Benin

Overview

Field	Value
Region	Africa
ISO 3166-1	BJ / BEN
Registry	RCCM, Tribunal de Commerce de Cotonou
Last updated	2026-05-06

Identifiers

Collect two identifiers from each business customer in Benin and submit them as strings on the application body.

API field	Local name	Issuer
`businessInfo.taxId`	IFU	DGI (Direction Générale des Impôts)
`businessInfo.businessEntityId`	Numéro RCCM	RCCM, Tribunal de Commerce de Cotonou

Tax ID: Unique fiscal number for all taxpayers; issued at registration via APIEx/GUFE; applied for at ifu.impots.bj. Registration number: Format: RB/COT/YY [letter] NNNN; assigned at APIEx/GUFE single window.

Sector regulators

BCEAO · CIMA · AMF-UMOA · CENTIF · DGI

Legal structures

Local name	Abbreviation	Description
Société à Responsabilité Limitée	SARL	The most common SME form in OHADA-member Benin; managed by a gérant; no minimum capital since Decree N° 2014-220; liability limited to contributions. Equivalent to a US LLC.
Société Anonyme	SA	Share-capital company for larger enterprises; minimum capital 10,000,000 XOF (private) or 100,000,000 XOF (public offering); governed by a board or administrateur général. Closest US equivalent: C-Corp.
Société par Actions Simplifiée	SAS	Flexible share-capital company introduced by AUSCGIE rev. 2014 (Arts. 853-1 to 853-23); governance freely defined by statuts; no minimum capital; shares not freely traded on a public market. Closest US equivalent: C-Corp.
Société en Nom Collectif	SNC	General partnership in which all partners have merchant status and bear unlimited joint and several liability for company debts; must register at RCCM. Closest US equivalent: General Partnership (GP).
Société en Commandite Simple	SCS	Limited partnership with two classes of partners: commandités (general partners, unlimited liability) and commanditaires (limited partners, liable only to the extent of their contribution). Closest US equivalent: Limited Partnership (LP).
Entreprise Individuelle / Entreprenant	EI	Sole trader or individual entrepreneur (entreprenant under OHADA); no separate legal entity; unlimited personal liability; declared at GUFE for approximately 10,000 XOF. Equivalent to a US Sole Proprietorship.
Groupement d’Intérêt Économique	GIE	Two or more legal persons pooling resources for an auxiliary economic purpose; acquires separate legal personality upon RCCM registration; members retain unlimited joint liability. Closest US equivalent: Statutory/Business Trust.
Société Coopérative	SCOOPS	Member-owned cooperative governed by the OHADA Uniform Act on Cooperative Societies (AUSCOOP, 2010); registered at the Registre des Sociétés Coopératives (RSCOOP); profits distributed to members based on activity. Closest US equivalent: Cooperative.
Succursale / Bureau de Représentation	—	Branch or representative office of a foreign legal entity operating in Benin; not a separate legal entity; the parent company bears full liability; must register at RCCM (succursale) or declare presence (bureau de représentation). Closest US equivalent: Branch/Rep Office.

How documents combine

For each evidence area, this table shows whether the listed documents are alternatives (any one of) or a bundle (all required). The artifact-by-artifact lookup follows below.

Evidence area	Documents needed
Legal Registration	Extrait RCCM
Constitutive Documents	Statuts
Tax Registration	Attestation IFU
Operating Permit	Any one of: Patente communale · Autorisation d’exercer
Ownership Records	All required: Statuts + Extrait RCCM
Governance Records	All required: Extrait RCCM + Statuts
Signing Authority	Any one of: Procès-verbal d’assemblée · Procuration notariée
Address	Any one of: Contrat de bail · Facture de services · Relevé bancaire
Good Standing	Extrait RCCM

Documents to collect

The physical documents you’ll collect from your customer, with the evidence area each one proves. One document can prove multiple areas — for example, Brazil’s Cartão CNPJ covers both tax and business-registration proof, so it appears once with both areas listed.

