Doing Business 2018 Equatorial Guinea Economy Pro le of Equatorial Guinea 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 Equatorial Guinea 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 Equatorial Guinea Income Category Upper middle income 173 Population 1,221,490 DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) GNI Per Capita (US$) 6,550 0 100 41.66 City Covered Malabo DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 50.43: Regional Average (Sub­Saharan Africa) 47.23: Cameroon (Rank: 163) 41.66: Equatorial Guinea (Rank: 173) 39.57: Congo, Rep. (Rank: 179) 37.65: Congo, Dem. Rep. (Rank: 182) Page 3   34.86: Central African Republic (Rank: 184) aggregate distance to frontier scores, rounded to two decimals. More Doingabout 2018 (PDF, Doing Business Business 5MB) Guinea Equatorial Ease of Doing Business in Region Sub-Saharan Africa DB 2018 Rank 190 1 Equatorial Guinea Income Category Upper middle income 173 Population 1,221,490 DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) GNI Per Capita (US$) 6,550 0 100 41.66 City Covered Malabo DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 50.43: Regional Average (Sub­Saharan Africa) 47.23: Cameroon (Rank: 163) 41.66: Equatorial Guinea (Rank: 173) 39.57: Congo, Rep. (Rank: 179) 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 - Equatorial Guinea 1 28 55 82 Rank 104 109 122 136 146 146 160 162 163 168 177 174 182 190 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 - Equatorial Guinea 100 80 60 54.96 54.95 53.44 55.25 DTF 44.45 40.00 40.00 41.54 40 32.05 20 0.00 0 Starting Dealing Getting Registering Getting Protecting Paying Trading Enforcing Resolving a with Electricity Property Credit Minority Taxes across Contracts Insolvency Business Construction Change:-0.31 Change:0.00 Change:0.00 Investors Change:0.00 Borders Change:0.00 Change:0.00 Change:+18.06 Permits Change:0.00 Change:0.00 Change:-0.02 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:-0.31 Change:0.00 Change:0.00 Investors Change:0.00 Borders Change:0.00 Change:0.00 Change:+18.06 Permits Change:0.00 Change:0.00 Doing Business 2018 Equatorial Guinea Change:-0.02 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 Equatorial Guinea Standardized Company Legal form Limited Liability Company (SARL) Paid-in minimum capital requirement XAF 1,000,000 City Covered Malabo Equatorial Sub-Saharan OECD high Indicator Guinea Africa income Overall Best Performer Procedure – Men (number) 16 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) 103.4 49.9 3.1 0.00 (United Kingdom) Procedure – Women (number) 16 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) 103.4 49.9 3.1 0.00 (United Kingdom) Paid-in min. capital (% of income per capita) 30.3 25.6 8.7 0.00 (113 Economies) Figure – Starting a Business in Equatorial Guinea 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) 76.82: Regional Average (Sub-Saharan Africa) 64.69: Congo, Rep. (Rank: 177) 54.96: Equatorial Guinea (Rank: 182) 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 Equatorial Guinea – Procedure, Time and Cost Time Cost 50 30 40 ost (% of income per capita) 25 20 Time (days) 30 15 20 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 Equatorial Guinea Figure – Starting a Business in Equatorial Guinea – Procedure, Time and Cost Time Cost 50 30 40 Cost (% of income per capita) 25 20 Time (days) 30 15 20 10 10 5 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 *6 *7 *8 9 * 10 * 11 * 12 * 13 * 14 * 15 * 16 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 Equatorial Guinea – Procedure, Time and Cost No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs 1 Notarize the company's articles of association 9 days on average 3-6% of capital Agency : Notary Although it is not required by law, lawyers prepare company statutes in practice. By law, however, a public notary must legalize the statutes and prepare the public deed. There is one notary in Malabo (island) and one in Bata (mainland). 2 Register the company at the Commercial Registry 2 days on average 3% of capital Agency : Commercial Registry (Registro de la Propiedad y Mercantil) For registration, the entrepreneur must provide the legalized copies of the statutes. By law, the company must use a unique company name, but in practice, they do not verify the name beforehand. The registry simply refuses the application if the name already exists. 3 Open a bank account and obtain a bank certi cate (solvencia bancaria) 1 day no charge Agency : Bank Legally, the company must deposit the minimum capital before company registration. However, this is not possible in practice because copies of the legalized statutes and the registration certi cate are required to open a bank account. 4 Obtain a certi cate of solvency from the Ministry of Finance 2 days CFA 10,000 – 15,000 Agency : Ministry of Finance (stamps) The certi cate of solvency is obtained at the Ministry of Finance. Page 7   (http://www.doingbusiness.org/methodology). For details on the procedures re ected here, see the summary below. Doing Business 2018 Equatorial Guinea Details – Starting a Business in Equatorial Guinea – Procedure, Time and Cost No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs 1 Notarize the company's articles of association 9 days on average 3-6% of capital Agency : Notary Although it is not required by law, lawyers prepare company statutes in practice. By law, however, a public notary must legalize the statutes and prepare the public deed. There is one notary in Malabo (island) and one in Bata (mainland). 2 Register the company at the Commercial Registry 2 days on average 3% of capital Agency : Commercial Registry (Registro de la Propiedad y Mercantil) For registration, the entrepreneur must provide the legalized copies of the statutes. By law, the company must use a unique company name, but in practice, they do not verify the name beforehand. The registry simply refuses the application if the name already exists. 3 Open a bank account and obtain a bank certi cate (solvencia bancaria) 1 day no charge Agency : Bank Legally, the company must deposit the minimum capital before company registration. However, this is not possible in practice because copies of the legalized statutes and the registration certi cate are required to open a bank account. 4 Obtain a certi cate of solvency from the Ministry of Finance 2 days CFA 10,000 – 15,000 Agency : Ministry of Finance (stamps) The certi cate of solvency is obtained at the Ministry of Finance. 5 Apply for registration with the Department of Business and Private 1 day CFA 100,000 Investment at the Ministry of Commerce Agency : Ministry of Commerce Entrepreneurs must register a company at the Department of Business and Private Investment at the Ministry of Commerce. This annual fee varies by company. 6 Apply for registration with the Department of Commerce at the Ministry 1 day CFA 150,000 of Commerce (simultaneous with Agency : Ministry of Commerce previous procedure) Entrepreneurs must register a company at the Department of Commerce at the Ministry of Commerce. This annual fee varies by company. 