Economies) Credit registry coverage (% of adults) 28.9 6.3 18.3 100.00 (3 Economies) Credit bureau coverage (% of adults) 0.0 8.2 63.7 100.00 (23 Economies) Figure – Getting Credit in Gabon and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 60.00: Cameroon (Rank: 68) 5.00: Angola (Rank: 183) 40.73: Regional Average (Sub-Saharan Africa) 40.00: Gabon (Rank: 122) 30.00: Central African Republic (Rank: 142) 30.00: Congo, Dem. Rep. (Rank: 142) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of getting credit is determined by sorting their distance to frontier scores for getting credit. These scores are the distance to frontier score for the sum of the strength of legal rights index and the depth of credit information index. Figure – Legal Rights in Gabon and comparator economies 7 6 6 6 6 6 5.1 5 Index score 4 3 2 1 1 0 Gabon Angola Cameroon Central African Republic Congo, Dem. Rep. Sub-Saharan Africa Details – Legal Rights in Gabon Strength of legal rights index (0-12) 6 Does an integrated or uni ed 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 speci c description of collateral? Page 33   Gabon Angola Cameroon Central African Republic Congo, Dem. Rep. Sub-Saharan Africa Doing Business 2018 Gabon Details – Legal Rights in Gabon Strength of legal rights index (0-12) 6 Does an integrated or uni ed 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 speci c description of collateral? Does the law allow businesses to grant a non possessory security right in substantially all of its assets, without requiring Yes a speci c description of collateral? May a security right extend to future or after-acquired assets, and does it extend automatically to the products, proceeds Yes or replacements of the original assets? Is a general description of debts and obligations permitted in collateral agreements; can all types of debts and Yes obligations be 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 uni ed geographically No and by 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 No performed online by any interested third party? Are secured creditors paid rst (i.e. before tax claims and employee claims) when a debtor defaults outside an insolvency No procedure? Are secured creditors paid rst (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 No reorganization procedure? Does the law protect secured creditors’ rights by providing clear grounds for relief from the stay and/or 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 Yes allow 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 Gabon and comparator economies 8 6 6 Index score 4 3.0 2 2 0 0 0 0 Gabon Angola Cameroon Central African Republic Congo, Dem. Rep. Sub-Saharan Africa Details – Credit Information in Gabon Page 34   0 0 0 0 Gabon Doing Business 2018 Gabon Angola Cameroon Central African Republic Congo, Dem. Rep. Sub-Saharan Africa Details – Credit Information in Gabon Credit Credit Depth of credit information index (0-8) bureau registry Score 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 financial institutions - No No 0 distributed? Are at least 2 years of historical data distributed? (Credit bureaus and registries that distribute more No No 0 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 Yes 1 By law, do borrowers have the right to access their data in the credit bureau or credit registry? No No 0 Can banks and financial institutions access borrowers’ credit information online (for example, No No 0 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 banks and financial No No 0 institutions assess the creditworthiness of borrowers? Score ("yes" to either public bureau or private registry) 2 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 0 309,893 Number of firms 0 21,614 Total 0 331,507 Percentage of adult population 0.0 28.9 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 June 2017. 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 of - Is a publicly traded corporation listed on the economy’s most important minority shareholders to sue and hold interested stock exchange. If the number of publicly traded companies listed on that directors liable for prejudicial related-party exchange is less than 10, or if there is no stock exchange in the economy, it is assumed that Buyer is a large private company with multiple Page 35   transactions; Available legal remedies (damages, Percentage of adult population 0.0 28.9 Doing Business 2018 Gabon 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 June 2017. 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 of - Is a publicly traded corporation listed on the economy’s most important minority shareholders to sue and hold interested stock exchange. If the number of publicly traded companies listed on that directors liable for prejudicial related-party exchange is less than 10, or if there is no stock exchange in the economy, it transactions; Available legal remedies (damages, is assumed that Buyer is a large private company with multiple disgorgement of profits, fines, imprisonment, shareholders. rescission of the transaction) - Has a board of directors and a chief executive o cer (CEO) who may legally act on behalf of Buyer where permitted, even if this is not speci cally Ease of shareholder suits index (0–10): Access to required by law. internal corporate documents; Evidence - Has a supervisory board (applicable to economies with a two-tier board obtainable during trial and allocation of legal system) on which 60% of the shareholder-elected members have been expenses appointed by Mr. James, who is Buyer’s controlling shareholder and a Extent of conflict of interest regulation index member of Buyer’s board of directors. (0–10): Simple average of the extent of disclosure, - Has not adopted any bylaws or articles of association that di er from extent of director liability and ease of default minimum standards and does not follow any nonmandatory codes, shareholder indices principles, recommendations or guidelines relating to corporate Extent of shareholder rights index (0-10): governance. Shareholders’ rights and role in major corporate - Is a manufacturing company with its own distribution network. decisions Extent of ownership and control index (0-10): The transaction involves the following details: Governance safeguards protecting shareholders - Mr. James owns 60% of Buyer and elected two directors to Buyer’s ve- from undue board control and entrenchment member board. Extent of corporate transparency index (0-10): - Mr. James also owns 90% of Seller, a company that operates a chain of Corporate transparency on ownership stakes, retail hardware stores. Seller recently closed a large number of its stores. compensation, audits and financial prospects - Mr. James proposes that Buyer purchase Seller’s unused eet of trucks to expand Buyer’s distribution of its food products, a proposal to which Buyer Extent of shareholder governance index (0–10): agrees. The price is equal to 10% of Buyer’s assets and is higher than the Simple average of the extent of shareholders market value. rights, extent of ownership and control and - The proposed transaction is part of the company’s ordinary course of extent of corporate transparency indices business and is not outside the