Document	Proves
Extrait RCCM	Legal Registration, Ownership Records, Governance Records, Good Standing
Statuts	Constitutive Documents, Ownership Records, Governance Records
Attestation IFU	Tax Registration
Patente communale	Operating Permit
Autorisation d’exercer	Operating Permit
Procès-verbal d’assemblée	Signing Authority
Procuration notariée	Signing Authority
Contrat de bail	Address
Facture de services (≤90 jours)	Address
Relevé bancaire (≤90 jours)	Address
Sector-Specific License	Agrément sectoriel

Collection notes

Legal Registration: Official extract from Registre du Commerce et du Crédit Mobilier; issued by Tribunal de Commerce de Cotonou via APIEx/GUFE; confirms legal existence and registration number.
Constitutive Documents: Articles of association drafted in French under OHADA AUSCGIE (eff. 2014-05-05); notarized for SA; private deed acceptable for SARL/SAS.
Tax Registration: IFU certificate issued by DGI; obtained simultaneously with RCCM at APIEx/GUFE; portal: ifu.impots.bj.
Operating Permit: Patente (annual municipal business tax/license) required in localities outside Cotonou/Parakou/Porto-Novo; Autorisation d’exercer for regulated activities (sector-specific). Cotonou businesses pay Taxe Professionnelle Synthétique instead.
Sector-Specific License: BCEAO license for banking/fintech (EMIs/PSPs); CIMA approval for insurance; AMF-UMOA authorization for capital markets; required only for regulated sectors.
Governance Records: Names and powers of gérant (SARL), Président du Conseil d’Administration or Directeur Général (SA), or Président (SAS) appear in the RCCM extract and statutes.
Signing Authority: Board or shareholders’ resolution (PV d’AG) evidencing signing authority; notarized power of attorney for third-party representatives.
Address: Conduit universal policy: lease (no time bound) OR utility bill OR bank statement, with utility/bank dated within 90 days. Same evidence satisfies both registered-address and operating-address checks.
Good Standing: No standalone good-standing certificate is issued; a recently dated copy of the listed document evidences current standing. A freshly dated Extrait RCCM from the Greffe du Tribunal de Commerce de Cotonou (via APIEx/GUFE) reflects current registry status and serves as the good-standing equivalent. Accept an Extrait RCCM dated within 90 days.

Person roles

When you submit a person on the application body, set their role to one of Conduit’s canonical BusinessPersonRole values. Use this table to map a local corporate-governance title onto the right canonical role.

Local role	Canonical API role	Description
Gérant (SARL)	`LEGAL_REPRESENTATIVE`	Appointed manager who legally represents the SARL; may be associate or non-associate.
Président du Conseil d’Administration (SA)	`CONTROLLING_PERSON`	Chair of the board of directors in a SA with conseil d’administration.
Administrateur (SA)	`CONTROLLING_PERSON`	Member of the conseil d’administration; governance role.
Directeur Général (SA)	`CONTROLLING_PERSON`	Executive officer with general management authority; represents SA externally.
Président-Directeur Général (SA)	`CONTROLLING_PERSON`	Combined board chair and managing director; common in smaller SAs.
Administrateur Général (SA)	`CONTROLLING_PERSON`	Single-person governance in SAs with ≤ 3 shareholders; combines board and executive functions.
Président (SAS)	`LEGAL_REPRESENTATIVE`	Statutory representative of a SAS; powers defined by statutes.

Notes

Benin is not a party to the Hague Apostille Convention (confirmed HCCH status table, last updated 31 Dec 2025). Document authentication requires full legalization chain (notarization → Ministry of Justice → consular legalization).
The AML/CFT statute in force is Loi 2024-01 du 20 février 2024, which superseded Loi 2018-17 and its 2020 amendment (Loi 2020-25). Do not cite the 2018 or 2020 laws as the operative text.
SARL minimum capital was abolished for Benin by Decree N° 2014-220 of 26 March 2014 (implementing OHADA AUSCGIE rev. 2014, Art. 311): associates freely determine share capital. The pre-2014 OHADA floor of 1,000,000 XOF no longer applies. SA minimum remains 10,000,000 XOF.
BCEAO Instruction 001-01-2024 imposed a licensing regime for electronic money institutions and payment service providers across WAEMU, in force 23 January 2024. The final extended compliance deadline was 31 August 2025 (elapsed); only licensed entities may legally offer payment services from 1 September 2025.
SARL statuts may be by private deed (acte sous seing privé), but notarization is required for SA statuts and for any contribution in kind; request the notarized originals, not copies.

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Asia-Pacific

Overview

Identifiers

Sector regulators

Legal structures

How documents combine

Documents to collect

Collection notes

Person roles

Notes

​Overview

​Identifiers

​Sector regulators

​Legal structures

​How documents combine

​Documents to collect

​Collection notes

​Person roles

​Notes

Overview

Identifiers

Sector regulators

Legal structures

How documents combine

Documents to collect

Collection notes

Person roles

Notes