In its commitment to upholding global best practices, the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) said it has taken a bold step by deploying Artificial Intelligence (AI) to further improve turnaround time and service delivery.
Hussaini Magaji, the commission’s Registrar-General and CEO, stated clearly that the deployment of AI at CAC is not optional; it is necessary.
Addressing a gathering of participants who assembled in Abuja on Monday, February 9, 2026, to commemorate the commission’s 35th anniversary, he said this necessity has become inevitable because business registration volumes have grown exponentially.
The commission’s helmsman further explained that these developments are influenced by various government policies. These include initiatives aimed at encouraging the formalisation of informal enterprises, implementing tax reforms, and the monetisation of social media and digital businesses, among other factors.
He agreed that the shift was hard due to temporary delays in productivity and service delivery. To put this in perspective, he hinted that CAC currently receives about 10,000 business registration requests per day, up from only a few hundred previously. In addition, he said the complaint management system now handles an average of 5,000 inquiries every day via email and call centres.
As a result, he was forced to consider how many people would be needed to manually manage this volume, which led him to the conclusion that “only AI can effectively complement human capacity with the required speed, accuracy, and precision.”
Because of this, attendees at the historic event witness the signing of a Letter of Collaboration between CAC and Google. The commission head revealed that this partnership is intended to improve service delivery and strengthen CAC’s technological framework by working with one of the top technology companies in the world.
Another landmark achievement witnessed at the occasion was the relaunch of CAC’s new website, which introduces two groundbreaking features: the AI Lawyer, a unique feature that enables users to ask questions on CAC laws, rules, guidelines, procedures, and operations—and receive instant, accurate responses. The other is the AI Name Generator, a tool that allows users to now generate and reserve scalable business names directly from the website with ease, speed, and convenience.
He thanked their consumers and stakeholders for their patience, understanding, and belief that the intended results will be achieved.
“As I have consistently assured you, I will not relent until CAC delivers services that rank among the best in the world,” he said, conceding that nothing truly good comes easy.
Magaji expressed satisfaction that the commission has become a global reference point in name reservation and business name registration, despite the difficulties that came with the switch to an AI-driven portal.
He also made reference to the commission’s ability to provide these services in as little as ten minutes from start to finish, which is consistent with its mission to reduce the cost and complexity of doing business in Nigeria.
The RG concluded his speech by announcing the approval of some initiatives by the management in the spirit of the celebration; these include free business name registration for 3,500 small businesses, to be distributed across the 36 states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory, and scholarships for six (6) best corporate law students, each from the six campuses of the Nigerian Law School—for the year 2026, in support of corporate law studies.
The commission also approved support for orphanages as part of its social duty, donated 120 mattresses to an Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp, and offers a commemorative staff bonus equal to 25% of one month’s gross income.
Also speaking at the event, the Permanent Secretary (PS), Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Amb. Nura Rimi, commended CAC for continuing to drive private sector growth and boost investors’ confidence through sustained reforms and digital transformation.
Rimi said that the commission had evolved from manual business registration to a technology-driven institution that supported transparency, accountability and ease of doing business.
According to him, CAC had played a critical role in Nigeria’s economic development by simplifying business registration processes, encouraging formalisation of enterprises and fostering trust in the corporate system.
“The work of the CAC has gone beyond registration to fostering trust in the economy, encouraging domestic and foreign investment and supporting the growth of nano, micro, small and medium enterprises,” the PS asserts.
In the same vein, the Director-General of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Mr Charles Odii, praised CAC for working “smarter” through digital innovation to support small businesses.
Odii commended recent initiatives introduced by the commission that are aimed at reducing the cost of registration for small enterprises and formalising hundreds of thousands of businesses, describing CAC as a critical partner in Nigeria’s economic development agenda.
The DG assured the CAC of SMEDAN’s continued support, emphasising that faster and smarter registration processes would enable Nigerian businesses to compete more effectively at the continental and global levels.
The colourful programme attracted stakeholders from government agencies, the private sector, and development institutions. They praised the contributions of CAC to Nigeria’s economic reform, describing its 35-year journey as a narrative of vision, courage, innovation, and a steadfast commitment to national development.
By Etta Michael Bisong, Abuja.