7 Apply for tax registration 1 day 1% of capital (tax Agency : Public Treasury (simultaneous with identification previous number – NIF) + 1% Companies must be registered with the Tax Authorities. The documents procedure) of capital (minimum required to apply for tax registration include the notarized statutes. The fees fiscal quota) + CFA are paid at the bank into an account of the Public Treasury. After obtaining 2,000 (tax ID the Treasury’s con rmation of receipt of payment, the applicant returns to number) the tax authorities to obtain the tax identi cation number. To save time, the applicant (or a designated agent) would rst visit all agencies (tax administration, labor, social security, etc.) to apply for the respective authorization or document, make all bank payments, and obtain Treasury con rmation. The applicant would then visit all agencies again to obtain the Page 8   nal authorization. procedure) Entrepreneurs must register a company at the Department of Commerce at Doing the of Commerce. Ministry 2018 Business This annual Equatorial fee varies by company. Guinea 7 Apply for tax registration 1 day 1% of capital (tax Agency : Public Treasury (simultaneous with identification previous number – NIF) + 1% Companies must be registered with the Tax Authorities. The documents procedure) of capital (minimum required to apply for tax registration include the notarized statutes. The fees fiscal quota) + CFA are paid at the bank into an account of the Public Treasury. After obtaining 2,000 (tax ID the Treasury’s con rmation of receipt of payment, the applicant returns to number) the tax authorities to obtain the tax identi cation number. To save time, the applicant (or a designated agent) would rst visit all agencies (tax administration, labor, social security, etc.) to apply for the respective authorization or document, make all bank payments, and obtain Treasury con rmation. The applicant would then visit all agencies again to obtain the nal authorization. 8 Apply for registration with the Ministry of Labor 1 day CFA 300 (form) + CFA Agency : Ministry of Labor (simultaneous with 6,750 (small previous enterprises) or CFA As with tax registration, fees are paid to the Treasury through a private bank. procedure) 12,500 (medium- Once operational, the employer pays 1% of salaries to the worker protection sized enterprises) fund (Fondo de Proteccion del Trabajador). Employees pay 0.5% of their salary. Although the indicated fees are o cial fees, fees might be higher in practice. 9 Pay fees to the Treasury’s bank account 1 day included in Agency : Bank procedures 7-10 All payments to public institutions (ministries, for example), must be made directly to the Treasury’s bank account through a private bank. Obtain a con rmation from Treasury for receipt of payment 4 days on average no charge 10 Agency : Public Treasury (simultaneous with previous All new businesses must obtain a con rmation from Treasury for receipt of procedure) payment in order to obtain a license from the Ministry of Commerce. Provide a con rmation of payment and obtain a license from the 14 days included in 11 Department of Business and Private Investment at the Ministry of (simultaneous with procedure 7 Commerce previous Agency : Ministry of Commerce procedure) All new businesses must provide a con rmation of payment and obtain a license from Department of Business and Private Investment. Provide a con rmation of payment and obtain a license from the 14 days included in 12 Department of Commerce at the Ministry of Commerce (simultaneous with procedure 8 Agency : Ministry of Commerce previous procedure) All new businesses must provide a con rmation of payment and obtain a license from the Department of Commerce. Obtain the tax identi cation number (NIF) 2 days included in 13 Agency : Ministry of Finance (simultaneous with procedure 9 previous The tax identi cation number (NIF) can be obtained at the Ministry of procedure) Finance. Obtain a registration number from the Ministry of Labor 1 day included in 14 Agency : Ministry of Labor (simultaneous with procedure 10 previous All new businesses must obtain their registration number at the Ministry of procedure) Labor. Page 9   previous The tax identi cation number (NIF) can be obtained at the Ministry of procedure) Doing Finance. Business 2018 Equatorial Guinea Obtain a registration number from the Ministry of Labor 1 day included in 14 Agency : Ministry of Labor (simultaneous with procedure 10 previous All new businesses must obtain their registration number at the Ministry of procedure) Labor. Obtain a Social Security number for the company's employees 1 day no charge 15 Agency : Social Security Institute (INSESO) (simultaneous with previous All new businesses must ensure that their employees have their social procedure) security numbers. Register the company's employees with Social Security 1 day CFA 300 per page 16 Agency : Social Security Institute (INSESO) (simultaneous with previous The company must register its employees for social security in the rst procedure) month that the employees receive a salary. Social security payments are 21.5% of salary for the employer and 4.5% for the employee. To register for social security, the company must buy special forms to list all employees. 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 Page 10   by BuildCo, and the warehouse is valued at 50 times income per capita. Cost required to complete each procedure (% of Applies to women only. Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure. Doing Business 2018 Equatorial Guinea 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 11   and 4 inches in diameter for the sewerage connection. Doing Business 2018 Equatorial Guinea Standardized Warehouse Estimated value of warehouse XAF 164,822,479.50 City Covered Malabo Equatorial Sub-Saharan OECD high Indicator Guinea Africa income Overall Best Performer Procedures (number) 13 14.8 12.5 7.00 (Denmark) Time (days) 144 147.5 154.6 27.5 (Korea, Rep.) Cost (% of warehouse value) 4.2 9.9 1.6 0.10 (5 Economies) Building quality control index (0-15) 1.0 8.0 11.4 15.00 (3 Economies) Figure – Dealing with Construction Permits in Equatorial Guinea and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 63.91: Congo, Dem. Rep. (Rank: 121) 63.07: Congo, Rep. (Rank: 125) 59.74: Cameroon (Rank: 140) 56.91: Regional Average (Sub-Saharan Africa) 54.95: Equatorial Guinea (Rank: 160) 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 Equatorial Guinea – Procedure, Time and Cost Time Cost 3.5 140 3 120 Cost (% of warehouse value) 100 2.5 Time (days) 80 2 60 1.5 40 1 20 0.5 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 *8 9 10 11 12 13 Procedures (number) * This symbol is shown beside procedure numbers that take place simultaneously with the previous procedure. Page 12   component indicators. Doing Business 2018 Equatorial Guinea Figure – Dealing with Construction Permits in Equatorial Guinea – Procedure, Time and Cost Time Cost 3.5 140 3 120 Cost (% of warehouse value) 100 2.5 Time (days) 80 2 60 1.5 40 1 20 0.5 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 *8 9 10 11 12 13 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 Equatorial Guinea and comparator economies – Measure of Quality 14 13.0 12 10 9.0 Index score 8.0 8.0 8 6.0 6 4 2 1.0 0 Equatorial Guinea Cameroon Central African Republic Congo, Dem. Rep. Congo, Rep. Sub-Saharan Africa Details – Dealing with Construction Permits in Equatorial Guinea – Procedure, Time and Cost No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs 1 Buy stamped paper 1 day XAF 4,000 Agency : Municipality Building permit and water connection applications to the Municipality must be made on stamped paper. 2 Request authorization for building permit at the Municipality 15 days no charge Agency : Municipality The permit application includes all architectural and building plans, measurements, and cost assessments. The application must be submitted on stamped paper. The le is forwarded for review to the Technical O ce and subsequently passed to the mayor for signature. If the Technical O ce Page 13   Equatorial Guinea Cameroon Central African Republic Congo, Dem. Rep. Congo, Rep. Sub-Saharan Africa Doing Business 2018 Equatorial Guinea Details – Dealing with Construction Permits in Equatorial Guinea – Procedure, Time and Cost No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs 1 Buy stamped paper 1 day XAF 4,000 Agency : Municipality Building permit and water connection applications to the Municipality must be made on stamped paper. 