The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) says it now processes up to 10,000 business registration requests daily following the deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) across its service delivery platforms, marking a major leap in Nigeria’s business formalisation drive.
The Registrar-General of the CAC, Mr. Hussaini Magaji, disclosed this on Monday in Abuja during the Anniversary Lecture held to commemorate the commission’s 35th anniversary, News Agency of Nigeria reported.
According to him, the integration of AI into CAC’s operations has significantly improved its capacity to manage the rising volume of registrations and customer engagements nationwide.
What CAC said
Magaji attributed the surge in registration requests to recent tax reforms, government policies encouraging the formalisation of informal businesses, and the rapid growth of digital and social media-driven enterprises.
- “Today, the Corporate Affairs Commission receives close to 10,000 business registration requests daily, compared to just a few hundred in the past,” he said. “In addition, our systems now handle an average of 5,000 customer inquiries every day through emails and call centres.”
He explained that managing such volumes through manual processes would have been impractical, stressing that AI has become central to improving speed, accuracy, and operational efficiency.
According to him, the commission has evolved from operating a single manual office in Abuja in 1991 to becoming a fully digital, end-to-end corporate registry providing services globally on a 24-hour basis.
Magaji acknowledged that the transition to an AI-driven registration portal in 2025 came with initial challenges but said the reforms were already delivering positive outcomes. He thanked stakeholders and users for their patience during the transition period and reaffirmed CAC’s commitment to providing world-class services.
Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Commerce, Mr. Ahmed Munir, pledged legislative support to deepen digital infrastructure, transparency, and innovation at the commission.
According to him, CAC’s digital transformation has simplified business registration and empowered millions of entrepreneurs to move from the informal to the formal economy.
Similarly, the Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Mr. Kashifu Abdullahi, pledged technical support for CAC’s AI-driven reforms. “We are in the era of artificial intelligence, and the only way to transform institutions today is to embrace and integrate AI into operations,” he said.
Backstory
Nairametrics previously reported that the CAC deregistered over 400,000 companies in 2025 due to prolonged inactivity and non-compliance with statutory requirements.
- Magaji explained that the move aimed to strengthen the integrity and credibility of Nigeria’s corporate registry.
- In addition to deregistration, CAC facilitated free business registration for 250,000 entrepreneurs in partnership with the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN).
The initiative was designed to support Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and ease entry into the formal economy.
What you should know
The registrar-general also announced a strategic collaboration between the CAC and Google aimed at strengthening the commission’s technology infrastructure.
- He said the partnership would enhance portal performance, system reliability, and service turnaround time, thereby improving Nigeria’s ease of doing business.
- As part of the reforms, Magaji disclosed that the CAC had introduced new AI-powered tools on its redesigned website, including an AI legal assistant to respond to regulatory inquiries and a business name generator to simplify the name reservation process.
He said the initiatives align with the commission’s broader goals of transparency, efficiency, and national economic development.
