Walter Ukaegbu, Abuja
The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) has said that through the implementation of its Business Incentive Strategy, it had been able to register 39,074 business names between October and November 2018.
Its acting Registrar-General, Azuka Azinge, said this Tuesday in Lagos during stakeholders’ forum.
The forum is a periodic interactive session between the management of the commission and its stakeholders to enhance service delivery.
The commission had, under its Business Incentive Strategy (BIS), reduced the cost of Business Name registration from N10,000 to N5,000 for a period of three months spanning October to December 2018.
The BIS is aimed at creating a window for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to formalise their businesses so that they can own corporate account with banks, have access to loans, grants and other government interventions.
Azuka said: “Only recently, the commission extended the BIS to encourage small businesses formalise their business by registering same with the commission.
“During the initial three months of the BIS registration, activities increased tremendously. For the months of October and November 2018, a total of 39,074 business names were registered.
“The commission remains resolute in reviewing its processes regularly.”
On the amendment of the Companies and Allied Matters Act, the CAC boss said that the commission was positive that the amendment bill would be passed this month.
She added: “Work is at advanced stage to amend the CAMA in collaboration with the National Assembly. The amendment is aimed at enhancing the commission’s supervisory and regulatory powers.
“The ultimate goal of the commission is to make CAC a world class companies’ registry providing excellent registration and regulatory services.”
She explained that the commission was working with Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council to improve the business environment and make Nigeria a progressively easier place for business to start and thrive.
The CAC boss noted that the deployment of the user-friendly Company Registration Portal has enabled customers to have on-line access to the services of the commission from the comfort of their offices and homes using different electronic payment platforms.