2 Request authorization for building permit at the Municipality 15 days no charge Agency : Municipality The permit application includes all architectural and building plans, measurements, and cost assessments. The application must be submitted on stamped paper. The le is forwarded for review to the Technical O ce and subsequently passed to the mayor for signature. If the Technical O ce has doubts that the proposed project budget ts the project size and nature, a site visit might be undertaken. This can only be done with the stamped paper. 3 Pay fees at the bank and obtain payment receipt 1 day XAF 1,648,225 Agency : Commercial Bank Payment can be made only after the approval of the dossier. 4 Deposit payment receipt at the Municipality 1 day no charge Agency : Municipality After the payment is done, the voucher should be presented at the Municipality. 5 Obtain building permit 30 days no charge Agency : Municipality After the Municipality receives the payment receipt, the dossier is authorized again and nally signed by the mayor. This procedure cannot be simultaneous with the previous one. 6 Receive inspection from the Municipality 1 day no charge Agency : Municipality Inspections are random and occur during construction. A nal inspection or occupancy permit is not required. However, it is important to stress that this can only happen during the construction period, once the building permit was granted. 7 Request authorization for water connection 14 days XAF 75,000 Agency : Municipality The water connection is undertaken by the Municipality. As with the building permit application, the application must be made on stamped paper. This request is done once the construction is nalized. 8 Pay for water connection 1 day no charge Agency : Commercial Bank A payment receipt is required to obtain authorization for the water connection. This procedure is enabled whenever the request has been made. It can be paid at a commercial bank, not at the Municipality. Page 14   permit application, the application must be made on stamped paper. This Doing request is done Business 2018 the construction once Equatorial is nalized. Guinea 8 Pay for water connection 1 day no charge Agency : Commercial Bank A payment receipt is required to obtain authorization for the water connection. This procedure is enabled whenever the request has been made. It can be paid at a commercial bank, not at the Municipality. 9 Deposit proof of payment and obtain nal payment receipt from 1 day no charge Municipality Agency : Municipality The payment is made only after the request is made. 10 Obtain authorization for water connection 14 days no charge Agency : Municipality After the fees are paid, the Mayor's o ce approves the application for water connection. As a result this cannot be a simultaneous with the previous one. 11 Receive connection to water services 45 days no charge Agency : Municipality Once the authorization is obtained, municipal engineers connect the building to the network. 12 Request and obtain an engineer's assessment of property 14 days XAF 200,000 Agency : Private Engineer An assessment by an external engineer is made once the utilities connection are in place. 13 Register the building 7 days XAF 4,944,674 Agency : Property Registry Building registration is not required but is advised. Fees refer to o cial fees, as published in the Law of Fiscal Fees (Ley de Tazas Fiscales). The fee is 3% of the value of warehouse construction. This happens once the assessment has been made. Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure. Details – Dealing with Construction Permits in Equatorial Guinea – Measure of Quality Answer Score Building quality control index (0-15) 1.0 Quality of building regulations index (0-2) 0.0 How accessible are building laws and regulations in your economy? (0-1) Not easily 0.0 accessible. Which requirements for obtaining a building permit are clearly speci ed in the building Available only on 0.0 regulations or on any accessible website, brochure or pamphlet? (0-1) request. Quality control before construction index (0-1) 0.0 Which third-party entities are required by law to verify that the building plans are in By law, there is 0.0 compliance with existing building regulations? (0-1) no need to verify plans Page 15   compliance; Civil Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure. Doing Business 2018 Equatorial Guinea Details – Dealing with Construction Permits in Equatorial Guinea – Measure of Quality Answer Score Building quality control index (0-15) 1.0 Quality of building regulations index (0-2) 0.0 How accessible are building laws and regulations in your economy? (0-1) Not easily 0.0 accessible. Which requirements for obtaining a building permit are clearly speci ed in the building Available only on 0.0 regulations or on any accessible website, brochure or pamphlet? (0-1) request. Quality control before construction index (0-1) 0.0 Which third-party entities are required by law to verify that the building plans are in By law, there is 0.0 compliance with existing building regulations? (0-1) no need to verify plans compliance; Civil servant reviews plans. 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) 0.0 Is there a nal inspection required by law to verify that the building was built in Final inspection 0.0 accordance with the approved plans and regulations? (0-2) is not required by law. 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) 1.0 Which parties (if any) are held liable by law for structural aws or problems in the Architect or 1.0 building once it is in use (Latent Defect Liability or Decennial Liability)? (0-1) engineer; Professional in charge of the supervision; Construction company; Owner or investor. 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 Page 16   insurance . company; Owner Doing Business 2018 Equatorial Guinea or investor. 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) 0.0 What are the quali cation requirements for the professional responsible for verifying There are no 0.0 that the architectural plans or drawings are in compliance with existing building speci c regulations? (0-2) requirements. 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- 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: Page 17   Regulatory monitoring of utilities’ performance - It is assumed that the warehouse operates 30 days a month from 9:00 construction on the ground? (0-2) speci c requirements. Doing Business 2018 Equatorial Guinea 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 Equatorial Guinea Standardized Connection Price of electricity (US cents per kWh) 21.4 Name of utility Segesa City Covered Malabo Equatorial Sub-Saharan OECD high Indicator Guinea Africa income Overall Best Performer Procedures (number) 5 5.3 4.7 2 (United Arab Emirates) Time (days) 106 115.3 79.1 10 (United Arab Emirates) Cost (% of income per capita) 1185.2 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 Equatorial Guinea and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 60.35: Cameroon (Rank: 121) 53.44: Equatorial Guinea (Rank: 146) 45.91: Regional Average (Sub-Saharan Africa) 33.59: Congo, Dem. Rep. (Rank: 175) 28.42: Congo, Rep. (Rank: 181) 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 Equatorial Guinea – Procedure, Time and Cost Time Cost 1200 100 1000 Cost (% of income per capita) 80 800 Time (days) 60 600 40 400 20 200 Page 19   getting electricity. These scores are the simple average of the distance to frontier scores for each of the component indicators. Doing Business 2018 Equatorial Guinea Figure – Getting Electricity in Equatorial Guinea – Procedure, Time and Cost Time Cost 1200 100 1000 Cost (% of income per capita) 80 800 Time (days) 60 600 40 400 20 200 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 – Getting Electricity in Equatorial Guinea 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 Equatorial Guinea Cameroon Central African Republic Congo, Dem. Rep. Congo, Rep. Sub-Saharan Africa Details – Getting Electricity in Equatorial Guinea – Procedure, Time and Cost No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs 1 Submit application to Segesa and await external site inspection 45 calendar days XAF 0 Agency : Segesa The owner of the warehouse (the client) applies for a new electricity connection with Segesa’s o ce and provides a list of all appliances located in the warehouse. At the same time, the client submits an application for the excavation permit and the utility will obtain this excavation permit on behalf of the client. 