The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), a government agency responsible for business registration, is collaborating with Opay Services Ltd, a financial technology company, to help 300,000 unregistered businesses become legal entities.
This partnership aims to bring Opay agents into compliance with regulations and provide them with the benefits of formal recognition.
The Registrar-General and CEO of CAC, Ishaq Hussaini Magagi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, stated this when the top management of Opay Services Ltd paid him a courtesy visit at the commission’s office in Abuja.
The CAC boss stated that the commission already achieved a similar feat by onboarding two million businesses through Moniepoint, another FinTech firm that provides financial solutions for businesses in Nigeria.
Ishaq pointed out that operating unregistered businesses was criminal under the provisions of the Companies and Allied Matters Act, 2020, “the Commission is providing a window for the unregistered businesses to formalise in line with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.”
Responding, the Managing Director of Opay, Dauda Gotring promised to onboard all their yet-to-be-captured agents and merchants spread across the country.
“Opay’s core mission is to ensure financial inclusion, and we are set to ensure adequate sensitization before the commencement of the exercise,” the Opay boss said, pointing out that the exercise would be “beneficial to both the government, operators, and intending Opay customers.”
…plans to register 20 million businesses in 2024
In a related development, CAC has also called on content creators and crypto-related businesses to register their services by CAMA, 2020.
In January, the CAC boss said he was on a mission to register 20 million businesses in 2024.
What does this mean?
Registering your business in the eye of the law means you’re operating as a legitimate business.
However, it also entails the obligation to pay yearly returns to the government, regardless of whether your business is making a profit or not.
Failure to file annual returns will automatically change the status of your company or business on the CAC portal to inactive, which may affect your application for government contracts and grants.