By LUCY OGALUE

The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) has announced the pilot take-off of its new Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered registration portal.

The Registrar-General of the CAC, Malam Hussaini Magaji, in a statement, made the announcement said during the 2025 Stakeholders Forum held in Port Harcourt.

Magaji described the initiative as a major milestone in Nigeria’s business facilitation drive.

He said the upgraded portal marks a complete overhaul of the Company Registration Portal (CRP), with advanced features designed to simplify and speed up business registration.

According to him, the new system allows for instant name reservation approvals, likening the ease to creating an email account.

The registrar-general said that the AI-powered platform could suggest available alternatives to business names and approve them immediately.

“Another innovation, is the ability to register a business using only the National Identification Number (NIN) of a director or proprietor.

“With an ambitious target of completing business registration and certificate generation within 30 minutes, subject to real-time NIN validation,” he said.

Magaji acknowledged the possibility of occasional delays due to external data confirmation from the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).

He assured that a contingency solution using AI-powered photo ID matching had been developed to address such challenges.

Speaking on CAC’s expanding partnership with private sector actors, the registrar-general said the Commission was reviewing over 100 Super Agent applications, including requests from outside the country.

He specifically mentioned the Nigerian Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) as one of the strategic collaborators under consideration.

Magaji also hinted at upcoming digital features, including Two-Factor Authentication and OTP Verification for all transactions to prevent unauthorised changes to company records.

He further said that a CAC Mobile App would be launched in the last quarter of 2025 to enable users to carry out transactions and track progress on the go.

On service reforms, Magaji said that the Commission would implement a review of certain service fees effective August 1, to sustain quality service delivery and support ongoing digital transformation.

The event was attended by key stakeholders, including Cordelia Eke, Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Port Harcourt Branch and Mr Sebastian Essien, Chairman of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria (ICSAN).

Mr Dogala Sakpege, Chairman of the Nigerian Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME), Dr Mechi Brown, Director of Industry at the Rivers State Ministry of Commerce and Industry, among others were also present.

During the interactive session, a technical team from CAC was present to address customers’ complaints and provide real-time solutions to registration and compliance challenges. (NAN)