2 Receive site inspection by Segesa, await estimate and pay Segesa for 14 calendar days XAF 0 external works Agency : Segesa Page 20   Equatorial Guinea Cameroon Central African Republic Congo, Dem. Rep. Congo, Rep. Sub-Saharan Africa Doing Business 2018 Equatorial Guinea Details – Getting Electricity in Equatorial Guinea – Procedure, Time and Cost No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs 1 Submit application to Segesa and await external site inspection 45 calendar days XAF 0 Agency : Segesa The owner of the warehouse (the client) applies for a new electricity connection with Segesa’s o ce and provides a list of all appliances located in the warehouse. At the same time, the client submits an application for the excavation permit and the utility will obtain this excavation permit on behalf of the client. 2 Receive site inspection by Segesa, await estimate and pay Segesa for 14 calendar days XAF 0 external works Agency : Segesa The engineers from Segesa, accompanied by the client, will conduct a site visit of the warehouse to assess the connection cost. The client will be presented with the estimated cost for the work to be done. The client will discuss in greater details both the estimated cost and the work to be done. The quote is divided as follows: price of materials + 30% for technical works of Segesa + 15% IVA + 8% for maintenance of the equipment in the years to come. The client signs the contract with Segesa. 3 Buy transformer and install transformer post 37 calendar days XAF 35,000,000 Agency : Client The client has two options: he can buy the transformer through the utility or buy a transformer from the market. To accelerate the procedure, the client often chooses to buy the transformer himself and to install the transformer post. The transformer needs to be imported. Segesa provides the technical speci cations of the transformer. 4 Have transformer tested by Segesa 1 calendar day XAF 0 Agency : Segesa Segesa inspects the transformer to verify that it complies with Segesa standards. 5 Receive external works, meter installation and nal connection from 10 calendar days XAF 4,071,000 Segesa Agency : Segesa Segesa will request an excavation permit from the Ministry of Construction, which takes on average 2-3 business days to be obtained. And then, Segesa will do the external works which consist of laying the cables from the transformer to the electrical network. Then Segesa does a nal inspection, installs the meter and the electricity starts owing. Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure. Details – Getting Electricity in Equatorial Guinea – Measure of Quality Answer Reliability of supply and transparency of tari index (0-8) 0 Page 21   Total duration and frequency of outages per customer a year (0-3) 0 Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure. Doing Business 2018 Equatorial Guinea Details – Getting Electricity in Equatorial Guinea – 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) 0 Does the distribution utility use automated tools to monitor outages? No Mechanisms for restoring service (0-1) 0 Does the distribution utility use automated tools to restore service? No Regulatory monitoring (0-1) 0 Does a regulator—that is, an entity separate from the utility—monitor the utility’s performance on 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.segesa.g q/es/segesa- commercial/tarifas- de-electricidad/ 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 22   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 Equatorial Guinea 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 164,822,479.50 City Covered Malabo Page 23   Equatorial Sub-Saharan OECD high Doing Business 2018 Equatorial Guinea Standard Property Transfer Property value XAF 164,822,479.50 City Covered Malabo Equatorial Sub-Saharan OECD high Indicator Guinea Africa income Overall Best Performer Procedures (number) 6 6.2 4.6 1.00 (4 Economies) Time (days) 23 59.3 22.3 1.00 (3 Economies) Cost (% of property value) 12.5 7.8 4.2 0.00 (5 Economies) Quality of the land administration index (0-30) 4.0 8.6 22.7 29.00 (Singapore) Figure – Registering Property in Equatorial Guinea 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) 44.45: Equatorial Guinea (Rank: 162) 41.92: Central African Republic (Rank: 169) 37.33: Cameroon (Rank: 176) 36.04: Congo, Rep. (Rank: 177) 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 Equatorial Guinea – Procedure, Time and Cost Time Cost 8 20 7 Cost (% of property value) 6 15 5 Time (days) 4 10 3 2 5 1 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Procedures (number) * This symbol is shown beside procedure numbers that take place simultaneously with the previous procedure. Page 24   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 Equatorial Guinea Figure – Registering Property in Equatorial Guinea – Procedure, Time and Cost Time Cost 8 20 7 Cost (% of property value) 6 15 5 Time (days) 4 10 3 2 5 1 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Procedures (number) * This symbol is shown beside procedure numbers that take place simultaneously with the previous procedure. Note: Online procedures account for 0.5 days in the total time calculation. For economies that have a 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 Equatorial Guinea and comparator economies – Measure of Quality 12 10.0 10 8.6 8 Index score 7.0 6 4.0 4 3.5 3.0 2 0 Equatorial Guinea Cameroon Central African Republic Congo, Dem. Rep. Congo, Rep. Sub-Saharan Africa Details – Registering Property in Equatorial Guinea – Procedure, Time and Cost No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs 1 Obtain non-encumbrance certi cate 7 days Negative certificate Agency : Land Registry (Registro de la Propiedad y Mercantil) (2000 XAF) + Literal certificate (2000 XAF) It is common practice to obtain a non-encumbrance certi cate and a literal + Search (1000 XAF) certi cate to verify that the property has no charges or liens, and to observe past inscriptions and transactions. The certi cates are issued by the Registro de la Propiedad y Mercantil 2 Lawyer prepares sales contract 2 days 5% of the property Agency : Lawyer value (common practice) It is common practice to hire a lawyer to write the contract. The lawyer requires the property title (copy) and a copy of the company representative’s Page 25   Equatorial Guinea Cameroon Central African Republic Congo, Dem. Rep. Congo, Rep. Sub-Saharan Africa Doing Business 2018 Equatorial Guinea Details – Registering Property in Equatorial Guinea – Procedure, Time and Cost No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs 1 Obtain non-encumbrance certi cate 7 days Negative certificate Agency : Land Registry (Registro de la Propiedad y Mercantil) (2000 XAF) + Literal certificate (2000 XAF) It is common practice to obtain a non-encumbrance certi cate and a literal + Search (1000 XAF) certi cate to verify that the property has no charges or liens, and to observe past inscriptions and transactions. The certi cates are issued by the Registro de la Propiedad y Mercantil 2 Lawyer prepares sales contract 2 days 5% of the property Agency : Lawyer value (common practice) It is common practice to hire a lawyer to write the contract. The lawyer requires the property title (copy) and a copy of the company representative’s passport. In practice, banks hold the property title when granting a mortgage. 