Export-proceeds repatriation windows across African markets
Whether — and within what window — merchandise-export foreign-currency proceeds must be brought home differs sharply across African markets. Below is the record for each market covered, as published in the cited official instrument. Some markets impose a fixed window; some criminalize failure; several have no repatriation duty at all (a sourced finding, not a gap) because they repealed exchange control. Rules, not rates — no exchange rate is recorded.
The comparable axis is the normalized facet export-proceeds repatriation — which makes a fixed window, a criminal offence and a repealed duty comparable on one table without pretending they are the same kind of thing.
Facet id (as used by the Afriset MCP): xborder:EXPORT_PROCEEDS_REPATRIATION
The record, market by market
| Market | The record | Source | Source date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Burundi | An exporter must repatriate export proceeds within three months for land or sea shipments (from the customs endorsement of the export declaration), reduced to one month for air shipments; proceeds are collected through the bank that registered the export declaration, and the BRB may block new export declarations pending repatriation of prior proceeds (Réglementation des changes du 28.12.2023, arts. 38–39). Verbatim"Le délai d'encaissement du produit d'exportation de biens par voie terrestre ou maritime est de trois (3) mois au maximum à compter de la date d'émargement de la DE par les services de douanes. Ce délai est réduit à un mois pour les expéditions par voie aérienne." | Banque de la République du Burundi — Réglementation des changes du 28.12.2023 — art. 13 (cash declaration), art. 15 (resident FX accounts), art. 38 (repatriation delay), art. 39 (repatriation channel + coffee/tea surrender) | 2023-12-28 |
| Botswana | No repatriation duty. Botswana imposes no obligation to repatriate merchandise-export proceeds within any window: all remaining forms of foreign exchange control were abolished in February 1999, and no successor duty exists. An exporter is free to hold and use its foreign-currency proceeds as it chooses (the liberalized KE/UG/RW/MU class). | Bank of Botswana — "History of the Bank of Botswana" (the exchange-control-abolished verbatim; the liberalization anchor) | not dated |
| DR Congo | Exporters must repatriate export/re-export proceeds in foreign currency to an intervening bank no later than 60 calendar days after the goods leave the national territory (or embarkation from an African country) for a final destination; for artisanal gold and diamond production, the proceeds must reach a bank within 20 days at the latest. (within 60 calendar days of export (artisanal gold/diamond: 20 days)) Verbatim"A l'exception de l'or et du diamant de production artisanale dont le montant doit être reçu en banque dans les vingt (20) jours au plus tard à compter de la date de sortie, le rapatriement des recettes d'exportation ou de réexportation de tous les autres produits de quelque nature que ce soit, doit intervenir au plus tard soixante (60) jours calendriers à compter de la date : de sortie des biens du territoire national pour une destination finale ; d'embarquement à partir d'un pays africain pour une destination finale." | Réglementation du Change en République Démocratique du Congo (base text; JO reproduction, 71 pp) | 2014-03-28 |
| Ethiopia | Exporters of goods and services must repatriate their export proceeds in foreign exchange to an authorized bank before, at the time of, or no later than three months after export (or such other period the National Bank prescribes). (within 3 months of export) Verbatim"undertakes to repatriate the resultant sales proceeds in foreign exchange to an authorized bank either before the actual export, at the time of export, or within a period of not later than three months or within such other period that the National Bank may from time to time prescribe for any class of exports or for any particular export." | Foreign Exchange Directive No. FXD/01/2024 (consolidated FX frame; Art. 25.2.1 repeals all prior FX directives/circulars) | 2024-07-29 |
| Ghana | Merchandise-export proceeds must be repatriated through an external bank; failure is a criminal offence (fine and/or up to 10 years' imprisonment). The specific 60-day window sits in an unfetched BoG notice (held separately). Verbatim"An exporter who fails to repatriate proceeds from merchandise exports, through an external bank, commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine of not more, than five thousand penalty units or to a term of imprisonment of not more than ten years or to both." | Foreign Exchange Act, 2006 (Act 723) — full text | 2006-12-29 |
| Ghana | A rule has been located but not yet verified, so we don't publish its terms here. | Foreign Exchange Act, 2006 (Act 723) — full text | 2006-12-29 |
| The Gambia | No repatriation duty. The Gambia imposes no obligation to repatriate merchandise-export proceeds within any window: it adopted a free-floating, market-determined foreign-exchange regime in 1986 following economy-wide liberalization, and the Central Bank's Foreign Exchange Policy fixes no repatriation duty. An exporter is free to hold and use its foreign-currency proceeds (the liberalized KE/UG/BW/MU class). | Central Bank of The Gambia — Foreign Exchange Policy, December 2023 (§ market participants; the free-floating, market-determined regime in place since 1986 following the liberalization of the Gambian economy) | 2023-12 |
| Kenya | No repatriation duty. Kenya has no export-proceeds repatriation or surrender deadline. The former surrender obligation was removed when the Exchange Control Act was repealed in 1995; foreign-exchange business was delegated to authorised dealers and no successor duty exists in the CBK Act. As of the CBK sources read, Kenya sets no repatriation window. | Central Bank of Kenya Act (Cap. 491), esp. Part VIA (ss. 33A–33O) | 2024-12-27 |
