By Ediale Kingsley
The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) demonstrated on Wednesday that business owners in Nigeria can now conveniently register their businesses online within 48 hours.
At a CAC Customers’ Forum in Lagos organised in collaboration with the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), the CAC Registrar-General, Mr. Mahmud Bello, explained that a series of reforms have been implemented by the Commission this year to make it “quicker, cheaper and more convenient” for Nigerians to start businesses.
“The CAC as an agency of Government involved in the startup of business has strongly keyed into the vision of the Federal Government to make Nigeria a progressively easier place for businesses to start and thrive,” Bello said. “Our reforms are designed with the MSMEs in mind. For us, the Customer is King and must be treated with royalty.”
Highlight of the event was a live technical demonstration session by the Commission on its latest reforms such as the Document Upload Interface which enables e-submission of registration documents on the CAC Company Registration Portal, and the integration of the FIRS e-payment solution into the CAC portal to enable e-stamping. Participants were also given a walk-through of the Public Search Window and the Single Incorporation Form.
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The CAC informed participants at the Forum that paper-based manual incorporation process would be gradually phased out in the course of the year, starting with Lagos and Abuja where all submissions must be done online from April 30th.
The Forum was highly interactive with Customers offering suggestions, asking questions and stating opinions which the CAC promised “will form the agenda for deliberation by Management to further improve service delivery.”
In a goodwill message at the event, the Secretary to the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, said that the Council is committed to providing complete support to the CAC and all other MDAs implementing reforms to actualise the FG’s mandate of making businesses work in Nigeria.
She said that Nigerians would be carried along in the process as PEBEC is mindful of the fact that the success of its reforms will depend on the testimonials of customers like those gathered at the CAC Forum. Dr. Oduwole also noted that PEBEC’s other target of moving Nigeria 20 places upward in the World Bank’s Doing Business Rankings by October cannot be actualised if stakeholders do not adopt and utilise the completed reforms.