3 Notary legalizes the sales contract and prepares the public deed 3-10 days Paid in Procedure 4 (escritura publica) Agency : Notary Parties submit the sale and purchase agreement to the Notary. The Notary informs them of the fees to be paid. O cial Notary fees are xed at 1.5% property value according to law 2/2007, but in practice the parties must pay the salary of the notary at a rate of approximately another 1.5% of the property value. The fees are normally paid in cash at the Notary, although they can also be paid through stamps from the Treasury. 4 Go to Treasury to buy stamps to pay the notary and registration fees 1 day 3% of property value Agency : Commercial Bank or Treasury (Notary fees) + 4%-5% property The most common practice is to pay the Notary fees and the Registration value (Registration fees at the corresponding accounts in commercial banks. With the proof of fees) payment, parties can go back to the notary and to the registry to carry on with the property transfer process. Both the notary and registration fees can be paid together at this time. 5 Return to notary to present him the payment stamps 1 day Paid in Procedure 4 Agency : Notary Parties receive the public deed at this time. 6 Registration of the public deed at the Property Registry 5 days Paid in Procedure 4 Agency : Land Registry (Registro de la Propiedad y Mercantil) The fee to register the public deed is between 4% and 5% of the property value. The entire public deed is hand-written into the public registry’s books at this time. Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure. Details – Registering Property in Equatorial Guinea – Measure of Quality Answer Score Quality of the land administration index (0-30) 4.0 Page 26   Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure. Doing Business 2018 Equatorial Guinea Details – Registering Property in Equatorial Guinea – Measure of Quality Answer Score Quality of the land administration index (0-30) 4.0 Reliability of infrastructure index (0-8) 0.0 What is the institution in charge of immovable property registration? Property Registry (Registro de la Propiedad y Mercantil) 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: Catastral Service (Servicio de Catastro) 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 Yes, in person 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? Link for online access: Page 27   Link for Doing online access: Business 2018 Equatorial Guinea 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 No 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 and interested parties Is the applicable fee schedule for accessing maps of land plots made publicly available Yes, in person 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) 5.0 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 No 0.0 engaged in good faith in a property transaction based on erroneous information certi ed by the immovable property registry? Page 28   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 Equatorial Guinea Is there a speci c compensation mechanism to cover for losses incurred by parties who No 0.0 engaged in good faith in a property transaction based on erroneous information 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? Registrar; 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? Notary. Is there a national database to verify the accuracy of identity documents? No 0.0 For a standard land dispute between two local businesses over tenure rights of a Juzgados de property worth 50 times gross national income (GNI) per capita and located in the Primera largest business city, what court would be in charge of the case in the rst instance? Instancia de Malabo How long does it take on average to obtain a decision from the rst-instance court for Between 1 and 2 2.0 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 Page 29   credit bureau as a percentage of adult population secured borrower, company ABC, and a secured lender, BizBank. Do married men and married women have equal ownership rights to property? No -1.0 Doing Business 2018 Equatorial Guinea 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. Equatorial Sub-Saharan OECD high Indicator Guinea 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 30   Credit registry coverage (% of adults) 6.3 6.3 18.3 100.00 (3 Economies) possible). ABC keeps ownership and possession of the assets. Doing Business 2018 Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Sub-Saharan OECD high Indicator Guinea 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) 6.3 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 Equatorial Guinea and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 60.00: Cameroon (Rank: 68) 40.73: Regional Average (Sub-Saharan Africa) 40.00: Equatorial Guinea (Rank: 122) 35.00: Congo, Rep. (Rank: 133) 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 Equatorial Guinea and comparator economies 6.2 6 6 6 6 6 6 5.8 Index score 5.6 5.4 5.2 5.1 5 4.8 4.6 Equatorial Guinea Cameroon Central African Republic Congo, Dem. Rep. Congo, Rep. Sub-Saharan Africa Details – Legal Rights in Equatorial Guinea 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 31   Equatorial Guinea Cameroon Central African Republic Congo, Dem. Rep. Congo, Rep. Sub-Saharan Africa Doing Business 2018 Equatorial Guinea Details – Legal Rights in Equatorial Guinea 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 Equatorial Guinea and comparator economies 8 6 6 Index score 4 3.0 2 2 1 0 0 0 Equatorial Guinea Cameroon Central African Republic Congo, Dem. Rep. Congo, Rep. Sub-Saharan Africa Details – Credit Information in Equatorial Guinea Page 32   0 0 0 Guinea Equatorial 2018 Doing Business Cameroon Equatorial Guinea Central African Republic Congo, Dem. Rep. Congo, Rep. Sub-Saharan Africa Details – Credit Information in Equatorial Guinea 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 37,834 Number of firms 0 6,931 Total 0 44,765 Percentage of adult population 0.0 6.3 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 33   transactions; Available legal remedies (damages, Percentage of adult population 0.0 6.3 Doing Business 2018 Equatorial Guinea 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. Equatorial Sub-Saharan OECD high Indicator Guinea Africa income Overall Best Performer Extent of conflict of interest regulation index (0- 4.3 4.8 6.4 9.3 (New Zealand) 10) Extent of shareholder governance index (0-10) 3.7 4.0 6.4 Page 34   9.00 (Kazakhstan) and the other parties that approved the transaction. Doing Business 2018 Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Sub-Saharan OECD high Indicator Guinea Africa income Overall Best Performer Extent of conflict of interest regulation index (0- 4.3 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 Equatorial Guinea and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 43.72: Regional Average (Sub-Saharan Africa) 41.67: Cameroon (Rank: 138) 40.00: Central African Republic (Rank: 146) 40.00: Congo, Rep. (Rank: 146) 40.00: Equatorial Guinea (Rank: 146) 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 Equatorial Guinea and comparator economies – Measure of Quality Equatorial Guinea 4 1 7 3 4 5 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 Congo, Rep. 4 1 7 3 4 5 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 Equatorial Guinea – Measure of Quality Answer Score Page 35   Extent of ownership and control index (0­10) Extent of shareholder rights index (0­10) Ease of shareholder suits index (0­10) Doing Business 2018 Equatorial Guinea Details – Protecting Minority Investors in Equatorial Guinea – Measure of Quality Answer Score Extent of con ict of interest regulation index (0-10) 4.3 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) 