Company registers in Mauritania: the registre du commerce and APIM

Local and central registers

The code sets two levels. The registre local (local register) is kept by the greffe of the competent court ¹. The president of the court, or a judge named each year, supervises it ¹. Under article 59 bis, added in 2015, the president of the commercial court or wilaya court names a juge commis (supervising judge) who hears disputes between the clerk and those who must register ¹.

Each entry is filed at the greffe where the trader's main establishment or the company's seat is located ¹. In the first week of each month the greffe sends a copy to the registre central du commerce (central trade register) ¹. The central register is kept by the competent administrative services under a decree ¹. It is public, but may be consulted only in the presence of the officer in charge ¹.

Who must register and what is recorded

Article 39 requires every natural and legal person, Mauritanian or foreign, carrying on a commercial activity in Mauritania to register ¹. The duty covers branches and agencies, commercial representations of foreign states and public bodies, public industrial and commercial bodies where their law says so, groupements d'intérêt économique (GIE, economic interest groups) and private legal persons with an economic activity ¹.

Article 38 lists the entries. They are immatriculations (first registrations), inscriptions modificatives (amendments), radiations (deletions) and transcriptions of judgments of commercial courts ¹. Article 80 bis, added in 2015, puts sûretés mobilières (security interests over movable assets), such as pledges of shares, on the register for any interested person to consult ¹.

A commerçant ambulant (itinerant trader) is exempt from registration. He must obtain a free identification number from his commune, issued on the spot ¹.

Deadlines and penalties

Extracts and electronic filing

Under article 31, any person may obtain a certified copy or extract of the entries, or a certificate that there is no entry or that it was struck off ¹. The clerk certifies them ¹. The 2015 law allows entries, amendments and deletions to be made by electronic signature ¹. Article 77 ter states that the register may be kept on paper or in electronic form ¹. Article 78 requires a certificate of entry on the patente (business tax) roll before a company or trader can be registered ¹. Article 51 requires the register number and place to appear on invoices, letters and order forms ¹.

Where the code and its changes are published

The 2015 amending law appears in the Journal Officiel de la République Islamique de Mauritanie n° 1348 bis of 30 November 2015, the issue shown in the text WIPO Lex holds ². The Ministère chargé du Secrétariat Général du Gouvernement (ministry in charge of the government's general secretariat) lists Journal Officiel issues on its site, such as n° 2026-1616 of 30 October 2026 ⁴. As reported by Samira Njoya of Ecofin Agency, the digital portal of the Journal Officiel launched in November 2025 holds every edition since 1959 ⁵.

The APIM one-stop shop

The Agence de Promotion des Investissements en Mauritanie (APIM, investment promotion agency) says its one-stop shop handles commercial registry, tax registration and social security registration ³. It says registration is completed within 48 working hours when the file is complete, and online filing is possible on the Khidmaty platform ³. Available forms are sole proprietorships, SARL (limited liability company), SA (public limited company), GIE and branches ³. A sole proprietorship needs no minimum capital ³.

• Signed unified business creation form ³
• Identity document of the applicant or manager ³
• Proof of business address, such as a title, lease or occupancy certificate with a utility bill ³
• Operating authorisation where required ³
• For companies, a certified copy and three photocopies of the articles, a certificate of their deposit at the commercial court, and proof of capital deposit where capital exceeds MRU 10,000 ³