The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) recently announced the upgrade its website and online registration portal ("the Portal") to include features, which allow for the automation of some selected services and processes, in line with the Federal Government's mandate of improving the ease of doing business in Nigeria. The selected services and processes include:

  1. Electronic search of company records: Companies can now visit the CAC's portal (https://search.cac.gov.ng/home) to confirm their corporate information in the CAC's registry, for an application fee of ?1,000.
  2. Upgraded Companies Registration Portal for: 
  • Pre-incorporation filings: the upgrade allows investors and professionals to complete and submit pre-incorporation filing documents for new companies via the Portal (https://pre.cac.gov.ng/home) for approval. Once the application is approved, users can download an electronic certificate of incorporation (E-Certificate) as the CAC would no longer issue physical certificates.
  • Post incorporation filings: the upgrade also allow companies to make changes to their existing information with the CAC via the Portal (https://post.cac.gov.ng/login), including changes to their constitutions, structures and the mandatory annual returns of the companies, amongst others.

Comments

We commend the CAC for upgrading its registration portal to include additional functionalities that will improve its administrative processes. This innovation comes on the heels of the publication of the Companies' Regulations, 2021, which encourages the use of technology for service delivery and demonstrates the Federal Government's resolve to automate the processes of its agencies to align with global best practices and improve the ease of doing business in Nigeria.

With the impact of Covid-19 on global administrative procedures, it is imperative that the CAC embraces technology to improve its services and discontinue manual pre-incorporation and post-incorporation procedures. It is hoped that the CAC's website and online registration portal will continue to remain accessible and closely monitored to prevent system downtime which has plagued such initiatives in the past. Further, the CAC should ensure that adequate measures are put in place to protect companies' data and guarantee the integrity of corporate information in its custody.

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