| Morocco | Exporters of goods must repatriate the proceeds of goods exports within a maximum of 150 days from the date the customs declaration is registered. (150 days from the customs-declaration registration date) Verbatim"L'exportateur de biens dispose d'un délai maximum de cent cinquante (150) jours à compter de la date d'enregistrement de la déclaration douanière pour rapatrier le produit des exportations de biens." | Instruction Générale des Opérations de Change 2026 (IGOC 2026) — the consolidated FX rulebook, Office des Changes | 2026-01-01 |
| Mauritius | No repatriation duty. Mauritius imposes no obligation to repatriate merchandise-export proceeds within any window. Exchange control was abolished in July 1994 (after Mauritius adopted IMF Article VIII obligations in September 1993) and no successor duty exists; an exporter is free to hold and use its foreign-currency proceeds as it chooses. Anchored on the Bank of Mauritius's own published characterization of the regime (report-the-record). | Bank of Mauritius — "Role and Functions of the Bank" (the exchange-control-abolished verbatim; the liberalization anchor) | not dated |
| Malawi | An exporter of goods or services must repatriate the export proceeds to Malawi within 120 days from the date of exportation, receiving the proceeds in the exporter's registered name; the Reserve Bank may extend the period on a reasoned application made through an authorized dealer bank (Foreign Exchange (Repatriation of Export Proceeds) Directive, 2025, under the Foreign Exchange Act No. 18 of 2025). Verbatim"repatriate to Malawi the proceeds from the export, within one hundred and twenty days from the date of the exportation of the goods or services" | Reserve Bank of Malawi — Foreign Exchange (Repatriation of Export Proceeds) Directive, 2025 (Government Notice No. 71, under s.59(1) of the Act) — ¶5 (repatriation), ¶7 (surrender) | 2025-08-01 |
| Mozambique | Residents must repatriate the foreign-currency proceeds of exports of goods and services and of income from investment abroad within 90 days — counted, for goods, from shipment (Aviso 5/GBM/2024, under Lei n.º 28/2022). (within 90 days of export) Verbatim"O repatriamento de receitas de exportação de bens, serviços e de rendimentos de investimento no exterior, por residentes, deve ser efectuado no prazo de 90 dias, a contar: a) do embarque, no caso de exportação" | Aviso n.º 5/GBM/2024, de 21 de Março — Repatriamento e Conversão de Receitas de Exportação de Bens, Serviços e de Rendimentos de Investimento no Exterior (issued under Lei n.º 28/2022) | 2024-03-21 |
| Nigeria | A rule has been located but not yet verified, so we don't publish its terms here. | CBN, Foreign Exchange Manual (Revised 2018) — 26 Memoranda; given effect by circular TED/FEM/FPC/GEN/01/004 of 26 Jul 2018, effective 1 Aug 2018, repealing the 2006 Manual | 2018-08-01 |
| Rwanda | No repatriation duty. Rwanda has no export-proceeds repatriation duty or window. Regulation 42/2022 (Chapter III, use of foreign currency in import/export/merchandising operations) permits payment in foreign currency for exported/imported goods and imposes no bring-home window; the predecessor 2013 regulation was expressly repealed, and no repatriation window exists in the current regulation. | Regulation N° 42/2022 of 13/04/2022 governing foreign exchange operations (Official Gazette n° 16 bis of 18/04/2022) | 2022-04-18 |
| Seychelles | No repatriation duty. Seychelles imposes no obligation to repatriate merchandise-export proceeds within any window: it floated the rupee and liberalized its exchange regime in November 2008, and the Foreign Exchange Act 2009 fixes no repatriation duty (the only export-proceeds provision, s.6, requires receipt in convertible foreign currency — not a repatriation window). An exporter is free to hold and use its foreign-currency proceeds (the liberalized KE/UG/BW/MU/GM class). | Central Bank of Seychelles — Foreign Exchange Act 2009 (consolidated to 30 June 2012) — s.2 (« authorised dealer » = bank / bureau de change licensed under the Financial Institutions Act), s.3 (permitted activities), s.6 (export receipts in convertible foreign currency) | 2012-06-30 |
| Tanzania | Export proceeds must be received within the payment period agreed for the transaction, which may not exceed ninety days. (90 days) Verbatim"The exporter shall ensure that export proceeds are received within the payment period agreed for that transaction which shall not be more than ninety days." | Foreign Exchange Regulations, 2022 (GN No. 294 of 2022, made under s.6(1) FX Act Cap 271) | 2022-05-13 |
| Uganda | No repatriation duty. Uganda has no export-proceeds repatriation or surrender duty. The Foreign Exchange Act 2004 repealed the Exchange Control Act; its full text (ss.1-20 + Schedule) contains no provision requiring residents to bring home or surrender export proceeds — export proceeds are resident-held 'current receipts', with no bring-home or surrender duty as of the 2004 Act. | Foreign Exchange Act, 2004 (Act 5 of 2004) — assent print | 2004-12-03 |
| South Africa | Exporters must sell exported goods and receive the full foreign-currency proceeds no later than six months from the date of shipment (Authorised Dealers may extend credit terms to 12 months). (6 months from shipment (credit terms extendable to 12 months)) Verbatim"sell goods exported within a reasonable time, but no later than six months from the date of shipment" | Currency and Exchanges Manual for Authorised Dealers (AD Manual), SARB FinSurv, v1.132 (version-control sheet: issued 2026-06-25 per Circular 18/2026; title page dated 2026-06-25) | 2026-06-25 |
The record as published in each cited instrument, as of its source date — not legal or compliance advice. A "no repatriation duty" row is a sourced structural finding (the market repealed the obligation), true as of the source read; a new control can appear, so verify current status with the regulator. Rules, not rates: no exchange rate is recorded here.
Maintained: this official source is re-checked on a weekly schedule — last checked 2026-08-04 · unchanged since the previous check.
Related
Cross-border rules by market