The Corporate Affairs Commission has announced free business name registration for 3,500 small businesses across Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
According to a statement from the Commission, the Registrar General of the Commission, Hussaini Magaji, disclosed this on Monday in Abuja during events marking the CAC’s 35th anniversary.
Magaji said the move is aimed at easing the cost of formalisation for micro and small enterprises.
What the CAC bossis saying
Magaji said the initiative reflects the Commission’s commitment to promoting entrepreneurship, reducing business start up costs and supporting inclusive economic growth.
- “In the spirit of the celebration, the CAC Boss announced Free Business Name Registration for 3,500 small businesses, to be distributed across the 36 States of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory,” the statement read in part.
According to Magaji, the programme is designed to encourage more small enterprises to formalise their operations, thereby expanding access to government services, financing opportunities and wider economic participation.
Reflecting on the Commission’s journey, the registrar general described the CAC at 35 as a story of vision, innovation and sustained commitment to national development.
He noted that the agency has evolved into a technology-driven institution with a strong focus on efficiency, transparency and adherence to global best practices.
Google partnership and new digital tools
On the technology front, the registrar general revealed that the CAC would sign a collaboration letter with Google to strengthen its digital infrastructure and service delivery.
- He said the partnership is expected to improve portal performance and further enhance the ease of doing business in Nigeria.
- Magaji also announced the launch of a redesigned CAC website featuring new digital tools, including an AI Lawyer and a business name generator.
According to him, the AI Lawyer will provide instant guidance on CAC laws and procedures, while the business name generator will simplify the reservation of scalable business names.
Flashback
The free registration initiative just announced by the CAC builds on a similar exercise unveiled in partnership with the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN).
While the initiative was targeted at registering 250,000 youth-led businesses for free, it is still unclear how many businesses have been registered under the initiative since October last year when it was announced.
Magaji, at the time, advised Nigerian youths to leverage the government’s initiative to formalise their businesses.
What you should know
While the Commission is encouraging new businesses to register, it has also demonstrated that it would not tolerate businesses failing to fulfil their obligations after being registered.
- Over the weekend, the CAC disclosed that it deregistered over 400,000 companies in 2025, citing prolonged inactivity and failure to meet statutory compliance requirements.
- The move forms part of efforts to clean up the national companies register and strengthen confidence in Nigeria’s corporate regulatory framework.
According to Magaji, the mass deregistration was necessary to remove inactive and non-compliant entities from the commission’s database and protect the integrity of the register.
He added that the action was aimed at ensuring transparency and credibility in Nigeria’s business environment.
