Republic of Congo - 4-Industrial Policies Republic of Congo - Industrial Policy
Investment Incentives
Although the Republic of Congo has a specific ministry in charge of industrial promotion, it does not have a specific strategy to address industrial promotion. However, a particular investor could apply for preferential tax and customs treatment when it is felt that an investment would bring a substantial number of investment funds and new jobs in the Congolese economy. This is done by introducing a case to the Ministry of Finance’s National Committee on Investments. This committee, chaired by the Ministry of Finance and whose membership include Minister of Economy and Industrial Development as well as the Ministry of Budget Planning, holds a session once a year to review various applications.Presidential decree No: 2004-30 of February 18, 2004, defines the requirements for foreign and national companies to benefit from incentives offered by the Congolese Investment Charter. Four types of incentives are considered:
(b) Incentives to reinvest the company’s profit in the Republic of Congo;
(c) Incentives for businesses in remote areas or areas which are difficult to access; and
(d) Incentives for social and cultural investment.
Some incentives have included diminishing and exempted taxes (company tax is currently 30 percent) and customs duties over a 5-10 year span, reduction by 50 percent of registration fees, and accelerated depreciation under the general tax structures. For companies owned at least 25 percent by resident companies, other incentives include minimized exposure to dividend taxes (10 percent), capital gains tax reductions, deductions for business expenditures, reduced rents, and deductible remunerations. Other incentives are available by negotiation during the incorporation process.
Foreign Trade Zones/Free Ports/Trade Facilitation
Legislation formally creating these SEZs was enacted in April 2017, and government contacts report that SEZ in Pointe Noire is expected to begin operating in 2018. No formal timeline has been issued for when the SEZs will be completed. There is also progress being made in Pointe-Noire where a large portion of the Loango bay has been set aside to serve as the Pointe-Noire SEZ.
Performance and Data Localization Requirements
The Republic of Congo government encourages, but does not maintain, local-purchasing or production requirements. However, there is currently one draft law under review that may introduce local content requirements. The new Hydrocarbons Law includes some local content requirements.
The Ministry of Commerce operates price controls on roughly four dozen staple products, including food and fuel. The Ministry of Commerce also subsidizes certain products to make the domestic market more profitable for some companies, notably the sugar company SARIS, which might otherwise seek to export additional supply.
In the oil and forestry sectors, companies are required to respect the environment, particularly regarding water pollution safeguards and forest regeneration. All forestry companies, both foreign- and locally-owned, are required by law to process 85 percent of their timber in the country and to sell it abroad as furniture or otherwise transformed wood, and may export up to 15 percent of their wood product as natural timber. In practice, however, most timber is exported as natural timber.
The timber industry in the Republic of Congo increasingly requires international certification, most often Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification. However, a number of Chinese-owned timber companies in the Republic of Congo’s west and south still operate without certification. Only one of the northern timber companies, Singapore’s Olam, which now operates the largest concessions formerly run by the state-owned CIB, is FSC-certified. FSC-certified companies may benefit from promised government incentives in the future as the Republic of Congo continues to participate in a Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) with the European Union’s Forest Law Enforcement and Governance Transparency (FLEGT) program, and with the United Nations’ Reducing Emissions from Degradation and Deforestation (UN REDD) program.
There are no known performance enforcement procedures for foreign companies. There are no known restrictions on U.S. or other foreign firms' participation in Republic of Congo government-financed or subsidized Research and Development programs.
There are no legally onerous residence or work permit requirements, but there are multiple steps involved in the process and low-level corruption exists in the immigration and customs sectors. Visitors require a letter of invitation approved by immigration prior to applying for a visa, which must be obtained before arrival.
Tariffs and import price controls are applied to a number of staple food goods with the goal of augmenting local purchasing, but often with the result of forcing imported goods into the more expensive local black market.