authority of the company. Strength of minority investor protection index - Buyer enters into the transaction. All required approvals are obtained, (0–10): Simple average of the extent of conflict of and all required disclosures made (that is, the transaction is not interest regulation and extent of shareholder fraudulent). governance indices - The transaction causes damages to Buyer. Shareholders sue Mr. James and the other parties that approved the transaction. Sub-Saharan OECD high Indicator Gabon Africa income Overall Best Performer Extent of conflict of interest regulation index (0- 4 4.8 6.4 9.3 (New Zealand) 10) Extent of shareholder governance index (0-10) 3.7 4.0 6.4 Page 36   9.00 (Kazakhstan) and the other parties that approved the transaction. Doing Business 2018 Gabon Sub-Saharan OECD high Indicator Gabon Africa income Overall Best Performer Extent of conflict of interest regulation index (0- 4 4.8 6.4 9.3 (New Zealand) 10) Extent of shareholder governance index (0-10) 3.7 4.0 6.4 9.00 (Kazakhstan) Figure – Protecting Minority Investors in Gabon and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 55.00: Angola (Rank: 81) 43.72: Regional Average (Sub-Saharan Africa) 41.67: Cameroon (Rank: 138) 40.00: Central African Republic (Rank: 146) 38.33: Gabon (Rank: 160) 36.67: Congo, Dem. Rep. (Rank: 164) Note: The ranking of economies on the strength of minority investor protections is determined by sorting their distance to frontier scores for protecting minority investors. These scores are the simple average of the distance to frontier scores for the extent of con ict of interest regulation index and the extent of shareholder governance index. Figure – Protecting Minority Investors in Gabon and comparator economies – Measure of Quality Gabon 4 1 7 3 4 4 Angola 4 6 4 6 7 6 Cameroon 4 1 7 3 4 6 Central African Republic 4 1 7 3 4 5 Congo, Dem. Rep. 4 1 7 3 4 3 OECD high income 7.3 5.6 6.5 5.2 6.3 7.4 Sub-Saharan Africa 4.2 3.5 5.5 3.3 4.6 5.6 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 Sub-Indicator Score Extent of corporate transparency index (0­10) Extent of director liability index (0­10) Extent of disclosure index (0­10) Extent of ownership and control index (0­10) Extent of shareholder rights index (0­10) Ease of shareholder suits index (0­10) Details – Protecting Minority Investors in Gabon – Measure of Quality Answer Score Page 37   Extent of ownership and control index (0­10) Extent of shareholder rights index (0­10) Ease of shareholder suits index (0­10) Doing Business 2018 Gabon Details – Protecting Minority Investors in Gabon – Measure of Quality Answer Score Extent of con ict of interest regulation index (0-10) 4 Extent of disclosure index (0-10) 7 Which corporate body is legally su cient 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 con ict of interest to the board of directors? (0-2) Full disclosure of 2.0 all material facts Must Buyer disclose the transaction in published periodic lings (annual reports)? (0-2) Disclosure on 2.0 the transaction and on the con ict of interest Must Buyer immediately disclose the transaction to the public and/or shareholders? (0- No disclosure 0.0 2) obligation Extent of director liability index (0-10) 1 Can shareholders representing 10% of Buyer's share capital sue directly or derivatively Yes 1.0 for the damage the transaction caused to Buyer? (0-1) Can shareholders hold the interested director liable for the damage the transaction Not liable 0.0 caused to Buyer? (0-2) Can shareholders hold the other directors liable for the damage the transaction caused Not liable 0.0 to 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 pro ts made from the transaction upon a successful claim by No 0.0 shareholders? (0-1) Is Mr. James disquali ed or ned and imprisoned upon a successful claim by No 0.0 shareholders? (0-1) 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) 4 Before suing can shareholders representing 10% of Buyer's share capital inspect the Yes 1.0 transaction documents? (0-1) Can the plainti obtain any documents from the defendant and witnesses at trial? (0-3) Any relevant 3.0 document Can the plainti request categories of documents from the defendant without No 0.0 Page 38   Before suing can shareholders representing 10% of Buyer's share capital inspect the Yes 1.0 transaction Doing 2018 (0-1) documents? Business Gabon Can the plainti obtain any documents from the defendant and witnesses at trial? (0-3) Any relevant 3.0 document Can the plainti request categories of documents from the defendant without No 0.0 identifying speci c ones? (0-1) Can the plainti 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 plainti s recover their legal expenses from the company? (0-2) At the discretion 0.0 of the court Extent of shareholder governance index (0-10) 3.7 Extent of shareholder rights index (0-10) 4 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 Are changes to the rights of a class of shares only possible if the holders of the a ected 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 members consent to add a new No 0.0 member? Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, must a member rst o er to sell their No 0.0 interest to the existing members before they can sell to non-members? Extent of ownership and control index (0-10) 3 Is it forbidden to appoint the same individual as CEO and chair 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 Yes 1.0 end of their term? Must the board of directors include a separate audit committee exclusively comprising No 0.0 board members? Must a potential acquirer make a tender o er to all shareholders upon acquiring 50% No 0.0 of Buyer? Page 39   Must Buyer pay declared dividends within a maximum period set by law? Yes 1.0 Must the board of directors include a separate audit committee exclusively comprising No 0.0 board Doing members? Business 2018 Gabon Must a potential acquirer make a tender o er to all shareholders upon acquiring 50% No 0.0 of 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 No 0.0 o er to all shareholders upon acquiring 50% of Buyer? Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, must Buyer distribute pro ts within a Yes 1.0 maximum period set by law? Extent of corporate transparency index (0-10) 4 Must Buyer disclose direct and indirect bene cial 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 Yes 1.0 meeting agenda? Must Buyer's annual nancial 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 No 0.0 the meeting agenda? Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, must Buyer's annual nancial statements be Yes 1.0 audited by an external auditor? 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 measures the administrative burden in paying taxes and contributions. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed on June 30, 2017 covering for the Paying Taxes indicator calendar year 2016 (January 1, 2016 – December 31, 2016). Last year (Doing Business 2017) the scope of data collection was expanded to better understand the overall tax environment in an economy. The questionnaire was expanded to include new questions on post- ling processes: VAT refund and tax audit. The data shows where post ling processes and practices work e ciently and what drives the di erences in the overall tax compliance cost across economies. The new section covers both the legal framework and the administrative burden on businesses to comply with post ling processes. