Real estate agency: setting up the firm, getting licensed, managing the team

This page is for people who run, or want to found, a real estate agency in West Africa: a company with a manager, staff and client money passing through it. It does not cover the individual agent's path, which has its own page. It covers what the law asks of the firm: its legal form, its licence, its legal representative, its accounts and its team. Each rule points to the official text behind it, and anything we could not read in an official text is marked 'not verified yet'. This is not a job offer: imonga does not hire agencies. It invites them to open a free professional account and present their business.

What makes an agency different from an agent?

An estate agent is a person. An agency is an organisation that holds mandates, receives money on behalf of others and puts several people to work under one name. The laws of the region do not all draw that line in the same place, and it is the first thing to check before choosing a legal form.

Côte d'Ivoire draws it most sharply. Its 2019 Construction and Housing Code reserves the business of a real estate agency to a legal entity, and creates alongside it the separate trade of property broker, defined as an independent natural person [1]. The broker never works alone: their services are carried out under the cover and the financial guarantee of an agency, which takes responsibility for the transactions [1]. The agency is the anchor of the whole system.

In Benin, the law of 2 July 2018 on residential leases speaks of the 'agent immobilier' without separating individuals from companies, but it expressly punishes the legal or statutory representative of a company that operates without meeting the conditions [2]. In Senegal, Law No. 1982-07 of 30 June 1982 was written, from its statement of reasons onwards, for 'natural or legal persons' and speaks of firms ('cabinets') [3]. In Togo, no law specific to the trade was in force in June 2026, according to the government itself [4].

Three roles come up everywhere: the company that signs mandates and keeps the accounts, the person who represents it and answers for it, and the staff who negotiate in its name. The sections below follow those three roles.

Côte d'Ivoire: a licensed company and a named property administrator

Article 464 of the Construction and Housing Code (Law No. 2019-576 of 26 June 2019) sets seven cumulative conditions for operating as a real estate agency [1]:

• be a legal entity properly formed under the OHADA Uniform Act on commercial companies and economic interest groups;
• have share capital of at least two million CFA francs, held entirely by one or more Ivorian nationals;
• have a corporate purpose covering the property transactions listed in the Code;
• hold a tax compliance certificate;
• provide a financial guarantee, as a bank or insurance bond in favour of the housing ministry, for an amount set by ministerial order;
• hold the licence ('agrément');
• display the sign 'Agence immobilière agréée', granted by the professional chamber of licensed agencies.

The housing minister grants the licence once the conditions relating to 'the applicant company and its principal manager' are met [1]. That manager has a defined title: the natural person who legally represents the agency is the 'administrateur de biens', or property administrator [1]. They must be Ivorian and show professional aptitude: either a degree in property professions, or a law, economics, finance or business degree at the same level, followed by at least two years' work or placement in an agency, a notary's office, a development company or the management of a property portfolio; or a BTS (two-year technical diploma) plus at least five years in the same settings [1].

The administrator's name is not an internal matter. Every professional document, contract and letter must show the number and date of the agency's licence and the name of its property administrator, on pain of disciplinary action [1]. The Code also reaches online platforms: operators of websites offering rentals of homes located in Côte d'Ivoire must obtain the same licence, and a court can block access to a site that does not [1].

The official portal servicepublic.gouv.ci describes the application: a request addressed to the Minister of Construction, Housing and Urban Planning, filed at the one-stop land and housing office (GUFH), including the company's articles, the tax certificate, employment certificates in property management and proof of a financial guarantee of 2,000,000 CFA francs; the listed fee is 100,000 CFA francs [5]. We have not read the ministerial order that sets the guarantee under Article 464, so the amount is not verified yet and the portal figure should be confirmed at the counter. The portal gives no processing time.

Benin: register, professional card and the legal representative's liability

Law No. 2018-12 of 2 July 2018 on residential leases devotes its Chapter III to the trade [2]. It sets two administrative conditions: entry on the register of estate agents kept by the minister responsible for housing, and a professional card issued by the same authority. It also requires an insurance policy covering professional risks [2]. The trade is open to Beninese nationals who meet the conditions for commercial activity, and is closed to anyone with a final conviction for breach of trust, offences against another's property or bankruptcy [2].