5 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 36   Before suing can shareholders representing 10% of Buyer's share capital inspect the Yes 1.0 transaction Doing 2018 (0-1) documents? Business Equatorial Guinea 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) Preapproved 1.0 questions only 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 37   Must the board of directors include a separate audit committee exclusively comprising No 0.0 board Doing members? Business 2018 Equatorial Guinea 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 38   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 Equatorial Guinea 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. Equatorial Sub-Saharan OECD high Indicator Guinea Africa income Overall Best Performer Payments (number per year) 46 37.2 10.9 3 (Hong Kong SAR, China) Page 39   return, but within the tax assessment period. Doing Business 2018 Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Sub-Saharan OECD high Indicator Guinea Africa income Overall Best Performer Payments (number per year) 46 37.2 10.9 3 (Hong Kong SAR, China) Time (hours per year) 492 280.8 160.7 55 (Luxembourg) Total tax and contribution rate (% of profit) 79.4 46.8 40.1 18.47% (32 Economies) Postfiling index (0-100) 93.12 54.39 83.45 99.38 (Estonia) Figure – Paying Taxes in Equatorial Guinea and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 57.49: Regional Average (Sub-Saharan Africa) 41.54: Equatorial Guinea (Rank: 177) 39.40: Congo, Dem. Rep. (Rank: 181) 36.34: Cameroon (Rank: 183) 26.79: Congo, Rep. (Rank: 185) 18.89: Central African Republic (Rank: 187) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of paying taxes is determined by sorting their 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 Equatorial Guinea and comparator economies – Measure of Quality 100 93.12 90 80 70 Index score 60 54.39 49.31 50 40 27.08 30 20 12.29 10 5.13 0 Equatorial Guinea Cameroon Central African Republic Congo, Dem. Rep. Congo, Rep. Sub-Saharan Africa Details – Paying Taxes in Equatorial Guinea Total tax and Tax or mandatory Payments Notes on Time Statutory tax contribution rate (% Notes contribution (number) Payments (hours) rate Tax base of profit) on TTR Page 40   Corporate income tax 1 145 35% or 3%, taxable profit or 53.03 Doing Business 2018 Equatorial Guinea Figure – Paying Taxes in Equatorial Guinea and comparator economies – Measure of Quality 100 93.12 90 80 70 Index score 60 54.39 49.31 50 40 27.08 30 20 12.29 10 5.13 0 Equatorial Guinea Cameroon Central African Republic Congo, Dem. Rep. Congo, Rep. Sub-Saharan Africa Details – Paying Taxes in Equatorial Guinea Total tax and Tax or mandatory Payments Notes on Time Statutory tax contribution rate (% Notes contribution (number) Payments (hours) rate Tax base of profit) on TTR Corporate income tax 1 145 35% or 3%, taxable profit or 53.03 whichever is previous year's higher turnover Turnover tax 1 3% previous year's 53.03 not (Alternative Minimum turnover included Tax) Social security 12 160 21.5% gross salaries 24.25 contributions Training tax 12 1% gross salaries 1.13 Property tax (building 2 1% 40% of the value of 0.59 and land) the land and buildings Registration taxes 1 fixed fee 0.40 with Ministry of Trade Stamp duty 1 0.00 small amount Property tax (land) 2 XAF 100 hectare 0.00 Employee paid - 0 jointly various rates gross salaries 0.00 withheld Social security contributions Fuel tax 1 XAF 277 per fuel consumption 0.00 small liter amount Value added tax (VAT) 12 187 15% value added 0.00 not included Vehicle tax 1 fixed fee depending 0.00 small on type of vehicle amount Page 41   Value added tax (VAT) 12 187 15% value added 0.00 not Doing Business 2018 Equatorial Guinea included Vehicle tax 1 fixed fee depending 0.00 small on type of vehicle amount Totals 46 492 79.4 Details – Paying Taxes in Equatorial Guinea – Tax by Type Taxes by type Answer Profit tax (% of profit) 53.0 Labor tax and contributions (% of profit) 25.4 Other taxes (% of profit) 1.0 Details – Paying Taxes in Equatorial Guinea – Measure of Quality Answer Score Post ling index (0-100) 93.12 VAT refunds Does VAT exist? Yes Does a VAT refund process exist per the case study? No Restrictions on VAT refund process Purchase of machine exempted from VAT Percentage of cases exposed to a VAT audit (%) Not applicable Is there a mandatory carry forward period? No Time to comply with VAT refund (hours) No VAT No VAT Time to obtain a VAT refund (weeks) No VAT No VAT Corporate income tax audits Does corporate income tax exist? Yes Percentage of cases exposed to a corporate income tax audit (%) 0% - 24% Time to comply with a corporate income tax audit (hours) 9.0 86.24 Time to complete a corporate income tax audit (weeks) No tax audit per 100 case study scenario 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 Page 42   a corporate income tax audit and time to complete a corporate income tax audit. 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. Doing The Business hours 2018 all Equatorial for VAT include Guinea 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. 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 Page 43   police, border guards, standardization agencies, ministries or departments a corporate income tax audit and time to complete a corporate income tax audit. N/A = Not applicable. Doing Business 2018 Equatorial Guinea 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 44   of agriculture or industry, national security agencies and any other Doing Business 2018 Equatorial Guinea government authorities. Equatorial Sub-Saharan OECD high Indicator Guinea Africa income Overall Best Performer Time to export: Border compliance (hours) 132 100.1 12.7 0 (17 Economies) Cost to export: Border compliance (USD) 760 592.1 149.9 0.00 (19 Economies) Time to export: Documentary compliance 154 87.8 2.4 1.0 (25 Economies) (hours) Cost to export: Documentary compliance (USD) 85 215.1 35.4 0.00 (19 Economies) Time to import: Border compliance (hours) 240 136.4 8.7 0.00 (21 Economies) Cost to import: Border compliance (USD) 985 686.8 111.6 0.00 (27 Economies) Time to import: Documentary compliance 240 103.0 3.5 1.0 (30 Economies) (hours) Cost to import: Documentary compliance (USD) 70 300.1 25.6 0.00 (30 Economies) Figure – Trading across Borders in Equatorial Guinea 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) 32.05: Equatorial Guinea (Rank: 174) 19.68: Congo, Rep. (Rank: 184) 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 Equatorial Guinea – Time and Cost Time Cost 300 1200 240 985 240 250 1000 200 760 800 Time (hours) Cost (USD) 154 150 132 600 100 400 50 200 85 70 0 0 Export - Border Compliance Export - Documentary Compliance Import - Border Compliance Import - Documentary Compliance Page 45   Doing Business 2018 Equatorial Guinea Figure – Trading across Borders in Equatorial Guinea – Time and Cost Time Cost 300 1200 240 985 240 250 1000 200 760 800 Time (hours) Cost (USD) 154 150 132 600 100 400 50 200 85 70 0 0 Export - Border Compliance Export - Documentary Compliance Import - Border Compliance Import - Documentary Compliance Details – Trading across Borders in Equatorial Guinea Characteristics Export Import Product HS 29 : Organic chemicals HS 8708: Parts and accessories of motor vehicles Trade partner France China Border Malabo port Malabo port Distance (km) 7 7 Domestic transport time (hours) 2 2 Domestic transport cost (USD) 345 345 Details – Trading across Borders in Equatorial Guinea – Components of Border Compliance Time to Complete Associated Costs (hours) (USD) Export: Clearance and inspections required by customs authorities 132.0 100.0 Export: Clearance and inspections required by agencies other than customs 0.0 0.0 Export: Port or border handling 132.0 660.0 Import: Clearance and inspections required by customs authorities 240.0 325.0 