Overview
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Region | Africa |
| ISO 3166-1 | ST / STP |
| Registry | DGRN / GUE |
| Last updated | 2026-05-06 |
Identifiers
Collect two identifiers from each business customer in São Tomé and Príncipe and submit them as strings on the application body.| API field | Local name | Issuer |
|---|---|---|
businessInfo.taxId | NIF | DGI |
businessInfo.businessEntityId | Número de Registo Comercial | DGRN / GUE |
Sector regulators
BCSTP · UIF-STP · DGI
Legal structures
| Local name | Abbreviation | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Sociedade por Quotas | Lda | Limited-liability company whose capital is divided into quotas; managed by one or more gerentes. The dominant SME vehicle in São Tomé and Príncipe. Equivalent to a US LLC. |
| Sociedade Unipessoal por Quotas | — | Single-member variant of the Sociedade por Quotas; allows one natural person or legal entity to hold 100% of the quotas with limited liability. Equivalent to a US single-member LLC (SMLLC). |
| Sociedade Anónima | SA | Share-capital company with separate legal personality; requires a board of directors (Conselho de Administração) and fiscal council; used for larger enterprises and potential public offerings. Closest US equivalent: C-Corp. |
| Empresário em Nome Individual | — | Sole trader registered under their own name; no separate legal personality and unlimited personal liability for business debts. Equivalent to a US Sole Proprietorship. |
| Sociedade em Nome Coletivo | — | General partnership in which all partners bear joint and unlimited personal liability for the entity’s obligations. Equivalent to a US General Partnership (GP). |
| Sociedade em Comandita | — | Limited partnership with at least one general partner bearing unlimited liability and one or more limited partners whose liability is capped at their contribution. Equivalent to a US Limited Partnership (LP). |
| Cooperativa | — | Member-owned cooperative formed by individuals or entities for a shared economic, social, or cultural purpose; governed by cooperative principles. Closest US equivalent: Cooperative. |
| Sucursal de Sociedade Estrangeira | — | Registered branch of a foreign company operating in São Tomé and Príncipe; no separate legal personality — the parent entity bears full liability. 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 | Certidão de Registo Comercial |
| Constitutive Documents | Any one of: Pacto Social · Estatutos |
| Tax Registration | Cartão de Identificação Fiscal |
| Operating Permit | Alvará Comercial |
| Ownership Records | Any one of: Lista de Sócios · Registo de Accionistas |
| Governance Records | Any one of: Certidão de Registo Comercial — gerentes · Estatutos — secção administradores |
| Signing Authority | Any one of: Procuração Notarial · Deliberação de Gerentes |
| Address | Any one of: Contrato de Arrendamento · Recibo de Serviços · Extrato Bancário |
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 |
|---|---|
| Certidão de Registo Comercial (DGRN/GUE) | Legal Registration |
| Pacto Social (Lda) | Constitutive Documents |
| Estatutos (SA) | Constitutive Documents |
| Cartão de Identificação Fiscal (NIF) | Tax Registration |
| Alvará Comercial | Operating Permit |
| Lista de Sócios (Lda) | Ownership Records |
| Registo de Accionistas (SA) | Ownership Records |
| Certidão de Registo Comercial — gerentes | Governance Records |
| Estatutos (SA — secção administradores) | Governance Records |
| Procuração Notarial | Signing Authority |
| Deliberação de Gerentes | Signing Authority |
| Contrato de Arrendamento | Address |
| Recibo de Serviços (≤90 dias) | Address |
| Extrato Bancário (≤90 dias) | Address |
| Sector-Specific License | Licença BCSTP (sector-specific) |
Collection notes
- Legal Registration: Issued within 1–4 working days of GUE submission; contains registration number, legal form, and corporate officers.
- Constitutive Documents: Single constitutive document drafted by the founding partners and notarised; filed with GUE at incorporation.
- Tax Registration: Issued by DGI; co-issued via GUE at incorporation. 9-digit NIF; dual income-tax/VAT identifier.
- Operating Permit: Issued by Direção de Comércio (Ministry of Commerce); required before commencing operations; obtained post-registration.
- Sector-Specific License: Required for banking, insurance, payment services, microfinance, and currency exchange; issued by BCSTP.
- Ownership Records: Lista de sócios/quotas incorporada no Pacto Social ou no registo anual.
- Governance Records: Current directors/managers listed on the Certidão; SA must also maintain Conselho de Administração minutes.
- Signing Authority: Notarised power of attorney or formal managers’ resolution; required for agents who are not registered gerentes/administradores.
- 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.
Person roles
When you submit a person on the application body, set theirrole 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Gerente (Lda) | CONTROLLING_PERSON | Appointed manager of an Lda; day-to-day executive authority; registered at DGRN. |
| Administrador / Conselho de Administração (SA) | CONTROLLING_PERSON | Board member of an SA; governance function. |
| Presidente do Conselho de Administração (SA) | CONTROLLING_PERSON | Chair of the SA board; governance, not operations. |
| Sócio-Gerente (Lda) | LEGAL_REPRESENTATIVE | Partner who also serves as manager; legally binds the company. |
| Procurador / Mandatário | LEGAL_REPRESENTATIVE | Holder of a notarised power of attorney; authorised to act on the company’s behalf. |
Notes
- São Tomé and Príncipe is not OHADA; the foundational companies law is the 1888 Código Comercial as amended by Law 14/2009 — do not apply OHADA AUSCGIE templates.
- The GUE co-issues the NIF and Certidão de Registo Comercial simultaneously; however, the Alvará Comercial is a separate post-registration step from the Direção de Comércio and is commonly overlooked by foreign operators.
- São Tomé and Príncipe has acceded to the Hague Apostille Convention (accession 19-XII-2007; in force 13-IX-2008) — apostille is accepted for foreign public documents instead of full consular legalisation chain.
- All registration documents must be in Portuguese or formally translated by a certified translator; no other language is accepted by GUE or DGRN.