Two provisions matter most for a company. First, Article 34 fines the person acting as legal or statutory representative of a company that carries on these operations without meeting the conditions: 50,000 to 1,000,000 CFA francs, rising on a repeat offence to 500,000 to 2,000,000 CFA francs with ten days to two years in prison [2]. The manager answers personally for the firm's compliance. Second, the same penalties apply to anyone who, without authority, negotiates, acts as intermediary or makes commitments on behalf of a card holder [2]. An unauthorised member of staff exposes both themselves and the firm that lets them act.

The law leaves the details of the register, the card and the insurance to regulations [2]. We have not read the implementing decree for this page, so the list of documents and any minimum insurance cover are not verified yet.

Senegal and Togo: what is known and what still needs checking

Senegal. Law No. 1982-07 of 30 June 1982 governs property development, transaction and management activities. Its statement of reasons, read in the legislative file published by the administration, gives the motive: some offices 'do not always offer the necessary guarantees of competence, seriousness and honesty' [3]. The bill set entry conditions, financial guarantees and professional liability insurance. It also provided that, within two years of entry into force, at least 35% of the capital of existing firms should be held by Senegalese nationals, and that buyers of new firms should be Senegalese or nationals of a state with a reciprocity agreement [3]. These rules are given here as the bill described them. We have not read the final wording of the articles, the implementing decree, the authority that issues the licence or the guarantee amount: all are not verified yet. For an agency with foreign shareholders, this is the first point to confirm with the ministry.

Togo. The government's official website noted on 10 June 2026 that there is no clear legal framework governing the estate agent profession [4]. A law regulating the trade was being prepared, announced on 1 June 2026 by the Minister of Spatial Planning and Urban Development together with two other texts [6]. Until it arrives, a Togolese agency falls under general OHADA company law and registration at the Business Formalities Centre. The press reported in 2022 a cap on rental deposits and guarantees in Greater Lomé; we have not read the decree itself, so its content is not verified yet.

Choosing a company form and registering it

In all four countries the company falls under the OHADA Uniform Act on commercial companies and economic interest groups, revised on 30 January 2014 in Ouagadougou and in force since 5 May 2014 [7]. It offers several forms, including the SARL (private limited company), the SA (public limited company) and the SAS (simplified joint-stock company). The minimum capital of an SARL depends on national rules; we have only read the reference figure second hand, so it is not verified yet.

Benin's investment agency, APIEx, publishes precise terms. For an SARL or single-member SUARL, capital is set freely by the shareholder or shareholders, one shareholder is enough, the manager may or may not be a shareholder, and a notary is optional: the monentreprise.bj platform generates the articles itself [8]. The file includes a criminal record extract for each manager, under three months old, or a sworn statement. The listed fee is 22,000 CFA francs for an SARL and 37,000 for an SAS, with a turnaround of three working hours. The platform issues the trade register extract (RCCM), the tax identification certificate (IFU), the social security employer number and the declaration of establishment to the Labour Directorate [8]. That last point matters for an agency that hires: social security registration comes in the same package.

In Togo, the Business Formalities Centre (CFE) offers model articles for single-member and multi-member SARLs and advertises incorporation 'in under 4 hours' [9]. It also runs paid access to data on registered companies, showing the identity of directors, managers, shareholders and beneficial owners (10,000 CFA francs for a single search, 500,000 for a yearly subscription) [9]. A client or partner can therefore check who stands behind an agency.

In Côte d'Ivoire, the form is dictated by Article 464: a legal entity with capital of at least two million CFA francs, wholly held by Ivorians [1]. A free-capital SARL that works elsewhere will not do in Abidjan. The corporate purpose must also cover the property operations defined in the Code, so the articles need careful drafting, because the ministry checks them.

Client money: dedicated account, receipts and guarantee

An agency takes in rent, deposits and sometimes sale instalments that do not belong to it. This is where the law asks most of the firm.

In Côte d'Ivoire, the agency must open a bank account in its company name, used exclusively for the payments it receives or holds in the course of its business [1]. Every payment must produce a receipt on the spot, and sums above 500,000 francs must be paid by cheque or bank transfer [1]. The financial guarantee covers any claim a client has against the agency arising from those operations; the bank or insurer pays on the ministry's first demand, and if claims exceed the guarantee they are shared pro rata [1]. The move-in statement for a letting must show rent, deposit, outlays and fees as separate lines [1].

