Corporate Affairs Commission Plans New Business Registration Software

Registrar-General of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Malam Bello Mahmud, has announced that plans are underway to develop new business registration software to enable the conduct of registration services and searches on registered businesses to be done online.

 
The Registrar-General told journalists when the commission commenced its Enlightenment Campaign on Direct Registration of Businesses, organised by the Growth and Employment in States (GEMS3), held at the Calabar Municipal Council.

 
He said that with the new software, registration of companies can be processed directly by the owners of the businesses. He asserted that the software which is expected to be deployed by July this year was meant to benefit Small and Medium Entrepreneurs who may not afford the services of accredited agents.

 
“It is also expected that the policy will also encourage informal businesses to register and in the long run deepen access to finance for those classes of businesses”, he said.

 
He commended GEMS3 for their continued support and assistance in the area of enlightenment and the technical support they have been providing to the Corporate Affairs Commission on the design, development and testing of the new registration software.

 
In her remarks, Cross River State Manager of the Growth and Employment in States (GEMS3), Mrs. Geraldine Oku, said the programme was a partnership between the Federal Government, the Department of International Development and the World Bank, adding that it was aimed at reducing poverty by increasing growth, incomes and jobs across Nigeria.

 
She stated that the Corporate Affairs Commission, supported by GEMS3, has embarked on an online registration process and currently pursuing other reforms intended to upgrade its registration processes to reduce time, cost and number of procedures required for registering a business in Nigeria.

 
According to the GEMS3 State Manager, the business promotion campaign was aimed at promoting the benefits of formalisation to increase business registration in Nigeria. She said the first phase of the campaign took place in Kaduna, Kano, Cross River and Lagos, adding that the second phase would begin in May in four states while the third phase will cover the entire country.