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Page 40   Tax payments for a manufacturing company in Using a case scenario, Doing Business records taxes and mandatory Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, must Buyer's annual nancial statements be Yes 1.0 audited by an external auditor? Doing Business 2018 Gabon 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 measures the administrative burden in paying taxes and contributions. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed on June 30, 2017 covering for the Paying Taxes indicator calendar year 2016 (January 1, 2016 – December 31, 2016). Last year (Doing Business 2017) the scope of data collection was expanded to better understand the overall tax environment in an economy. The questionnaire was expanded to include new questions on post- ling processes: VAT refund and tax audit. The data shows where post ling processes and practices work e ciently and what drives the di erences in the overall tax compliance cost across economies. The new section covers both the legal framework and the administrative burden on businesses to comply with post ling processes. 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 2016 (number per year adjusted for electronic and contributions a medium size company must pay in a year, and measures joint ling and payment) the administrative burden of paying taxes, contributions and dealing with post ling processes. Information is also compiled on frequency of ling Total number of taxes and contributions paid, and payments, time taken to comply with tax laws, time taken to comply including consumption taxes (value added tax, with the requirements of post ling processes and time waiting. sales tax or goods and service tax) Method and frequency of filing and payment To make data comparable across economies, several assumptions are used: Time required to comply with 3 major taxes - TaxpayerCo is a medium-size business that started operations on January (hours per year) 1, 2015. It produces ceramic flowerpots and sells them at retail. All taxes Collecting information, computing tax payable and contributions recorded are paid in the second year of operation Completing tax return, filing with agencies (calendar year 2016). Taxes and mandatory contributions are measured at all levels of government. Arranging payment or withholding Preparing separate tax accounting books, if The VAT refund process: required - In June 2016, TaxpayerCo. makes a large capital purchase: the value of the Total tax and contribution rate (% of pro t before machine is 65 times income per capita of the economy. Sales are equally all taxes) spread per month (1,050 times income per capita divided by 12) and cost of goods sold are equally expensed per month (875 times income per Profit or corporate income tax capita divided by 12). The machinery seller is registered for VAT and excess Social contributions, labor taxes paid by input VAT incurred in June will be fully recovered after four consecutive employer months if the VAT rate is the same for inputs, sales and the machine and Property and property transfer taxes the tax reporting period is every month. Input VAT will exceed Output VAT Dividend, capital gains, financial transactions in June 2016. taxes The corporate income tax audit process: Waste collection, vehicle, road and other taxes - An error in calculation of income tax liability (for example, use of incorrect Post ling Index tax depreciation rates, or incorrectly treating an expense as tax deductible) leads to an incorrect income tax return and a corporate income Time to comply with a VAT refund tax underpayment. TaxpayerCo. discovered the error and voluntarily Time to receive a VAT refund noti ed the tax authority. The value of the underpaid income tax liability is Time to comply with a corporate income tax audit 5% of the corporate income tax liability due. TaxpayerCo. submits corrected information after the deadline for submitting the annual tax Time to complete a corporate income tax audit return, but within the tax assessment period. Sub-Saharan OECD high Indicator Gabon Africa income Overall Best Performer Payments (number per year) 26 37.2 10.9 3 (Hong Kong SAR, China) Page 41   return, but within the tax assessment period. Doing Business 2018 Gabon Sub-Saharan OECD high Indicator Gabon Africa income Overall Best Performer Payments (number per year) 26 37.2 10.9 3 (Hong Kong SAR, China) Time (hours per year) 488 280.8 160.7 55 (Luxembourg) Total tax and contribution rate (% of profit) 46.8 46.8 40.1 18.47% (32 Economies) Postfiling index (0-100) 42.47 54.39 83.45 99.38 (Estonia) Figure – Paying Taxes in Gabon and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 69.54: Angola (Rank: 103) 57.49: Regional Average (Sub-Saharan Africa) 51.64: Gabon (Rank: 165) 39.40: Congo, Dem. Rep. (Rank: 181) 36.34: Cameroon (Rank: 183) 18.89: Central African Republic (Rank: 187) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of paying taxes is determined by sorting their distance to frontier scores on the ease of paying taxes. These scores are the simple average of the distance to frontier scores for each of the four component indicators – number of tax payments. time, total tax rate and post ling index – with a threshold and a nonlinear transformation applied to one of the component indicators, the total tax rate. The nonlinear distance to frontier for the total tax rate is equal to the distance to frontier for the total tax rate to the power of 0.8. The threshold is de ned as the total tax 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 rate below this threshold receive the same score as the economy at the threshold. Figure – Paying Taxes in Gabon and comparator economies – Measure of Quality 100 94.95 90 80 70 Index score 60 54.39 49.31 50 42.47 40 27.08 30 20 10 5.13 0 Gabon Angola Cameroon Central African Republic Congo, Dem. Rep. Sub-Saharan Africa Details – Paying Taxes in Gabon Total tax and Tax or mandatory Payments Notes on Time Statutory contribution rate (% Notes contribution (number) Payments (hours) tax rate Tax base of profit) on TTR Page 42   Social security 4 131 20.1% gross salaries 24.93 Doing Business 2018 Gabon Figure – Paying Taxes in Gabon and comparator economies – Measure of Quality 100 94.95 90 80 70 Index score 60 54.39 49.31 50 42.47 40 27.08 30 20 10 5.13 0 Gabon Angola Cameroon Central African Republic Congo, Dem. Rep. Sub-Saharan Africa Details – Paying Taxes in Gabon Total tax and Tax or mandatory Payments Notes on Time Statutory contribution rate (% Notes contribution (number) Payments (hours) tax rate Tax base of profit) on TTR Social security 4 131 20.1% gross salaries 24.93 contributions Corporate income tax 3 137 30% taxable profit 20.46 Property tax 2 15% net rental value 1.10 Business tax 2 various fixed rate plus 0.19 rates variable by number of employees Infrastructure 0 jointly XAF fixed fee 0.08 development tax 250,000 Fuel tax 1 XAF 2.75 per liter 0.00 small amount Social security 