In Benin, the mandate is what governs money. It must state when the agent may receive funds and how accounts will be rendered [2]. The agent may receive no sum other than the one the parties agreed to [2]. The mandate is drawn up in as many originals as there are parties, registered, numbered in the agent's register of mandates and limited in time, each formality being required on pain of nullity [2]. For an agency, the register of mandates is a core management tool and needs a named person to keep it.

Two caps limit what a landlord may ask at the start of a lease: in Benin the deposit equals three months' rent [2]; in Côte d'Ivoire it may not exceed two months' rent, and no more than two months' rent may be demanded in advance [1]. An agency managing lettings for landlords has to set up its collections country by country.

Managing the team: authority, written mandates and brokers

Most of an agency's risk comes from people speaking in its name. The law answers with paperwork.

In Côte d'Ivoire, anyone authorised by an agency to negotiate, act as intermediary or make commitments on its behalf must prove the scope of their authority with a certificate issued by the agency and signed by the property administrator [1]. When the relationship ends, the holder must return the certificate within 24 hours of a request sent by registered letter or bailiff's notice; failing that, the agency must inform the public prosecutor and the housing minister [1]. A written leaving procedure, with a list of certificates in circulation, is not a luxury.

The Ivorian property broker is self-employed and holds a personal card, but cannot close deals alone. Contracts and payments for the business they bring are made in the agency's name; the agency signs, issues receipts and bears responsibility for poor performance, with recourse against the broker where the broker was at fault [1]. A broker who collects money and issues receipts in their own name loses the card [1]. The agency pays the broker at rates set by joint ministerial order, and the broker's share falls due within three days of the agency collecting its fee [1]. An agency that works with brokers should check their cards, centralise collections and keep a ledger of what it pays out to them.

In Benin, the agent carries out the mission personally but may bring in any colleague or messenger they choose [2]. The same law punishes anyone without authority who negotiates or makes commitments for a card holder [2]. The line runs between practical help, which is allowed, and negotiation, which is reserved.

Conflicts of interest are closed off too. Benin's law forbids the agent from becoming, directly or through someone else, the buyer or tenant of a property they have been asked to sell or let [2]. In Côte d'Ivoire the trade is incompatible with any paid post in a public administration or public body [1], which matters when hiring.

Fees: what the law fixes and what it leaves open

In Benin, the commission is agreed freely between the parties, with two caps on lettings. Where the agent only introduces the parties for a lease, the commission may not exceed 50% of one month's rent. Where the agent manages the home in the landlord's name and on the landlord's behalf, the monthly commission may not exceed 10% of the monthly rent [2]. It is due only if the agent shows that their part was decisive and the contract is final; where several agents were involved, only the one through whom the deal was concluded is paid [2].

In Côte d'Ivoire, the Code requires a single scale of fees for agencies and brokers, set by decree [1]. The Council of Ministers adopted that decree on 19 December 2024. It defines which services may be charged for, how fees are calculated and the rate according to the type and size of the transaction, so that professionals are paid consistently across the country [10]. We have not read the decree itself, so the rates are not verified yet. The Code already sets several rules that affect an agency. When two agencies work on the same deal, the fee does not increase and is split equally between the one acting for the owner and the one that found the buyer or tenant [1]. No fee is due for a deal that is void or useless through the agency's fault [1]. Advertising costs stay with the agency unless the client has expressly agreed to repay them [1].

For Senegal and Togo, we read no official fee scale for this page: not verified yet.

Anti-money laundering: a duty to organise

In the WAEMU (UEMOA) countries, estate agents have been among the persons subject to anti-money laundering rules since the 2002 directive and the uniform law that followed it, as published by the central bank, the BCEAO [11]. The Beninese bill sent to the National Assembly on 15 November 2017, which carries the uniform law, lists among designated non-financial businesses and professions 'estate agents and brokers in real property', and also covers 'property companies and estate agents, including letting agents' [12].

