Abuja, Nigeria – The Corporate Affairs Commission of Nigeria (CAC) now processes close to 10,000 business registration requests each day following the full deployment of artificial intelligence across its service platforms, marking a major expansion from the few hundred applications handled daily in its early years, the agency has said.
Okay News reports that the commission acknowledged that its transition to an AI driven portal caused temporary disruptions and reduced productivity during parts of 2025.
The Registrar General of the Corporate Affairs Commission, Hussaini Magaji, disclosed this on Monday in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, at the opening ceremony of the commission’s 35th anniversary celebration. He described the anniversary as a defining moment in Nigeria’s drive to formalise economic activity.
The event, themed “Upholding Public Trust through Excellent Service Delivery,” marked 35 years since the establishment of the commission in 1991. The Corporate Affairs Commission was created under the Companies and Allied Matters Act of 1990 to replace the former Company Registry and later modernised by the Companies and Allied Matters Act of 2020.
Magaji said the commission has evolved into a fully digital, end to end registry accessible within Nigeria and internationally on a 24 hour, seven day basis.
“When the Corporate Affairs Commission was established in 1991, our story began humbly, but with a bold mandate. At the time, CAC operated from a single office in Area 11, Garki, Abuja, serving the entire nation,” he said.
He recalled that business owners and associations were previously required to travel from across the country to Abuja to register entities, as all procedures were manual and records paper based.
“Service delivery was limited by geography and time. Yet, that single office laid the foundation for what has become one of Africa’s most dynamic and reform driven corporate registries. Fast forward to 2026, and our services are no longer confined to one location,” Magaji said. “This is our evolution: from paper to portal, from queues to clicks, from stress to seamless, from one office to the world.”
He attributed the sharp rise in registration volumes to tax reforms, government policies encouraging the formalisation of informal businesses, and the rapid growth of digital and social media driven enterprises.
“To put this into perspective, CAC now receives close to 10,000 business registration requests daily, compared to only hundreds in the past,” he said. “In addition, our complaint management system, through emails and call centres, now handles an average of 5,000 inquiries every single day.”
Magaji said such volumes would be unmanageable without automation. “Imagine the number of staff required to manage this volume. Only AI can effectively complement human capacity with the required speed, accuracy, and precision,” he added.
He acknowledged that the transition period posed significant challenges. “I must acknowledge, however, that 2025 was particularly challenging. The transition to an AI driven portal came with disruptions and temporary setbacks in productivity and service delivery in some areas. Transformational change is never easy. Nevertheless, I sincerely appreciate our stakeholders and customers for their patience, understanding, and confidence that the desired outcomes will emerge,” he said.
Magaji said the adoption of artificial intelligence was unavoidable, adding that the commission has become a reference point in name reservation and business name registration, with turnaround times as short as 10 minutes.
“Let me state clearly: the deployment of AI at CAC is not optional; it is necessary,” he said.
As part of efforts to deepen its digital transformation, Magaji announced the signing of a Letter of Collaboration between the Corporate Affairs Commission and Google. He described the agreement as a strategic partnership aimed at strengthening service delivery and improving system performance.
“Google brings global expertise and technological support that will further strengthen our systems, enhance portal performance, and deepen the ease of doing business in Nigeria,” he said.
He also unveiled a redesigned commission website, www.cac.gov.ng, featuring AI powered tools including an AI Lawyer, which provides instant guidance on CAC laws and procedures, and an AI Name Generator that allows users to generate and reserve business names.
To mark its anniversary, the commission approved free business name registration for 3,500 small businesses across Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. Additional initiatives include scholarships for the six best corporate law students from each campus of the Nigerian Law School in 2026, donations to internally displaced persons camps and orphanages, and a one time staff bonus equivalent to 25 percent of one month’s gross salary. The commission also announced special car and housing loan schemes and board recommended promotions for pioneer and retiring staff.
Delivering a goodwill message, the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Commerce, Ahmed Munir, said the commission’s digital reforms had simplified business registration and helped millions of entrepreneurs move from the informal to the formal economy.
He said the reforms have strengthened Nigeria’s structured economy by easing the transition from business ideas to registered companies. He urged continued collaboration to ensure entrepreneurs are supported by efficient regulation rather than hindered by bureaucracy.
The Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency, Kashifu Abdullahi, pledged technical support for the commission’s AI 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, adding that the agency would support the deployment of ethical and responsible AI solutions.
The Corporate Affairs Commission is Nigeria’s statutory body for the registration and regulation of companies, business names, and incorporated trustees. Its reforms form part of the federal government’s broader effort to improve the country’s ease of doing business, expand the tax base, and formalise micro, small, and medium sized enterprises.
 now processes close to 10,000 business registration requests each day following the full deployment of artificial intelligence across its service platforms, marking a major expansion from the few hundred applications handled daily in its early years, the agency has said.){kind=link}