Video · From Côte d’Ivoire
Can You Fund a US LLC from Côte d'Ivoire? (2026)
Can a resident of Côte d'Ivoire own a US LLC? The Ivorian side comes first. Under the West African monetary union's 2024 regulation, any investment by a resident outside the union needs the Minister of Finance's prior authorisation, and at least 75% of it must be financed from abroad. 4:41 long, published .
Transcript
What the video says
0:00Can a resident of Côte d'Ivoire own a US LLC?
It's evening in Abidjan, and Aya has her laptop open. She builds apps for clients abroad, and she wants a US company so they can pay her in dollars. On the American side, that's simple. No social security number, no trip to the US, and nothing that needs her awake in American hours. We're BaseAcross. We set up US companies for founders outside America, so we'll be straight with you.
In Côte d'Ivoire, putting money into that company is investing abroad, and that needs the Minister of Finance's authorisation first.
0:33Do you need a US company for Stripe in Côte d'Ivoire?
So, does she need one at all? Not every founder here does. If you take card and mobile-money payments from local customers, the big card processor already works in Côte d'Ivoire, through a payments company it owns. You may not need a US company, and you won't be investing abroad. Aya's reason is different. Her clients are abroad, and they pay in dollars.
A US company can fit her, but the guide's answer is careful: a US company, after advice.
1:01Can you fund a US company from Côte d'Ivoire?
This is the rule to read first. Côte d'Ivoire's rules on money abroad come from the West African monetary union, in its 2024 regulation. Any investment by a resident outside the union needs the Minister of Finance's prior authorisation. And at least seventy-five percent of it must be financed from abroad, by a loan or other resources raised there. The guide works it through with five million CFA francs. At least three million, seven hundred and fifty thousand of that would have to come from abroad.
That's an illustration, and how the rule applies to a small company is for your adviser.
1:40Wyoming LLC or Delaware C-Corp, and an EIN without an SSN
Once that's settled, the company itself is quick. A Wyoming LLC suits an owner-run business paid by clients abroad. A Delaware C-Corp suits raising from US investors, and money they invest can count towards the seventy-five percent. It needs a registered agent, an address in that state for legal papers, not where you work. Then the EIN, the company's US tax number. Without a social security number or an ITIN, the application goes on a separate IRS form instead of the online tool.
Prices are in US dollars, so check whether your card can pay abroad, and its fees.
2:16Can you hold a US bank account from Côte d'Ivoire?
Then the bank. Founders who live in Côte d'Ivoire can apply to a US fintech bank, because the country isn't on its list of places it doesn't serve. It decides each application, and it can decline. A multi-currency account gives no US dollar account details to people living here, and another US account asks every owner for a physical US address. Each provider decides for itself. And there's a second rule. A resident needs the Minister's prior authorisation, on the B-C-E-A-O's assent, to open an account abroad.
Ask your adviser how that applies to an account in the company's name.
2:54Does Côte d'Ivoire tax you and the US company?
At home, the tax side looks at you, and at the company. Residents are taxed on income from anywhere, and Côte d'Ivoire has no controlled foreign company rules. Dividends have a rule of their own. Foreign-currency income from investments abroad, dividends in particular, is sold to the B-C-E-A-O through an approved bank, like export proceeds. Then the company. Can Côte d'Ivoire tax it?
It can, if it has a permanent establishment here, and a comprehensive commercial cycle here can create one. Whether your work from here does that is a question for your adviser.
3:30Is there a US–Côte d'Ivoire tax treaty?
In America, there's no US and Côte d'Ivoire income tax treaty. US-source dividends, interest and royalties paid to you are withheld at thirty percent, unless a US exemption applies. But pay for work you do in Côte d'Ivoire generally isn't US income, so a US company with no US office or staff often owes no US income tax on it. A single-owner LLC still files a report with the IRS when it has reportable transactions with you.
Money you put in or take out can count, even in a year without sales, and missing it is expensive. For a calendar-year company, it's usually due in mid-April.
4:07What to do first, in order
So the order runs like this. Check the Ivorian side first, with your adviser, and settle the authorisation and the seventy-five percent before you fund anything. Then form the company, get the EIN, and apply for the bank. Keep the authorisation and a record of every transfer, and put the IRS report and your Ivorian filings on one calendar. The full guide, with every source and a checklist for your adviser in English and French, is linked below.
Aya hasn't paid for anything yet. Her first meeting is with an adviser.
The founder in the video is an example, not a customer. The rules in it were checked when it was made; the guide carries the current sources.
The guide
Costs, documents, timelines and the rules in Côte d’Ivoire, with sources.
Read the guide for Côte d’IvoireWatch on YouTube