What does it take to get a payment processing licence in Equatorial Guinea?
To hold a payment processing licence in Equatorial Guinea, you need the Établissement de paiement licence from Commission Bancaire de l'Afrique Centrale (COBAC). In Equatorial Guinea, payment processing is licensed at the CEMAC (Communauté Économique et Monétaire de l'Afrique Centrale) level by the Commission Bancaire de l'Afrique Centrale (COBAC) — the same rule applies across all 6 member states. Published minimum capital: XAF 500,000,000, fully paid-up (the minimum released share capital of a payment institution). No entities are currently recorded on the Commission Bancaire de l'Afrique Centrale (COBAC) register for Equatorial Guinea. Full requirements — minimum capital, local presence, timeline, local ownership, fees and ongoing obligations — are set out below in each instrument's own words, with source and date; amounts are in the statute's own currency.
“Payment processing” here is the normalized activity: Provide payment processing / payment solution services without holding customer funds. Providers in this category cannot keep customers' money.
Activity id (as used by the Afriset MCP): fintech:PAYMENT_PROCESSING
Établissement de paiement
Commission Bancaire de l'Afrique Centrale (COBAC)| Requirement | As published | Source | Source date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum capital | XAF 500,000,000, fully paid-up (the minimum released share capital of a payment institution) Verbatim“Le capital social minimum libéré des établissements de paiement est fixé à cinq cent millions de FCFA.” | COBAC R-2019/02 relatif aux normes prudentielles applicables aux établissements de paiement (capital, own funds) | 2019-09-23 |
| Local presence / incorporation | A value has been located but not yet verified, so we don't publish it here. | — | — |
| Timeline | A value has been located but not yet verified, so we don't publish it here. | — | — |
| Local ownership | No such requirement: The instruments set no local-ownership or nationality requirement | Règlement N°04/18/CEMAC/UMAC/COBAC relatif aux services de paiement dans la CEMAC (the EP framework; art. 23 who licenses) | 2018-12-21 |
| Fees | A value has been located but not yet verified, so we don't publish it here. | — | — |
| Ongoing obligations | Core-own-funds floor: base own funds at least 75% common equity; plus own funds ≥ 2% of the six-month daily-average e-money float (COBAC R-2019/02 arts. 4–6); a cantonnement (client-fund ring-fencing) contract is verified before a favorable avis (R. 04/18 art. 24) Verbatim“Les fonds propres de base des établissements de paiement sont constitués au minimum de 75 % par les capitaux propres nets. … et de 2 % de son encours moyen journalier des six derniers mois de la monnaie électronique en circulation, pour le service visé à l'alinéa 6 de l'article 3 du règlement n° 04/18/CEMAC/UMAC/COBAC.” | COBAC R-2019/02 relatif aux normes prudentielles applicables aux établissements de paiement (capital, own funds) | 2019-09-23 |
Requirements as published in the cited instruments — not legal or compliance advice. Capital and fees are shown in the currency the statute itself uses. Where a value is located but not yet verified, we show that it exists but don't publish the figure. Verify directly with the regulator.
Maintained: this official source is re-checked on a weekly schedule — last checked 2026-08-04 · unchanged since the previous check.
Who already holds this licence?
No entities are currently recorded on the Commission Bancaire de l'Afrique Centrale (COBAC) register under the Établissement de paiement category — view the register .
Source: COBAC Rapport annuel 2024 · source date 2024-12-31
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