The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) has dramatically scaled up its processing capacity, handling close to 10,000 business registration requests every day a sharp rise from the few hundred daily filings in its early years following the full rollout of artificial intelligence across its digital platforms.
Registrar-General Hussaini Magaji disclosed the milestone on Monday during the CAC’s 35th anniversary celebration in Abuja, themed “Upholding Public Trust through Excellent Service Delivery.” He described the transformation as a defining moment in Nigeria’s drive to formalise businesses and improve the ease of doing business.
“When CAC was established in 1991, operations were confined to a single office in Area 11, Garki, Abuja,” Magaji recalled. “Business owners had to travel across the country for manual, paper-based registration. Today, our services are digital, accessible 24/7 from anywhere in Nigeria and globally from paper to portal, queues to clicks.”
Magaji attributed the surge in registrations to recent tax reforms, government policies encouraging formalisation of informal enterprises, and the rapid rise of digital and social-media-driven businesses. He also noted that the commission’s complaint management system now handles an average of 5,000 inquiries daily through emails and call centres volumes that would be impossible to manage manually.
“Only AI can complement human capacity with the required speed, accuracy, and precision,” he said.
The transition to an AI-driven portal in 2025 was not without challenges. Magaji acknowledged temporary disruptions and setbacks in productivity and service delivery during the rollout. “Transformational change is never easy,” he said, thanking stakeholders and customers for their patience and confidence.
Looking ahead, the CAC has signed a Letter of Collaboration with Google to further strengthen its digital infrastructure, enhance portal performance, and deepen the ease of doing business in Nigeria. Google’s global expertise will support system upgrades and service improvements.
To mark its anniversary, the commission approved free business name registration for 3,500 small businesses across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory a gesture aimed at encouraging entrepreneurship and formalisation at the grassroots level.
The CAC also unveiled a redesigned website (www.cac.gov.ng) featuring new AI-powered tools, including an AI Lawyer for instant responses on CAC laws and procedures, and an AI Name Generator to help users create and reserve scalable business names quickly.
Magaji described the AI transition as inevitable and necessary, noting that CAC has already become a global reference point for fast name reservation and business registration, with turnaround times as short as 10 minutes in many cases.
The commission’s evolution from a single manual office in 1991 to a fully digital, AI-enabled registry accessible worldwide reflects Nigeria’s broader push toward digital governance and economic formalisation. As registration volumes continue to soar, the focus now shifts to sustaining service quality, expanding capacity, and ensuring the benefits of formalisation reach even the smallest entrepreneurs across the country.
