The Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC, has approved free registration for 3,500 small businesses across Nigeria as part of activities marking its 35th anniversary.
Registrar-General of the Commission, Hussaini Ishaq Magaji, SAN, announced the initiative on Monday during the opening ceremony of the anniversary celebration in Abuja.
Magaji described the milestone as a celebration of purpose, resilience and transformation since the Commission’s establishment, noting that CAC has evolved from a single, manual-registration office serving the entire country to a fully digital corporate registry accessible globally.
He recalled that in the early years, Nigerians were required to travel to Abuja to register businesses, with all records processed manually.
According to him, the Commission has since transformed into one of Africa’s most dynamic corporate registries, offering services online round the clock.
Magaji disclosed that CAC now receives nearly 10,000 business registration requests daily, compared to only hundreds in earlier years, while its customer support channels handle about 5,000 inquiries daily.
He said the deployment of an Artificial Intelligence-driven registration portal in 2025, though initially challenging, was necessary to cope with growing demand and improve service delivery.
“Transformational change is never easy, but AI is essential to complement human capacity with speed and precision. Our goal is to deliver services that rank among the best globally,” he said.
The Registrar-General also announced a collaboration between CAC and Google aimed at strengthening the Commission’s technology infrastructure and enhancing ease of doing business through improved portal performance.
As part of the anniversary activities, CAC unveiled its redesigned website, which now features an AI-powered legal assistant, known as the CAMA Lawyer, enabling users to obtain instant guidance on corporate regulations and procedures.
A business name generator has also been introduced to assist entrepreneurs in selecting available and scalable business names.
Magaji added that more than four million businesses were registered between 2024 and 2025, attributing the surge to reforms promoting business formalisation and digital enterprise registration.
Beyond the free registration initiative, CAC announced additional corporate social responsibility programmes, including scholarships for outstanding corporate law students across the six campuses of the Nigerian Law School, donations to internally displaced persons and orphanages, and staff welfare incentives, including a commemorative bonus and special loan facilities.
Speaking at the event, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Ambassador Nura Abba Rimi, commended CAC’s contribution to Nigeria’s corporate and economic development over the past three and a half decades.
He noted that the Commission’s transition from manual to digital registration has simplified business processes, promoted transparency, and encouraged both domestic and foreign investment.
Rimi added that CAC’s reforms have contributed to strengthening Nigeria’s business environment and supporting the country’s progress in global financial and corporate governance standards.
He urged the Commission to deepen innovation through technologies such as artificial intelligence and blockchain to further enhance trust, inclusivity and global competitiveness in Nigeria’s business environment.
The anniversary celebration brought together government officials, corporate stakeholders and industry players to commemorate CAC’s 35 years of corporate regulatory service in Nigeria.
