Togo vs Seychelles: which company is right for you?
People searching this comparison usually have one question in mind: is Togo a cheaper Seychelles? The short answer is no, and the longer answer is more useful. A Seychelles IBC and a Togolese SARL are different products that happen to share the word "company." One is a wrapper designed for non-residents to hold assets and receive foreign income. The other is an ordinary operating company in a real West African economy, with tax features that reward regional groups specifically.
We form Togolese companies for a living, so read what follows knowing where we sit. We have tried to be as fair to Seychelles as we ask Seychelles agents to be about Africa.
What a Seychelles IBC actually is
The Seychelles International Business Company is a purpose-built non-resident vehicle. The statute was written so that a company managed from anywhere in the world pays no Seychelles tax on foreign-source income, files minimal accounts locally, and can be incorporated in a day or two through a licensed agent. Via most agents a formation runs $1,000–3,000 with annual renewals of a few hundred dollars. For decades that combination made it one of the default wrappers for holding shares, receiving consulting income and owning assets offshore.
Three things have eroded the old pitch. First, banking: an IBC has no natural home bank, and account opening has become the chronic pain point, with months of correspondence, enhanced due diligence, and outright refusals for structures without visible substance. Second, scrutiny: counterparties, payment processors and marketplaces increasingly treat classic offshore wrappers as a flag to be explained rather than a neutral fact. Third, the regulatory ground has moved: economic-substance rules, beneficial-ownership registers and the on-again, off-again attention of EU listing processes mean the "zero filings, no questions" era is over even where the tax exemption itself survives.
None of that makes Seychelles useless. It makes Seychelles specific: a low-cost non-resident wrapper for people who understand the banking problem and have a plan for it.
What a Togolese SARL actually is
A Togolese SARL is not a wrapper. It is a domestic company under OHADA uniform law, with a notarized constitution, a commercial-registry entry, a tax number, and annual filing obligations that exist whether or not you trade. Corporate tax is 27%, applied territorially to business carried on in Togo. We walk through the full mechanics, costs and obligations in our formation guide.
What you get for accepting the obligations of a real company is what a wrapper cannot offer:
- Legal standing across 17 states. OHADA law makes a Togolese SARL a recognized, enforceable counterparty from Senegal to Congo, with a common court of arbitration in Abidjan. A Seychelles IBC signing a contract in Abidjan is an exotic foreign entity; a Togolese SARL is a neighbour.
- A euro-pegged currency. The CFA franc is fixed to the euro at 655.957. Regional revenue held in a Togolese account carries no African currency risk.
- Market access. ECOWAS tenders, francophone distributors and regional banks deal with OHADA companies as a matter of routine.
- A real holding regime. Dividends from subsidiaries seated in Togo or any ECOWAS state are 95% exempt where the parent holds at least 10%, and qualifying holdings pay no tax on gains from selling participations where at least 60% of the portfolio is WAEMU companies. For a West African group, that is a defensible consolidation platform, not a loophole.
- Clean status. Togo appears on no FATF or EU list. Banks open accounts for Togolese companies because Togolese companies are their ordinary business.
Side by side
| Criterion | Seychelles IBC | Togo SARL |
|---|---|---|
| Nature | Non-resident wrapper | Ordinary operating company |
| Formation cost | $1,000–3,000 via agents | under $350 state + notary; agents from ~$790 |
| Timeline | 1–2 days | ~5 business days end to end |
| Annual obligations | Renewal fee, registered agent, accounting records kept (not filed locally in most cases) | Tax return, CNSS declaration, maintained registered office |
| Tax treatment | 0% on foreign-source income, regardless of where managed | 27% territorial; 95% participation exemption on ECOWAS dividends; exempt gains for qualifying holdings |
| Banking reality | The chronic pain point; months, refusals, no natural home bank | Routine at local banks; POA or one visit by the manager |
| Recognition & list status | Functional but increasingly flagged; substance rules apply | OHADA standing in 17 states; no FATF or EU listing |
| Best use | Passive asset-holding wrapper for non-residents | Operating, invoicing, holding and contracting in West Africa |
The tax comparison people actually mean
The honest version of "Seychelles pays 0% and Togo pays 27%" needs two corrections.
First, the Seychelles 0% is a statement about Seychelles tax only. If you manage the IBC from your kitchen in Lyon or Lagos, your home country's rules on management, permanent establishment and controlled foreign companies still apply, and the wrapper does nothing to change them. Most disappointment with offshore structures traces back to this sentence being skipped at the point of sale.
Second, the Togo 27% is a statement about profits earned in Togo. A Togolese holding receiving dividends from an Ivorian or Ghanaian subsidiary pays an effective rate of about 1.35% on them under the participation regime, with a 10% cap on withholding inside WAEMU under the regional tax convention. For the regional-group use case, the numbers are much closer than the headline rates suggest, and the Togolese structure is the one your auditor can defend.
How to decide
Choose Seychelles if…
You need a low-cost, non-resident wrapper to hold assets or receive genuinely foreign income, you have taken advice on your home-country position, and you accept the banking friction as the price of the structure. Within those limits it remains a functional product.
Choose Togo if…
The company will do something in West Africa: operate, invoice, hold subsidiaries, own property, bid on tenders, bank in CFA francs. Then the comparison is not close, because Seychelles cannot supply legal standing, market access or a local bank account at any price.
Some groups use both
A structure we see with international groups: a non-resident holding vehicle (Seychelles, Mauritius or similar) at the top for global assets, and a Togolese SARL underneath as the regional operating and consolidation platform. Each entity does the job it was designed for. What fails is asking either one to do the other's.
The bottom line
Togo is not a cheaper Seychelles, and Seychelles is not a substitute for a West African presence. If your search for this comparison started with a tax rate, start instead with a simpler question: what will the company actually do? Answer that, and the jurisdiction usually chooses itself.
Weighing jurisdictions for West Africa?
Tell us what the company is for. We reply within one business day with a recommendation and a fixed fee, or a straight answer that Togo is not the right jurisdiction for your case.
General information as at July 2026, not legal or tax advice. Provisions referenced: Seychelles IBC Act 2016 (as amended); OHADA Uniform Act on Commercial Companies; CGI Togo arts. 93, 95, 107; Règlement n°08/2008/CM/UEMOA. Our fees are published here. Figures are indicative and change; we correct this page when they do.