Import: Clearance and inspections required by agencies other than customs 0.0 0.0 Import: Port or border handling 240.0 660.0 Details – Trading across Borders in Equatorial Guinea – Trade Documents Export Import Bill of lading Bill of lading Certificate of origin Commercial invoice. Page 46   Domestic transport cost (USD) 345 345 Doing Business 2018 Equatorial Guinea Details – Trading across Borders in Equatorial Guinea – Components of Border Compliance Time to Complete Associated Costs (hours) (USD) Export: Clearance and inspections required by customs authorities 132.0 100.0 Export: Clearance and inspections required by agencies other than customs 0.0 0.0 Export: Port or border handling 132.0 660.0 Import: Clearance and inspections required by customs authorities 240.0 325.0 Import: Clearance and inspections required by agencies other than customs 0.0 0.0 Import: Port or border handling 240.0 660.0 Details – Trading across Borders in Equatorial Guinea – Trade Documents Export Import Bill of lading Bill of lading Certificate of origin Commercial invoice. Commercial invoice Customs Import Declaration. Customs Export Declaration Packing list. Packing list Terminal handling receipt Technical standards certificate. Cargo release order Terminal handling receipt SOLAS certificate 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 - 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 Page 47   economies the data are also collected for the second largest business city. SOLAS certificate Doing Business 2018 Equatorial Guinea 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 7,199,655.00 Court name Malabo First Instance Court City Covered Malabo Equatorial Sub-Saharan OECD high Indicator Guinea Africa income Overall Best Performer Time (days) 475 656.8 577.8 164.00 (Singapore) Cost (% of claim value) 19.5 44.0 21.5 9.00 (Iceland) Quality of judicial processes index (0-18) 3.0 6.5 11.0 15.50 (Australia) Figure – Enforcing Contracts in Equatorial Guinea and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 55.25: Equatorial Guinea (Rank: 104) 48.14: Regional Average (Sub-Saharan Africa) 43.99: Congo, Rep. (Rank: 155) Page 48   of judicial processes Quality Business Doing index (0-18) Guinea 2018 Equatorial 3.0 6.5 11.0 15.50 (Australia) Figure – Enforcing Contracts in Equatorial Guinea and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 55.25: Equatorial Guinea (Rank: 104) 48.14: Regional Average (Sub-Saharan Africa) 43.99: Congo, Rep. (Rank: 155) 41.76: Cameroon (Rank: 162) 36.06: Congo, Dem. Rep. (Rank: 172) 30.46: Central African Republic (Rank: 182) 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 Equatorial Guinea – Time and Cost Time Cost 900 90 800 82.0 80.6 800 80 Cost (% of claim value) 700 660 656.8 70 610 560 577.8 600 53.2 60 Time (days) 46.6 475 500 44.0 50 400 40 300 30 19.5 21.5 200 20 100 10 0 0 Cameroon Central African Republic Congo, Dem. Rep. Congo, Rep. Equatorial Guinea OECD high income Sub-Saharan Africa Figure – Enforcing Contracts in Equatorial Guinea and comparator economies – Measure of Quality Equatorial Guinea 1.5 0.5 0 1 Cameroon 2 0 4 Central African Republic 2 0 3 Congo, Dem. Rep. 2 0.5 0 4.5 Congo, Rep. 2 0.5 0 2.5 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 49   12 0 0 Cameroon Central African Republic Congo, Dem. Rep. Congo, Rep. Equatorial Guinea OECD high income Sub-Saharan Africa Doing Business 2018 Equatorial Guinea Figure – Enforcing Contracts in Equatorial Guinea and comparator economies – Measure of Quality Equatorial Guinea 1.5 0.5 0 1 Cameroon 2 0 4 Central African Republic 2 0 3 Congo, Dem. Rep. 2 0.5 0 4.5 Congo, Rep. 2 0.5 0 2.5 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 Equatorial Guinea Indicator Time (days) 475 Filing and service 20 Trial and judgment 365 Enforcement of judgment 90 Cost (% of claim value) 19.5 Attorney fees 10 Court fees 5.5 Enforcement fees 4 Quality of judicial processes index (0-18) 3.0 Court structure and proceedings (-1-5) 1.0 Case management (0-6) 0.5 Court automation (0-4) 0.0 Alternative dispute resolution (0-3) 1.5 Details – Enforcing Contracts in Equatorial Guinea – Measure of Quality Page 50   Alternative dispute resolution (0-3) 1.5 Doing Business 2018 Equatorial Guinea Details – Enforcing Contracts in Equatorial Guinea – Measure of Quality Answer Score Quality of judicial processes index (0-18) 3.0 Court structure and proceedings (-1-5) 1.0 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? No 0.0 5. Does a woman's testimony carry the same evidentiary weight in court as a man's? Yes 0.0 Case management (0-6) 0.5 1. Time standards 0.5 1.a. Are there laws setting overall time standards for key court events in a civil case? Yes 1.b. If yes, are the time standards set for at least three court events? Yes 1.c. Are these time standards respected in more than 50% of cases? No 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 51   1. Can the initial complaint be led electronically through a dedicated platform within No 0.0 Businesscourt? the competent Doing 2018 Equatorial Guinea 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) 1.5 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 0.0 2.a. Is voluntary mediation or conciliation available? No 2.b. Are mediation, conciliation or both governed by a consolidated law or n.a. 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., n.a. 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 52   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 Equatorial Guinea 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) Equatorial Sub-Saharan OECD high Indicator Guinea Africa income Overall Best Performer Recovery rate (cents on the dollar) 0.0 20.3 71.2 93.1 (Norway) Time (years) no practice 2.9 1.7 0.4 (Ireland) Page 53   Cost (% of estate) no practice 22.7 9.1 1.00 (Norway) Creditor participation index (0-4) Doing Business 2018 Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Sub-Saharan OECD high Indicator Guinea Africa income Overall Best Performer Recovery rate (cents on the dollar) 0.0 20.3 71.2 93.1 (Norway) Time (years) no practice 2.9 1.7 0.4 (Ireland) Cost (% of estate) no practice 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) 0.0 6.2 12.1 15.00 (6 Economies) Figure – Resolving Insolvency in Equatorial Guinea and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 37.98: Congo, Rep. (Rank: 118) 36.73: Cameroon (Rank: 125) 30.28: Regional Average (Sub-Saharan Africa) 28.13: Central African Republic (Rank: 150) 0.00: Equatorial Guinea (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 Equatorial Guinea – Time and Cost Time Cost 6 76.0 80 4.8 70 5 60 Cost (% of estate) Time (years) 4 3.3 50 2.8 2.9 3 33.5 40 25.0 1.7 22.7 30 2 20 1 9.1 10 0 0 Cameroon Central African Republic no practice Congo, Rep. no practice OECD high income Sub-Saharan Africa Congo, Dem. Rep. Equatorial Guinea Figure – Resolving Insolvency in Equatorial Guinea and comparator economies – Measure of Quality Equatorial Guinea 5.5 2 1 0.5 Page 54   Cameroon 5.5 2 1 0.5 Cameroon Central African Republic no practice Congo, Rep. no practice OECD high income Sub-Saharan Africa Congo, Dem. Rep. Equatorial Guinea Doing Business 2018 Equatorial Guinea Figure – Resolving Insolvency in Equatorial Guinea and comparator economies – Measure of Quality Equatorial Guinea 5.5 2 1 0.5 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 Congo, 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 Equatorial Guinea and comparator economies – Recovery Rate Recovery Rate (cents on the dollar) 25 20.3 20 18.3 16.0 15 10 5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 Equatorial Guinea Cameroon Central African Republic Congo, Dem. Rep. Congo, Rep. Sub-Saharan Africa Details – Resolving Insolvency in Equatorial Guinea Indicator Answer Explanation Proceeding No Practice According to the research conducted by the