CAC Approves Free Registration for 3,500 Small Businesses Nationwide

By our Correspondent

The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) has approved free registration for 3,500 small businesses across the country as part of activities to commemorate its 35th anniversary.

The Registrar-General of the Commission, Hussaini Ishaq Magaji, SAN, announced the initiative on Monday at the opening ceremony of the anniversary celebration held in Abuja.
Magaji described the anniversary as a moment to reflect on purpose, resilience and transformation since the establishment of the Commission, noting that CAC has grown from a single office relying on manual processes to a fully digital corporate registry with global accessibility.
He recalled that in the early years of the Commission, business owners were required to travel to Abuja to register their enterprises, as all records were processed manually.
According to him, CAC has since evolved into one of the most dynamic corporate registries in Africa, providing round-the-clock online services to users.
Magaji disclosed that the Commission now processes close to 10,000 business registration requests daily, a significant increase from the few hundreds recorded in its formative years. He added that CAC’s customer support platforms currently handle about 5,000 inquiries every day.
He further explained that the introduction of an Artificial Intelligence-powered registration portal in 2025, although initially challenging, was critical to meeting rising demand and improving service delivery.
“Transformational change is never easy, but the adoption of AI is necessary to complement human capacity with speed and precision. Our objective is to provide services that meet global best standards,” Magaji said.
The Registrar-General also announced a partnership between CAC and Google to further strengthen the Commission’s technological infrastructure and enhance the ease of doing business through improved portal efficiency.
As part of the anniversary programme, CAC unveiled its newly redesigned website, which features an AI-driven legal assistant known as the CAMA Lawyer. The tool is designed to provide users with instant guidance on corporate laws, regulations and procedures.
In addition, a business name generator has been introduced to help entrepreneurs select available and scalable business names.
Magaji revealed that over four million businesses were registered between 2024 and 2025, attributing the increase to ongoing reforms aimed at encouraging business formalisation and digital registration.
Beyond the free registration exercise, the Commission also announced other corporate social responsibility initiatives, including scholarships for outstanding corporate law students across the six campuses of the Nigerian Law School, donations to internally displaced persons and orphanages, as well as staff welfare packages such as commemorative bonuses and special loan schemes.
In his remarks, the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Ambassador Nura Abba Rimi, praised CAC for its contributions to Nigeria’s corporate and economic development over the past 35 years.
He noted that the shift from manual to digital registration has simplified business processes, enhanced transparency and boosted both local and foreign investment.
Rimi added that the Commission’s reforms have played a key role in strengthening Nigeria’s business environment and improving compliance with global financial and corporate governance standards.
He encouraged CAC to further deepen innovation by leveraging emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and blockchain to promote trust, inclusivity and global competitiveness in the nation’s business ecosystem.
The anniversary celebration attracted government officials, corporate stakeholders and industry players, who gathered to mark 35 years of CAC’s corporate regulatory service in Nigeria.
Mathew Ayoola