0 jointly 2.5% 0.00 withheld contributions paid by employees Stamp duty 1 XAF 500 per page 0.00 small amount Tax on advertising 1 various 0.00 small rates amount Value added tax (VAT) 12 220 18% value added 0.00 not included Totals 26 488 46.8 Details – Paying Taxes in Gabon – Tax by Type Taxes by type Answer Page 43   Profit tax (% of profit) 20.5 Totals 26 488 46.8 Doing Business 2018 Gabon Details – Paying Taxes in Gabon – Tax by Type Taxes by type Answer Profit tax (% of profit) 20.5 Labor tax and contributions (% of profit) 24.9 Other taxes (% of profit) 1.4 Details – Paying Taxes in Gabon – Measure of Quality Answer Score Post ling index (0-100) 42.47 VAT refunds Does VAT exist? Yes Does a VAT refund process exist per the case study? Yes Restrictions on VAT refund process None Percentage of cases exposed to a VAT audit (%) 50% - 74% Is there a mandatory carry forward period? No Time to comply with VAT refund (hours) 14.5 71 Time to obtain a VAT refund (weeks) 44.2 20.91 Corporate income tax audits Does corporate income tax exist? Yes Percentage of cases exposed to a corporate income tax audit (%) 50% - 74% Time to comply with a corporate income tax audit (hours) 13.5 77.98 Time to complete a corporate income tax audit (weeks) 46.6 0 Notes: Names of taxes have been standardized. For instance income tax, pro t 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 post ling 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 audit and time to complete a corporate income tax audit. N/A = Not applicable. 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 tari s) 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 June 2017. See the methodology for more information. Page 44   Given the importance of trade digitalization, in Doing Business 2018, the Trading across Borders questionnaire included research a corporate income tax audit and time to complete a corporate income tax audit. N/A = Not applicable. Doing Business 2018 Gabon 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 tari s) 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 June 2017. See the methodology for more information. Given the importance of trade digitalization, in Doing Business 2018, the Trading across Borders questionnaire included research questions on the availability and status of implementation of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and Single Window (SW) systems. With this information, Doing Business built a comprehensive dataset on the adoption and level of sophistication of electronic platforms in 190 economies. These data are not used to compute the distance to frontier score or ranking of the ease of doing business. The new dataset on EDI and SW systems is available here. 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 or border handling in origin economy days are recorded as 22×24=528 hours). If customs clearance takes 7.5 Obtaining, preparing and submitting documents hours, the data are recorded as is. Alternatively, suppose documents are required by destination economy and any transit submitted to a customs agency at 8:00a.m., are processed overnight and economies can be picked up at 8:00a.m. the next day. The time for customs clearance Covers all documents required by law and in would be recorded as 24 hours because the actual procedure took 24 practice, including electronic submissions of hours. information Border compliance Cost: Insurance cost and informal payments for which no receipt is issued are excluded from the costs recorded. Costs are reported in U.S. dollars. Customs clearance and inspections Contributors are asked to convert local currency into U.S. dollars based on Inspections by other agencies (if applied to more the exchange rate prevailing on the day they answer the questionnaire. than 20% of shipments) Contributors are private sector experts in international trade logistics and Handling and inspections that take place at the are informed about exchange rates. economy’s port or border Assumptions of the case study: - For all 190 economies covered by Doing Domestic transport Business, it is assumed a shipment is in a warehouse in the largest Loading or unloading of the shipment at the business city of the exporting economy and travels to a warehouse in the warehouse or port/border largest business city of the importing economy. - It is assumed each Transport between warehouse and port/border economy imports 15 metric tons of containerized auto parts (HS 8708) Traffic delays and road police checks while from its natural import partner—the economy from which it imports the shipment is en route largest value (price times quantity) of auto parts. It is assumed each economy exports the product of its comparative advantage (de ned by the largest export value) to its natural export partner—the economy that is the largest purchaser of this product. Shipment value is assumed to be $50,000. - The mode of transport is the one most widely used for the chosen export or import 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, airport 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 45   of agriculture or industry, national security agencies and any other Doing Business 2018 Gabon government authorities. Sub-Saharan OECD high Indicator Gabon Africa income Overall Best Performer Time to export: Border compliance (hours) 96 100.1 12.7 0 (17 Economies) Cost to export: Border compliance (USD) 1633 592.1 149.9 0.00 (19 Economies) Time to export: Documentary compliance 60 87.8 2.4 1.0 (25 Economies) (hours) Cost to export: Documentary compliance (USD) 200 215.1 35.4 0.00 (19 Economies) Time to import: Border compliance (hours) 84 136.4 8.7 0.00 (21 Economies) Cost to import: Border compliance (USD) 1320 686.8 111.6 0.00 (27 Economies) Time to import: Documentary compliance 120 103.0 3.5 1.0 (30 Economies) (hours) Cost to import: Documentary compliance (USD) 170 300.1 25.6 0.00 (30 Economies) Figure – Trading across Borders in Gabon and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 58.64: Central African Republic (Rank: 145) 52.56: Regional Average (Sub-Saharan Africa) 43.94: Gabon (Rank: 169) 25.28: Angola (Rank: 180) 15.99: Cameroon (Rank: 186) 1.26: Congo, Dem. Rep. (Rank: 188) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of trading across borders is determined by sorting their distance to frontier scores for trading across borders. These scores are the simple average of the distance to frontier scores for the time and cost for documentary compliance and border compliance to export and import (domestic transport is not used for calculating the ranking). Figure – Trading across Borders in Gabon – Time and Cost Time Cost 140 1800 1633 120 1600 120 1320 1400 100 96 84 1200 Time (hours) Cost (USD) 80 1000 60 60 800 600 40 400 20 200 170 200 0 0 Export - Border Compliance Export - Documentary Compliance Import - Border Compliance Import - Documentary Compliance Page 46   Doing Business 2018 Gabon Figure – Trading across Borders in Gabon – Time and Cost Time Cost 140 1800 1633 120 1600 120 1320 1400 100 96 84 1200 Time (hours) Cost (USD) 80 1000 60 60 800 600 40 400 20 200 170 200 0 0 Export - Border Compliance Export - Documentary Compliance Import - Border Compliance Import - Documentary