CAC restates commitment to ease business registration process

THE Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) says it is committed to improving the country’s ease of doing business to drive economic rebound and growth.

Lady Azuka Azinge, Acting Registrar-General, CAC, made the assertion during CAC Quarterly Customers’ Forum on Wednesday in Lagos.

She said that the commission’s goal was to enable more businesses, especially for the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to have access to online registration to deepen the formal sector.

“CAC aligns with Federal Government’s agenda of boosting the growth of the economy through increased economic activities, employment creation, infrastructure provision and making Nigeria one of the world’s top investment destination.

“The commission embarked on several reforms aimed at easing business registration in the country and the strategic reforms includes decentralisation of its operations and deployment of the Company Registration Portal (CRP).

“Others include integration of the Company Registration Portal (CRP) to the Stamp Duty Portal of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to further ease the process of company registration,’’ Azinge said.

She noted that to further ease business registration, the commission extended its working hours to 7 p.m. in its Lagos office and at its six geopolitical zonal offices.

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“I am pleased to state that as at today, registration services can now be done online in all our 36 state offices.

“I am also glad to inform you that the commission intends to extend its online services to post-registration services as soon as possible.

“Once that feat is attained, all of the commission’s services will be available electronically.

“The target is to make things easier and convenient, such that anything to do with your business in the commission can be started and concluded with ease and speed,’’ she said.

Azinge noted that to effectively deliver on its statutory mandate, CAC was working closely with National Assembly on the amendment of its enabling law, the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA).

“The thrust of the amendment is to enhance the commission’s supervisory and enforcement powers so that it can better regulate in line with global standards,’’ she said.

Mr Dapo Abiodun, Chairman, CAC Board, said that it would support the reform initiatives of the commission in tandem with the present administration’s ease of doing business agenda and position CAC to become a world-class company’s registry.

“I want to assure you that as a board, we are determined to pursue our mandate vigorously for the benefit of the Nigerian economy and urge you all to support us to achieve this herculean task,’’ he said.

Mr Degu Agboade, President, National Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME), said that data from National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), revealed that 37.9 billion SMEs are in the country, adding that 90 per cent of the SMEs were in the informal sector.

He said that there was the need for effective collaboration towards bringing in more MSMEs into the formal sector through ease of business registration.