team, there were no foreclosure, liquidation or reorganization proceedings filed in the country in the last 12 months. Due to this circumstance, it is not possible to assess the time, the cost or the outcome associated with the insolvency scenario described in the case study. Outcome piecemeal sale According to the research conducted by the team, there were no foreclosure, liquidation or reorganization proceedings filed in the country in the last 12 months. Due to this circumstance, it is not possible to assess the time, the cost or the outcome associated with the insolvency scenario described in the case study. Time (in years) No Practice According to the research conducted by the team, there were no foreclosure, liquidation or reorganization proceedings filed in the country in the last 12 months. Due to this Page 55   circumstance, it is not possible to assess the time, the cost or the outcome associated with Equatorial Guinea Cameroon Central African Republic Congo, Dem. Rep. Congo, Rep. Sub-Saharan Africa Doing Business 2018 Equatorial Guinea Details – Resolving Insolvency in Equatorial Guinea Indicator Answer Explanation Proceeding No Practice According to the research conducted by the team, there were no foreclosure, liquidation or reorganization proceedings filed in the country in the last 12 months. Due to this circumstance, it is not possible to assess the time, the cost or the outcome associated with the insolvency scenario described in the case study. Outcome piecemeal sale According to the research conducted by the team, there were no foreclosure, liquidation or reorganization proceedings filed in the country in the last 12 months. Due to this circumstance, it is not possible to assess the time, the cost or the outcome associated with the insolvency scenario described in the case study. Time (in years) No Practice According to the research conducted by the team, there were no foreclosure, liquidation or reorganization proceedings filed in the country in the last 12 months. Due to this circumstance, it is not possible to assess the time, the cost or the outcome associated with the insolvency scenario described in the case study. Cost (% of No Practice According to the research conducted by the team, there were no foreclosure, liquidation or estate) reorganization proceedings filed in the country in the last 12 months. Due to this circumstance, it is not possible to assess the time, the cost or the outcome associated with the insolvency scenario described in the case study. Recovery rate (cents on the 0.0 dollar) Details – Resolving Insolvency in Equatorial Guinea – Measure of Quality Answer Score Strength of insolvency framework index (0-16) 0.0 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? Page 56   dollar) Doing Business 2018 Equatorial Guinea Details – Resolving Insolvency in Equatorial Guinea – Measure of Quality Answer Score Strength of insolvency framework index (0-16) 0.0 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 57   Creditor Doing participation Business 2018 index (0-4) Equatorial Guinea 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 58   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 Equatorial Guinea 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 Equatorial Guinea Answer Hiring Page 59   Fixed-term contracts prohibited for permanent tasks? Yes days of sick leave a year; (vi) eligibility requirements for unemployment protection. Doing Business 2018 Equatorial Guinea Details – Labor Market Regulation in Equatorial Guinea Answer Hiring Fixed-term contracts prohibited for permanent tasks? Yes Maximum length of a single xed-term contract (months) 24.0 Maximum length of xed-term contracts, including renewals (months) 24.0 Minimum wage applicable to the worker assumed in the case study (US$/month) 745.9 Ratio of minimum wage to value added per worker 0.8 Maximum length of probationary period (months) 1.0 Working hours Standard workday 8.0 Maximum number of working days per week 6.0 Premium for night work (% of hourly pay) 25.0 Premium for work on weekly rest day (% of hourly pay) 50.0 Premium for overtime work (% of hourly pay) 25.0 Restrictions on night work? No Whether nonpregnant and nonnursing women can work the same night hours as men Yes Restrictions on weekly holiday? Yes Restrictions on overtime work? No Paid annual leave for a worker with 1 year of tenure (working days) 22.0 Paid annual leave for a worker with 5 years of tenure (working days) 22.0 Paid annual leave for a worker with 10 years of tenure (working days) 22.0 Paid annual leave (average for workers with 1, 5 and 10 years of tenure, in working days) 22.0 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 60   Third-party Doing approval Business 2018 if nine workers are Equatorial dismissed? Guinea 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 4.3 Notice period for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 5 years of tenure 4.3 Notice period for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 10 years of tenure 4.3 Notice period for redundancy dismissal (average for workers with 1, 5 and 10 years of tenure) 4.3 Severance pay for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 1 year of tenure 6.4 Severance pay for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 5 years of tenure 32.1 Severance pay for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 10 years of tenure 64.3 Severance pay for redundancy dismissal (average for workers with 1, 5 and 10 years of tenure) 34.3 Job quality Equal remuneration for work of equal value? Yes Gender nondiscrimination in hiring? No Paid or unpaid maternity leave mandated by law? Yes Minimum length of maternity leave (calendar days)? 84.0 Receive 100% of wages on maternity leave? No 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 Equatorial Guinea 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 Equatorial Guinea 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: Equatorial Guinea made starting a business easier by eliminating the need to obtain an authorization of establishment from the O ce of the Prime Minister to start a business. DB2017 Starting a Business: Equatorial Guinea made the process of starting a business easier by eliminating the need to obtain a copy of the business founders' criminal records. Page 61   Paying Taxes: Equatorial Guinea made paying taxes more costly by increasing the minimum tax. Minimum contribution period for unemployment protection (months)? N/A Doing Business 2018 Equatorial Guinea Business Reforms in Equatorial Guinea 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 Equatorial Guinea 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: Equatorial Guinea made starting a business easier by eliminating the need to obtain an authorization of establishment from the O ce of the Prime Minister to start a business. DB2017 Starting a Business: Equatorial Guinea made the process of starting a business easier by eliminating the need to obtain a copy of the business founders' criminal records. Paying Taxes: Equatorial Guinea made paying taxes more costly by increasing the minimum tax. Resolving Insolvency: Equatorial Guinea 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. DB2015 Protecting Minority Investors: Equatorial Guinea 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. DB2012 Getting Credit: Access to credit in Equatorial Guinea 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. DB2009 Getting Credit: In Equatorial Guinea 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: Equatorial Guinea increased the time for exporting by canceling the conditional release facility. Page 62   and allowing expanded coverage of borrowers. Trading Doing 2018 Equatorial across Borders: Business Guinea Equatorial increased the time for exporting by canceling the conditional release facility. Guinea Page 63