Compliance Details – Trading across Borders in Gabon Characteristics Export Import Product HS 44 : Wood and articles of wood; wood HS 8708: Parts and accessories of motor charcoal vehicles Trade partner Japan France Border Owendo port Owendo port Distance (km) 18 18 Domestic transport time 4 4 (hours) Domestic transport cost (USD) 340 340 Details – Trading across Borders in Gabon – Components of Border Compliance Time to Complete Associated Costs (hours) (USD) Export: Clearance and inspections required by customs authorities 72.0 378.0 Export: Clearance and inspections required by agencies other than customs 12.0 380.0 Export: Port or border handling 96.0 875.0 Import: Clearance and inspections required by customs authorities 84.0 445.0 Import: Clearance and inspections required by agencies other than customs 0.0 0.0 Import: Port or border handling 84.0 875.0 Details – Trading across Borders in Gabon – Trade Documents Export Import Bill of lading Bill of lading Page 47   Domestic transport cost (USD) 340 340 Doing Business 2018 Gabon Details – Trading across Borders in Gabon – Components of Border Compliance Time to Complete Associated Costs (hours) (USD) Export: Clearance and inspections required by customs authorities 72.0 378.0 Export: Clearance and inspections required by agencies other than customs 12.0 380.0 Export: Port or border handling 96.0 875.0 Import: Clearance and inspections required by customs authorities 84.0 445.0 Import: Clearance and inspections required by agencies other than customs 0.0 0.0 Import: Port or border handling 84.0 875.0 Details – Trading across Borders in Gabon – Trade Documents Export Import Bill of lading Bill of lading Commercial invoice Commercial invoice Packing list Packing list Cargo registration number Electronic cargo tracking note (BIETC) Customs export declaration Customs import declaration Certificate of fumigation Certificate of origin Certificate of origin Technical standards SOLAS certificate Market authorization - Autorisation de mise sur le marché (AMM) SOLAS certificate Enforcing Contracts The enforcing contracts indicator measures the time and cost for resolving a commercial dispute through a local rst-instance court, and the quality of judicial processes index, evaluating whether each economy has adopted a series of good practices that promote quality and e ciency in the court system. The most recent round of data collection was completed in June 2017. 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 courts (calendar days) between 2 domestic businesses. The case study assumes that the court hears an expert on the quality of the goods in dispute. This distinguishes Time to file and serve the case the case from simple debt enforcement. Time for trial and to obtain the judgment To make the data comparable across economies, Doing Business uses Time to enforce the judgment several assumptions about the case: Cost required to enforce a contract through the (Seller - The dispute concerns a lawful transaction between two businessesPage 48   courts (% of claim) and Buyer), both located in the economy’s largest business city. For 11 SOLAS certificate Doing Business 2018 Gabon Enforcing Contracts The enforcing contracts indicator measures the time and cost for resolving a commercial dispute through a local rst-instance court, and the quality of judicial processes index, evaluating whether each economy has adopted a series of good practices that promote quality and e ciency in the court system. The most recent round of data collection was completed in June 2017. 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 courts (calendar days) between 2 domestic businesses. The case study assumes that the court hears an expert on the quality of the goods in dispute. This distinguishes Time to file and serve the case the case from simple debt enforcement. Time for trial and to obtain the judgment To make the data comparable across economies, Doing Business uses Time to enforce the judgment several assumptions about the case: Cost required to enforce a contract through the - The dispute concerns a lawful transaction between two businesses (Seller courts (% of claim) and Buyer), both located in the economy’s largest business city. For 11 Attorney fees economies the data are also collected for the second largest business city. - The buyer orders custom-made goods, then fails to pay. Court fees - The value of the dispute is 200% of the income per capita or the Enforcement fees equivalent in local currency of USD 5,000, whichever is greater. Quality of judicial processes index (0-18) - The seller sues the buyer before the court with jurisdiction over commercial cases worth 200% of income per capita or $5,000. Court structure and proceedings (-1-5) - The seller requests a pretrial attachment 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. Alternative dispute resolution (0-3) - The seller enforces the judgment through a public sale of the buyer’s movable assets. Standardized Case Claim value XAF 9,240,653.00 Court name Libreville First Instance Court City Covered Libreville Sub-Saharan OECD high Indicator Gabon Africa income Overall Best Performer Time (days) 1160 656.8 577.8 164.00 (Singapore) Cost (% of claim value) 34.3 44.0 21.5 9.00 (Iceland) Quality of judicial processes index (0-18) 4.0 6.5 11.0 15.50 (Australia) Figure – Enforcing Contracts in Gabon and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 48.14: Regional Average (Sub-Saharan Africa) 41.76: Cameroon (Rank: 162) 36.06: Congo, Dem. Rep. (Rank: 172) Page 49   of judicial processes Quality Business Doing index (0-18) 2018 Gabon 4.0 6.5 11.0 15.50 (Australia) Figure – Enforcing Contracts in Gabon and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 48.14: Regional Average (Sub-Saharan Africa) 41.76: Cameroon (Rank: 162) 36.06: Congo, Dem. Rep. (Rank: 172) 32.84: Gabon (Rank: 178) 30.46: Central African Republic (Rank: 182) 26.26: Angola (Rank: 186) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of enforcing contracts is determined by sorting their distance to frontier scores for enforcing contracts. These scores are the simple average of the distance to frontier scores for each of the component indicators. Figure – Enforcing Contracts in Gabon – Time and Cost Time Cost 1400 1296 82.0 90 80.6 1200 1160 80 Cost (% of claim value) 70 1000 60 Time (days) 800 800 44.4 46.6 660 656.8 44.0 50 610 577.8 600 34.3 40 30 400 21.5 20 200 10 0 0 Angola Cameroon Central African Republic Congo, Dem. Rep. Gabon OECD high income Sub-Saharan Africa Figure – Enforcing Contracts in Gabon and comparator economies – Measure of Quality Gabon 2.5 0 1.5 Angola 1.5 1.5 0 1.5 Cameroon 2 0 4 Central African Republic 2 0 3 Congo, Dem. Rep. 2 0.5 0 4.5 OECD high income 2.5 2.9 2 3.6 Sub-Saharan Africa 2 1.1 0.3 3.2 0 2 4 6 8 10 Page 50   12 0 0 Angola Cameroon Central African Republic Congo, Dem. Rep. Gabon OECD high income Sub-Saharan Africa Doing Business 2018 Gabon Figure – Enforcing Contracts in Gabon and comparator economies – Measure of Quality Gabon 2.5 0 1.5 Angola 1.5 1.5 0 1.5 Cameroon 2 0 4 Central African Republic 2 0 3 Congo, Dem. Rep. 2 0.5 0 4.5 OECD high income 2.5 2.9 2 3.6 Sub-Saharan Africa 2 1.1 0.3 3.2 