Doing Business in Europe, Middle East & Africa (Emea)
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DOING BUSINESS IN EUROPE, MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA (EMEA) By Globalaw Limited TABLE OF CONTENTS Doing Business in EMEA Map .........................................................................................3 Introduction & Contact .............................................................. 4 Country Guides Africa Profile ................................................................... 5 1. Bulgaria ........................................................................... 9 2. Cyrpus ........................................................................... 14 3. Czech Republic ............................................................. 20 4. Germany ....................................................................... 23 5. Ghana ........................................................................... 28 6. Gibraltar ....................................................................... 32 7. Iceland ........................................................................... 35 8. Iran ................................................................................ 39 9. Israel .............................................................................. 43 10. Jordan ........................................................................... 48 11. Luxembourg .................................................................. 55 12. Mauritius ...................................................................... 60 13. Morocco ....................................................................... 63 14. Nigeria .......................................................................... 65 15. Poland ........................................................................... 68 16. Portugal ....................................................................... 75 17. Romania ........................................................................ 79 18. Scotland ........................................................................ 83 19. Serbia ............................................................................ 85 20. Slovakia ......................................................................... 92 21. Spain ............................................................................ 96 22. Sweden ...................................................................... 100 23. Turkey .......................................................................... 105 2 MAP Doing Business in EMEA 7 22 18 15 4 11 3 20 17 17 19 1 21 16 23 6 2 8 13 9 10 14 5 1. Bulgaria 2. Cyrpus 3. Czech Republic 4. Germany 5. Ghana 6. Gibraltar 7. Iceland 8. Iran 9. Israel 10. Jordan 11. Luxembourg 12. Mauritius 13. Morocco 12 14. Nigeria 15. Poland 16. Portugal 17. Romania 18. Scotland 19. Serbia 20. Slovakia 21. Spain 22. Sweden 23. Turkey 3 INTRODUCTION Doing Business in EMEA Globalaw Limited Dear Friends and Colleagues, Boulevard du Souverain, 280 As the President of Globalaw Limited, a network of more than 100 law firms serving B-1160 Brussels, Belgium key market jurisdictions around the world, it is my distinct pleasure to welcome you to the Doing Business in Europe Guide written and produced by member firms representing global regions which serves as an immediate resource to provide Tel: +32 2 320 25 03 valuable and critical information about legal requirements to operate in their respective countries. [email protected] Thus far, Globalaw has produced Doing Business Guides in Asia Pacific, Europe and www.globalaw.net Latin America. These Guides represent the individual and collaborative expertise of the law firms contributing to these publications, further demonstrating the regional Information for each country strength of the attorneys who comprise the Globalaw network. In fact, the total may change over time. Please population of the lawyers within Globalaw exceeds 4,500 practitioners who bring and contact the primary contact at offer a universe of practice areas to these key markets. the respective Globalaw firm to The Guides serve not only to demonstrate this expertise but also to provide an confirm that country's information. immediate roadmap to learn more about doing business fundamentals in a concise, Contact details for each firm and informative and “desktop” format for your ready reference. primary contact are located at In addition to the contributing firms, I would also like to acknowledge the folks at MCI www.globalaw.net. for their time and efforts to making this Guide a reality. If you would like to learn more about the global resources of Globalaw, please visit our website at globalaw.net Best regards, Julia Holden-Davis Globalaw President 4 AFRICAN PROFILE Africa is the world’s second largest continent and is also the world’s second continent with the most inhabitants1. Africa is also considered by most paleoanthropologists to be the oldest inhabited territory on Earth, with the human species originating from the continent2. Africa has an area of about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles)3. Off the coasts of Africa, a number of islands are associated with the continent. Of these Madagascar, one of the largest islands in the world, is the most significant4. Other, smaller islands include the Seychelles, the Comoros, Mauritius, Réunion, Ascension, St. Helena, and Tristan da Cunha, to name a few. The African continent is cut almost equally in two by the Equator. Africa is mainly found under a tropical region. Half of Africa is bounded on the north by the Tropic of Cancer and the other half on the south by the Tropic of Capricorn. Africa is the ‘most tropical’ of all the continents. Due the climate conditions, the cultures and the physical variations of the peoples reflect the process of adaptation to both hot, dry climates and hot, wet climates5. Africa hosts a large diversity of ethnicities, cultures and languages. They are identified by their recognition of a common culture, language, religion, and history. Most Africans speak more than one language, and frequent migrations and interactions, including intermarriage, with other peoples have often blurred ethnic distinctions6. Being a continent home to thousands of different societies or ethnic groups, there are known to be more than 1,500 distinct languages in Africa. The knowledge of most of the individual languages of Africa is still very incomplete. Throughout the years, Africa has been colonised by European countries, culminating in the infamous “Scramble for Africa”7. The process of decolonization of Africa started as early as 1847. However, most of the current states in Africa arose from decolonisation in the 20th century, mainly between 1945 and 19608. The process of decolonisation or the “quest for autonomy and independence” were, in some areas, peaceful, and orderly, whilst in many others, independence was achieved only after a protracted revolution. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africa 6. https://www.britannica.com/place/Africa 2. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/1058484.stm 7. http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/africa/08/02/independence.africa.colonialism/index.html 3. World Population prospects – Population division, population.un.org. 8. https://history.state.gov/milestones/1945-1952/asia-and-africa 4. https://www.britannica.com/place/Africa 5. https://www.britannica.com/place/Africa 5 AFRICAN PROFILE Doing Business in Europe Africa remains one of the richest continents blessed with a rich common currency, thereby establishing economic and monetary bounty of natural resources. Moreover, it transitioning into an union16. international financial services centre hub coupled with advances in the field of fintech, robotics and information technologies. TRADE BLOCS AND TREATIES Within the AU, there are several treaties, trade blocs and REGIONS OF AFRICA organizations established between member states of Africa. • Africa is classified into several regions, namely, North Africa, However, the AU only recognises the following as an official Central Africa, Southern Africa, Western Africa, and Eastern Regional Economic Community, also named as regional Africa. However, The United Nations also classified Africa into economic organisations17: two separate and distinct parts (same is used as index for o Arab Maghreb Union (AMU) evaluation purposes). o Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) • North Africa consists mainly of the territories that form part of o Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CEN-SAD) the League of Arab states within the Arab world, including: o East African Community (EAC) Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, Ceuta, Melila10. o Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) o Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) • Geographically speaking, Sub-Saharan Africa regroups all the o Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) remaining territories of the continent, south of the Sahara: o Southern African Development Community (SADC) Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, DOING BUSINESS IN AFRICA Dem. Rep., Congo, rep., Cote d’Ivoire, Equatorial guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, The economy in Africa can be considered as underdeveloped. Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Africa as a whole has abundant natural resources, but much Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, of its economy has remained predominantly agricultural, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, and subsistence farming