Egypt Launches Electronic Registration of New Companies Starting With 'Damietta for Green Ammonia'

Egypt launched the electronic registration of new companies’ service so that Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli attended, via video-conferencing, the first process which was the foundation of Damietta Company for Green Ammonia to be lying in Damietta Free Zone.

Madbouli underscored the importance of founding companies via a unified electronic platform, pointing out that the website was among the most important outcomes of the May meeting of the Supreme Investment Council.

He noted that it had been launched in a record time, and adds more lenience to the measures required to establish enterprises.

In that framework, the prime minister instructed promoting awareness on the website's existence and the steps to follow to complete the process.

Chairman of the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI) Hossam Heiba clarified that the investor would register the company and pay the fees online.

Then, the authority would finish all the measures with the different entities and send the documents to the investor by courier.

"The launch of the service of founding [companies] through the electronic gate is one the authority's plans to enhance the quality of service offered to investors, and abide by the highest standards of competitiveness and transparency.

Investors shall not deal with bureaucracy again and that will not entail extra burdens, as the cost of online foundation is the same as that paid in investor service centers nationwide," Heiba showcased.

The official added that the electronic foundation of companies would contribute to a leap in Egypt's rank on the indexes of competitiveness, and ease of doing business among others.

Heiba pointed out that GAFI's website includes information on the electronic registration of new companies, legal categories of companies, fees, completion duration of measures, and status of the request.

Before starting the foundation procedure, the investor has to create an electronic signature through one of the two licensed companies that are Egypt Trust and Misr for Central Clearing, Depository, and Registry (Makkassa).

The first step is creating an account. The second step is choosing the legal category of the company.

The third is inserting the company’s name, shareholders' names, activity, location, and names of board members. Then, documents shall be uploaded and the request can be submitted. After this phase, the investor can regularly check the status of the request.

The fourth step is paying online the fees mandated by all the entities involved.

The fifth step is signing, using the electronic signature, the company's foundation contract. The sixth step is signing a registry's document, also using the electronic signature.

The seventh step is carried out by GAFI as it finishes the procedures with the Financial Regulatory Authority, the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce, the Financial Registry, and Lawyers Syndicate Fund.

That is in addition to issuing a tax ID and a social insurance ID. The documents then are either sent by courier or delivered at the investor service centers dispersed nationwide.