By LUCY OGALUE

The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) says it now records 10,000 business registration requests daily following the deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) across its service delivery platforms.

The Registrar-General of CAC, Hussaini Magaji, disclosed this during the Anniversary Lecture marking the commission’s 35th anniversary on Monday in Abuja.

Magaji said the adoption of AI had significantly enhanced the commission’s capacity to process the growing volume of business registrations and customer inquiries nationwide.

According to him, business registration volumes have increased sharply due to tax reforms, policies promoting formalisation of informal businesses and the growth of digital and social media-based enterprises.

“Today, CAC receives close to 10,000 business registration requests daily, compared to only hundreds in the past.

“Our systems also handle an average of 5,000 customer inquiries every day through emails and call centres,” he said.

The registrar-general explained that managing such volumes would be impossible through manual processes, adding that AI had become critical in improving speed, accuracy and efficiency.

He said CAC had evolved from a single, manual office in Abuja in 1991 into a fully digital, end-to-end corporate registry providing services globally on a 24-hour basis.

The CAC boss said that in spite of the initial challenges experienced during the transition to an AI-driven portal in 2025, the reforms were already yielding positive results.

Magaji thanked stakeholders and customers for their patience during the transition period, assuring them of the commission’s commitment to delivering world-class services.

He also announced a collaboration between CAC and Google aimed at strengthening the commission’s technology framework and further improving ease of doing business in Nigeria.

According to him, the partnership will enhance portal performance, system reliability and service turnaround time.

The registrar-general added that 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 name reservation.

He said the reforms were part of CAC’s broader commitment to transparency, efficiency and national economic development.

The Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Commerce, Mr Ahmed Munir, pledged legislative backing to further enhance digital infrastructure, transparency and innovation in the Commission.

Munir said the commission’s digital transformation had simplified the process of business registration and empowered millions of entrepreneurs to transition from the informal to the formal economy.

According to him, CAC’s reforms have strengthened Nigeria’s structured economy by easing the journey from business ideas to fully registered corporations.

He urged the stakeholders to work together to ensure that no Nigerian entrepreneur was hindered by regulatory barriers but supported by an efficient and ambitious system.

The Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Mr Kashifu Abdullahi, pledged technical support for the Corporate Affairs Commission’s (CAC) digital and artificial intelligence-driven reforms.

Abdullahi said CAC’s sustained growth and reforms demonstrated the importance of continuous innovation in public sector organisations.

“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.

Abdullahi assured CAC of NITDA’s full support in deploying ethical and responsible AI solutions across its operations. (NAN)

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