For an agency, these texts call for organisation, not just individual care. Firms must identify and assess their risks, document that assessment and keep it available to the authorities, in proportion to their size [12]. They need policies and procedures covering customer due diligence, reporting, record keeping, internal control and staff screening, including, where size justifies it, a compliance officer at management level; those policies must be approved at a senior level [12]. On a sale or purchase, the agency identifies the parties [12], and above a threshold set by the authorities, the price of a property may only be paid by transfer or cheque [12]. We have not read that threshold in an official text, so it is not verified yet.

Suspicious transaction reports go to each country's financial intelligence unit, the CENTIF [11]. We have not reread the version of the uniform law now in force in each state for this page.

Inspections, discipline and penalties

Côte d'Ivoire. Carrying on the business habitually, even as a sideline, without a licence is punishable by fifteen days to twelve months in prison and a fine of 200,000 to 2,000,000 francs, or either penalty [1]. For breaches, the housing minister may withdraw the authorisation by order [1]. No agency, property administrator or broker can be sanctioned without first being heard by a disciplinary committee made up of agency and ministry representatives. Sanctions range from a warning and a reprimand to suspension for up to one year, and finally exclusion with withdrawal of the card [1]. Some deeds are outside the agency's reach altogether: creating or transferring real rights, leases over ten years and deeds subject to land registration must be executed before a notary [1].

Benin. Refusing to show state inspectors the documents, registers, certificates, notices, bank or accounting records and written mandates, or obstructing their inspection, is punishable by six months to two years in prison and a fine of 100,000 to 1,000,000 CFA francs [2]. An agency must be able to produce its register of mandates and its statements quickly: good filing is part of compliance.

Senegal. The legislative file announced penalties for breaches of the law [3]; the current amounts are not verified yet. Togo. With no specific law in force as of 1 June 2026 [6], general law applies.

Listing your agency on imonga

This is not a job offer. imonga does not hire real estate agencies: the platform invites professionals to sign up so they can present their business, list their properties or services and receive enquiries from private clients, in Africa and across the diaspora. Opening an account and a profile is free; the terms for listings are set out on the Pricing page. You remain independent, you set your own fees, and you remain bound by the rules of your country described above.

An agency's profile can present the company itself, with its registered name and, where the law requires it, its licence number and the name of its legal representative. To start: create your professional account.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a company to open a real estate agency in Côte d'Ivoire?

Yes. The 2019 Construction and Housing Code reserves the agency business to a legal entity formed under OHADA law, with at least two million CFA francs of capital held entirely by Ivorians, a financial guarantee and a licence from the housing minister [1]. An individual can work as a broker, but only under the cover of a licensed agency [1].

Who is liable if an agency in Benin operates without a card?

The company's legal or statutory representative. Law No. 2018-12 of 2 July 2018 fines them 50,000 to 1,000,000 CFA francs, rising on a repeat offence to 500,000 to 2,000,000 CFA francs with possible imprisonment of ten days to two years [2].

Can a member of staff collect rent in their own name?

Not in Côte d'Ivoire: payments are made to the agency, into a bank account in its name used only for those funds, with an immediate receipt, and a broker who issues receipts in their own name loses the card [1]. In Benin, the mandate must state who may receive the money [2].

Can foreign shareholders own an agency?

In Côte d'Ivoire, no: the capital must be held entirely by Ivorian nationals [1]. In Senegal, the 1982 bill required at least 35% Senegalese capital in existing firms [3]; the rule in force today is not verified yet. In Benin, the 2018 law refers to Beninese nationals [2].

Do anti-money laundering rules apply to an agency?

Yes. In the WAEMU, estate agents are obliged entities [11]. The uniform law text adopted in Benin asks them to assess their risks, keep written procedures and, where their size justifies it, appoint a compliance officer [12].

Is there a law for real estate agencies in Togo?

Not yet, as far as we can tell: in June 2026 the government said there was no clear legal framework and that a law regulating the trade was being prepared [4] [6]. Meanwhile an agency is set up like any company, at the Business Formalities Centre [9].

Is imonga recruiting agencies?

No. imonga neither employs nor pays agencies. It invites them to open a free professional account to present their business and receive enquiries. Every agency stays bound by the law of its own country, as described on this page.