Investment · Nigeria
Register a foreign-owned business (NIPC + Business Permit)
The route for foreign investors: incorporate with ≥₦100m share capital → register the business with the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission → obtain a Business Permit from the Federal Ministry of Interior (the instrument that legally authorises foreign participation) → expatriate quota where staff are to be posted in.
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Who you will deal with
The steps
- Incorporate with the minimum foreign-participation share capital
- Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC)
- A company with foreign shareholding must be incorporated (no branch offices) with a minimum issued share capital of ₦100,000,000. Obtain the Certificate of Incorporation, MEMART, CAC status report and TIN.
- CIC; MEMART; CAC Form 1.1; TIN
- Days-weeks
- Register the business with NIPC
- Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC)
- File NIPC Form 1 with the CIC, MEMART, TIN, shareholder/director identification and proof of registered address. Application fee ₦150,000; annual renewal ₦50,000 (effective 1 January 2025); ₦100,000 to reissue a lost/damaged certificate.
- NIPC Form 1; CIC; MEMART; TIN; IDs; ₦150,000 fee
- Weeks
- Obtain the Business Permit
- Federal Ministry of Interior
- Every company with foreign ownership must obtain a Business Permit from the Ministry of Interior - the instrument that legally authorises the foreign participants to carry on the business in Nigeria. The fee depends on the nature and scale of operations.
- Business Permit application; NIPC certificate; corporate documents
- Weeks
- Expatriate quota and Certificate of Capital Importation
- Ministry of Interior; Authorised Dealer Bank
- To post expatriate staff, apply for an Expatriate Quota (then STR visa and CERPAC - see hire_foreign_worker_nigeria). Inbound equity/loan capital must be brought in through an Authorised Dealer Bank, which issues a Certificate of Capital Importation (CCI) - the instrument that underpins repatriation of dividends and capital.
- Expatriate Quota approval; CCI from the bank
- CCI issued shortly after inflow
The numbers behind the decision
Knowing the process is half of it. ONYX also tracks the operating environment you are entering — daily grid generation, official FX, state-level input prices and inflation, and sector output — each figure source-linked and dated.