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 Sub-Indicator Score Alternative dispute resolution (0­3) Case management (0­6) Court automation (0­4) Court structure and proceedings (­1­5) Details – Enforcing Contracts in Gabon Indicator Time (days) 1160 Filing and service 30 Trial and judgment 810 Enforcement of judgment 320 Cost (% of claim value) 34.3 Attorney fees 16.2 Court fees 4.1 Enforcement fees 14 Quality of judicial processes index (0-18) 4.0 Court structure and proceedings (-1-5) 1.5 Case management (0-6) 0.0 Court automation (0-4) 0.0 Alternative dispute resolution (0-3) 2.5 Details – Enforcing Contracts in Gabon – Measure of Quality Page 51   Alternative dispute resolution (0-3) 2.5 Doing Business 2018 Gabon Details – Enforcing Contracts in Gabon – Measure of Quality Answer Score Quality of judicial processes index (0-18) 4.0 Court structure and proceedings (-1-5) 1.5 1. Is there a court or division of a court dedicated solely to hearing commercial cases? No 0.0 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? Yes, but manual 0.5 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 case? No 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) No 0.0 time to 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 No 0.0 for use by judges? 6. Are there any electronic case management tools in place within the competent court No 0.0 for use by lawyers? Court automation (0-4) 0.0 1. Can the initial complaint be led electronically through a dedicated platform within No 0.0 the competent court? 2. Is it possible to carry out service of process electronically for claims led before the No 0.0 competent court? Page 52   1. Can the initial complaint be led electronically through a dedicated platform within No 0.0 Businesscourt? the competent Doing 2018 Gabon 2. Is it possible to carry out service of process electronically for claims led 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 o cial 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 o cial gazettes, in newspapers or on the internet or court website? Alternative dispute resolution (0-3) 2.5 1. Arbitration 1.5 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 nancial incentives for parties to attempt mediation or conciliation (i.e., No if mediation or conciliation is successful, a refund of court ling fees, income tax credits or the like)? 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 for the project was completed in June 2017. 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 Measured in calendar years used: Appeals and requests for extension are included - A hotel located in the largest city (or cities) has 201 employees and 50 Cost required to recover debt (% of debtor’s estate) suppliers. The hotel experiences nancial di culties. Page 53   Measured as percentage of estate value - The value of the hotel is 100% of the income per capita or the equivalent if mediation or conciliation is successful, a refund of court ling fees, income tax credits or the like)? Doing Business 2018 Gabon 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 for the project was completed in June 2017. 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 Measured in calendar years used: Appeals and requests for extension are included - A hotel located in the largest city (or cities) has 201 employees and 50 Cost required to recover debt (% of debtor’s estate) suppliers. The hotel experiences nancial di culties. Measured as percentage of estate value - The value of the hotel is 100% of the income per capita or the equivalent Court fees in local currency of USD 200,000, whichever is greater. - The hotel has a loan from a domestic bank, secured by a mortgage over Fees of insolvency administrators the hotel’s real estate. The hotel cannot pay back the loan, but makes Lawyers’ fees enough money to operate otherwise. Assessors’ and auctioneers’ fees In addition, Doing Business evaluates the adequacy and integrity of the Other related fees existing legal framework applicable to liquidation and reorganization Outcome proceedings through the strength of insolvency framework index. The index tests whether economies adopted internationally accepted good Whether business continues operating as a going practices in four areas: commencement of proceedings, management of concern or business assets are sold piecemeal debtor’s assets, reorganization proceedings and creditor participation. 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) Sub-Saharan OECD high Indicator Gabon Africa income Overall Best Performer Recovery rate (cents on the dollar) 14.8 20.3 71.2 93.1 (Norway) Time (years) 5.0 2.9 1.7 0.4 (Ireland) Page 54   Cost (% of estate) 14.5 22.7 9.1 1.00 (Norway) Creditor participation index (0-4) Doing Business 2018 Gabon Sub-Saharan OECD high Indicator Gabon Africa income Overall Best Performer Recovery rate (cents on the dollar) 14.8 20.3 71.2 93.1 (Norway) Time (years) 5.0 2.9 1.7 0.4 (Ireland) Cost (% of estate) 14.5 22.7 9.1 1.00 (Norway) Outcome (0 as piecemeal sale and 1 as going 0 .. .. .. concern) Strength of insolvency framework index (0-16) 9.0 6.2 12.1 15.00 (6 Economies) Figure – Resolving Insolvency in Gabon and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 36.73: Cameroon (Rank: 125) 36.11: Gabon (Rank: 126) 30.28: Regional Average (Sub-Saharan Africa) 28.13: Central African Republic (Rank: 150) 0.00: Angola (Rank: 168) 0.00: Congo, Dem. Rep. (Rank: 168) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of resolving insolvency is determined by sorting their distance to frontier scores for resolving insolvency. These scores are the simple average of the distance to frontier scores for the recovery rate and the strength of insolvency framework index. Figure – Resolving Insolvency in Gabon – Time and Cost Time Cost 6 76.0 80 4.8 5.0 70 5 60 Cost (% of estate) Time (years) 4 50 2.8 2.9 3 33.5 40 1.7 22.7 30 2 14.5 20 1 9.1 10 0 0 no practice Cameroon Central African Republic no practice Gabon OECD high income Sub-Saharan Africa Angola Congo, Dem. Rep. Figure – Resolving Insolvency in Gabon and comparator economies – Measure of Quality Gabon 5.5 2 1 0.5 Page 55   Angola 4 2 0 no practice Cameroon Central African Republic no practice Gabon OECD high income Sub-Saharan Africa Angola Congo, Dem. Rep. Doing Business 2018 Gabon Figure – Resolving Insolvency in Gabon and comparator economies – Measure of Quality Gabon 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 Congo, Dem. Rep. 5.5 2 1 0.5 OECD high income 5.4 2.8 2.3 1.9 Sub-Saharan Africa 4.1 2.3 1 0.4 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 Sub-Indicator Score Management of debtor's assets index (0­6) Commencement of proceedings index (0­3) Creditor participation index (0­4) Reorganization proceedings index (0­3) Figure – Resolving Insolvency in Gabon and comparator economies – Recovery Rate Recovery Rate (cents on the dollar) 25 20.3 20 16.0 14.8 15 10 5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 Gabon Angola Cameroon Central African Republic Congo, Dem. Rep. Sub-Saharan Africa Details – Resolving Insolvency in Gabon Indicator Answer Explanation Proceeding liquidation As Mirage will not be able to settle its current liabilities with its available assets, it