Video · From Senegal
Can You Fund a US LLC from Senegal? (2026)
Can you have a US company while you live in Senegal? Senegal's side comes first. Under the West African monetary union's 2024 rules, 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. 4:45 long, published .
Transcript
What the video says
0:00Can a resident of Senegal own a US LLC?
It's evening in Dakar, and Aminata has her card out. She's built a small piece of software, and she wants customers abroad to pay for it by card. 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 Senegal, though, putting money into a company abroad needs the Minister of Finance's authorisation first.
0:31Do you need a US company for Stripe in Senegal?
So, does she need one at all? The guide's first step is to decide exactly that. A US company adds US filings, and Senegal's own rules, so it needs a reason. Aminata's reason is card payments. The big card processor doesn't take Senegalese businesses, and a US company with an EIN and a US bank account can apply to it. It reviews the business and the person behind it, and it can decline.
Some US buyers and platforms want a US contracting party, too. Either way, work done here can still be taxed here.
1:03Can you fund a US company from Senegal?
This is the rule that comes first. Senegal's money rules come from the West African monetary union. Under the union's twenty twenty-four rules, 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 one through. Put eight million CFA francs into a new Wyoming LLC, and at least six million of it must come from abroad.
That's an illustration, not a quote. How the rule applies to a small company is for your adviser.
1:41Wyoming LLC or Delaware C-Corp, and an EIN without an SSN
Once that's settled, the company itself is simpler. A Wyoming LLC suits an owner-run business paid in dollars. A Delaware C-Corp suits raising from US investors, and money they invest can count towards the share financed from abroad. 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.
2:17Which US bank accounts work from Senegal?
Then the bank. Founders who live in Senegal can apply to a US fintech bank, because Senegal isn't on its list of countries it doesn't serve. Its list goes by where you live, and it decides each application. 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 at home, a resident needs the Minister's 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 Senegal tax you and your US company?
At home, the tax side looks at you, and at the company. With a permanent home here, a professional activity here, or your centre of economic interests here, you're resident, and residents are taxed on income from anywhere. Foreign-currency income from investments abroad, dividends in particular, is sold to the B-C-E-A-O through an approved bank. Ask your adviser how that applies to yours.
Businesses operating in Senegal pay tax on their profits here, and a foreign company that isn't registered can still be deemed to have a permanent establishment for its activity here. Senegal has no controlled foreign company rules.
3:34Is there a US–Senegal tax treaty, and what does the IRS need?
In America, there's no tax treaty with Senegal. US-source dividends, interest and royalties paid to you are withheld unless a US exemption applies. But pay for work you do in Senegal 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, with a form to ask for more time.
4:10What to do first, in order
So the order runs like this. Check the Senegalese side first, with your adviser: the authorisation, and how you'll meet the seventy-five percent rule, 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. Put the IRS report and your Senegalese filings on one calendar. The full guide, with every source and a checklist for your adviser in English and French, is linked below.
Aminata puts her card away. Her first call is to 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 Senegal, with sources.
Read the guide for SenegalWatch on YouTube