will file a (after an declaration of cessation of payments (article 25 of the Uniform Act Organizing Collective attempt at Proceedings for Wiping Off Debts). In order to continue operating, Mirage will try to obtain reorganization) 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 Gabon. Outcome piecemeal sale Page 56   At the end of liquidation proceedings, the hotel will stop operating and the assets of Mirage Gabon Angola Cameroon Central African Republic Congo, Dem. Rep. Sub-Saharan Africa Doing Business 2018 Gabon Details – Resolving Insolvency in Gabon Indicator Answer Explanation Proceeding liquidation As Mirage will not be able to settle its current liabilities with its available assets, it will file a (after an declaration of cessation of payments (article 25 of the Uniform Act Organizing Collective attempt at Proceedings for Wiping Off Debts). In order to continue operating, Mirage will try to obtain reorganization) 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 Gabon. Outcome piecemeal sale At the end of liquidation proceedings, the hotel will stop operating and the assets of Mirage will be sold separately. Time (in years) 5.0 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 after 30 months of negotiations, so the proceedings will be converted to liquidation, which would take 24 months. According to our estimations, the complete process with all additional steps of a reorganization attempt that is then converted to liquidation and the sale of assets takes approximately 60 months. Cost (% of 14.5 According to our estimations, a reorganization attempt that is later converted into estate) liquidation costs approximately XAF 62,000,000 (14.5% of the value of the estate). Lawyer fees (10%), fees of official receiver and receivers (3%), and bailiffs and assignees (2%) appointed under articles 39, 41 and 48 are the main cost components. Recovery rate (cents on the 14.8 dollar) Details – Resolving Insolvency in Gabon – 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 (c) Debtor may 0.5 proceedings? le for reorganization only Does the insolvency framework allow a CREDITOR to le for insolvency of the debtor? (b) Yes, but a 0.5 creditor may le for liquidation only What basis for commencement of the insolvency proceedings is allowed under the (a) Debtor is 1.0 insolvency framework? generally unable Page 57   to pay its debts dollar) Doing Business 2018 Gabon Details – Resolving Insolvency in Gabon – 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 (c) Debtor may 0.5 proceedings? le for reorganization only Does the insolvency framework allow a CREDITOR to le for insolvency of the debtor? (b) Yes, but a 0.5 creditor may le 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 Yes 1.0 goods 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 Yes 1.0 after 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 No 0.0 receive at least as much as what they would obtain in a liquidation? Are the creditors devided into classes for the purposes of voting on the reorganization No 0.0 plan, 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? Page 58   Creditor Doing participation Business 2018 index (0-4) Gabon 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 No 0.0 information from the insolvency representative? Does the insolvency framework provide that a creditor has the right to object to Yes 1.0 decisions 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”. Labor Market Regulation Doing Business presents the data for the labor market regulation indicators in an annex. The report does not present rankings of economies on these indicators or include the topic in the aggregate distance to frontier score or ranking on the ease of doing business. Detailed data collected on labor market regulation are available on the Doing Business website (http://www.doingbusiness.org/data/exploretopics/labor-market-regulation). The most recent round of data collection was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Hiring To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions (i) whether xed-term contracts are prohibited for about the worker and the business are used. permanent tasks; (ii) maximum cumulative duration of xed-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 nonpregnant - Operates a supermarket or grocery store in the economy’s largest and nonnursing women can work same night hours business city. For 11 economies the data are also collected for the second as men; (v) length of paid annual leave. largest business city. - Has 60 employees. Redundancy rules - Is subject to collective bargaining agreements if such agreements cover (i) whether redundancy can be basis for terminating more than 50% of the food retail sector and they apply even to rms that workers; (ii) whether employer needs to notify are not party to them. and/or get approval from third party to terminate 1 - Abides by every law and regulation but does not grant workers more redundant worker and a group of 9 redundant bene ts than those mandated by law, regulation or (if applicable) collective workers; (iii) whether law requires employer to bargaining agreements. 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 Page 59   work of equal value and nondiscrimination based on the economy receives 0 points for the strength of insolvency framework index, if time, cost and outcome indicators are recorded as “no practice”. Doing Business 2018 Gabon Labor Market Regulation Doing Business presents the data for the labor market regulation indicators in an annex. The report does not present rankings of economies on these indicators or include the topic in the aggregate distance to frontier score or ranking on the ease of doing business. Detailed data collected on labor market regulation are available on the Doing Business website (http://www.doingbusiness.org/data/exploretopics/labor-market-regulation). The most recent round of data collection was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Hiring To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions (i) whether xed-term contracts are prohibited for about the worker and the business are used. permanent tasks; (ii) maximum cumulative duration of xed-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 nonpregnant - Operates a supermarket or grocery store in the economy’s largest and nonnursing women can work same night hours business city. For 11 economies the data are also collected for the second as men; (v) length of paid annual leave. largest business city. - Has 60 employees. Redundancy rules - Is subject to collective bargaining agreements if such agreements cover (i) whether redundancy can be basis for terminating more than 50% of the food retail sector and they apply even to rms that workers; (ii) whether employer needs to notify are not party to them. and/or get approval from third party to terminate 1 - Abides by every law and regulation but does not grant workers more redundant worker and a group of 9 redundant bene ts than those mandated by law, regulation or (if applicable) collective workers; (iii) whether law requires employer to bargaining agreements. 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 ve fully paid days of sick leave a year; (vi) eligibility requirements for unemployment protection. Details – Labor Market Regulation in Gabon Answer Hiring Page 60   Fixed-term contracts prohibited for permanent tasks? No days of sick leave a year; (vi) eligibility requirements for unemployment protection. Doing Business 2018 Gabon Details – Labor Market Regulation in Gabon Answer Hiring Fixed-term contracts prohibited for permanent tasks? No Maximum length of a single xed-term contract (months) 24.0 Maximum length of xed-term contracts, including renewals (months) 48.0 Minimum wage applicable to the worker assumed in the case study (US$/month) 275.0 Ratio of minimum wage to value added per worker 0.3 Maximum length of probationary period (months) 6.0 Working hours Standard workday 8.0 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) 10.0 Restrictions on night work? No Whether nonpregnant and nonnursing women can work the same night hours as men Yes Restrictions on weekly holiday? No Restrictions on overtime work? No Paid annual leave for a worker with 1 year of tenure (working days) 24.0 Paid annual leave for a worker with 5 years of tenure (working days) 24.0 Paid annual leave for a worker with 10 years of tenure (working days) 24.0 Paid annual leave (average for workers with 1, 5 and 10 years of tenure, in working days) 24.0 Redundancy rules Dismissal due to redundancy allowed by law? Yes Third-party noti cation if one worker is dismissed? Yes Third-party approval if one worker is dismissed? Yes Third-party noti cation if nine workers are dismissed? Yes Third-party approval if nine workers are dismissed? Yes Retraining or reassignment obligation before redundancy? No Page 61   Third-party Doing approval Business 2018 if nine workers are dismissed? Gabon 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 13.0 Notice period for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 5 years of tenure 13.0 Notice period for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 10 years of tenure 17.3 Notice period for redundancy dismissal (average for workers with 1, 5 and 10 years of tenure) 14.4 Severance pay for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 1 year of tenure 0.0 Severance pay for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 5 years of tenure 4.3 Severance pay for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 10 years of tenure 8.7 Severance pay for redundancy dismissal (average for workers with 1, 5 and 10 years of tenure) 4.3 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)? 98.0 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. Business Reforms in Gabon In the year ending June 1, 2017, 119 economies implemented 264 total reforms across the di erent areas measured by Doing Business. Doing Business has recorded more than 2,900 regulatory reforms making it easier to do business since 2004. Reforms inspired by Doing Business have been implemented by economies in all regions. The following are the reforms for Gabon implemented since Doing Business 2008. = Doing Business reform making it easier to do business. = Change making it more di cult to do business. DB2018 Starting a Business: Gabon made starting a business easier by reducing the paid-in minimum capital requirement and by making the notarization of incorporation documents optional. Dealing with Construction Permits: Gabon made dealing with construction permits faster by streamlining the process and increased transparency by publishing regulations related to construction online free of charge. DB2017 Page 62   Resolving Insolvency: Gabon made resolving insolvency easier by introducing a new conciliation procedure for companies in Minimum contribution period for unemployment protection (months)? n.a. Doing Business 2018 Gabon Business Reforms in Gabon In the year ending June 1, 2017, 119 economies implemented 264 total reforms across the di erent areas measured by Doing Business. Doing Business has recorded more than 2,900 regulatory reforms making it easier to do business since 2004. Reforms inspired by Doing Business have been implemented by economies in all regions. The following are the reforms for Gabon implemented since Doing Business 2008. = Doing Business reform making it easier to do business. = Change making it more di cult to do business. DB2018 Starting a Business: Gabon made starting a business easier by reducing the paid-in minimum capital requirement and by making the notarization of incorporation documents optional. Dealing with Construction Permits: Gabon made dealing with construction permits faster by streamlining the process and increased transparency by publishing regulations related to construction online free of charge. DB2017 Resolving Insolvency: Gabon made resolving insolvency easier by introducing a new conciliation procedure for companies in nancial di culties and a simpli ed preventive settlement procedure for small companies. DB2016 Starting a Business: Gabon made starting a business easier by reducing the paid-in minimum capital requirement. Dealing with Construction Permits: Gabon made dealing with construction permits more complicated by increasing the time required for obtaining a building permit. Registering Property: Gabon made transferring property less costly by lowering the property registration tax. Paying Taxes: Gabon made paying taxes more costly for companies by reducing the depreciation rates for some types of xed assets. DB2015 Registering Property: Gabon made transferring property more costly by increasing the property registration tax rate. Protecting Minority Investors: Gabon 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: Gabon made paying taxes easier for companies by introducing an electronic system for ling and paying VAT. DB2014 Starting a Business: Gabon made starting a business easier by replacing the requirement for a copy of the founders’ criminal records with one for a sworn declaration. Dealing with Construction Permits: Gabon made dealing with construction permits easier by reducing the time required to obtain a building permit and by eliminating the requirement for an on-site inspection before construction starts. Paying Taxes: Gabon made paying taxes less costly for companies by reducing the corporate income tax rate. DB2013 Registering Property: In Gabon registering property became more di cult because of longer administrative delays at the land registry. DB2012 Getting Credit: Access to credit in Gabon 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. Page 63   DB2009 Getting Credit: Access to credit in Gabon was improved through amendments to the OHADA Uniform Act on Secured Doing Business Transactions Gabon 2018 the that broaden 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. DB2009 Getting Credit: In Gabon 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 ling and retrieving information in the public registry and allowing expanded coverage of borrowers. Trading across Borders: Gabon made trading across borders more di cult by introducing an additional document for importing or exporting. Page 64   Trading across Borders: Gabon made trading across borders more di cult by introducing an additional document for importing or exporting. Doing Business 2018 Gabon Page 65