CAC, Ondo sensitise SMEs on business registration

The Corporate Affairs Commission in conjunction with the Ondo State Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget has commenced a sensitization of the Ondo State business community on the benefits and modalities of registering businesses directly with the commission.

At a sensitization conference on Thursday in Akure, the CAC urged the business community, particular operators of small and medium scale enterprises to avail themselves of the Federal Government’s investment climate reform programme which had abolished the cumbersome practices of business registration.
Registrar General of CAC, Mallam Bello Mahmud, in his remarks, noted that the policy that only lawyers, chartered accounts and chartered secretaries were eligible to present applications to CAC for registration of companies ended in January 2012.
He said, “That policy had attracted lots of criticisms both locally and internationally as it was perceived as a major contributing factor to the huge cost of starting a business in Nigeria and the resultant negative rating of the country in the global competitiveness index of the World Bank on doing business.”
Mahmud said the reform was targeted to benefit Small and Medium Entrepreneurs, who could not afford the services of accredited agents.
“It is also expected that the policy will encourage informal businesses to register and in the long run deepen access to finance for those classes of businesses,” he said.
According to him, the policy applications filed in Lagos and Akure will no longer need a recourse to Abuja, but could be processed and finished at the point of application, thereby reducing the time cycle for registration as well as cost.
“The Federal Government recently reduced the filing fees payable for registration of new companies and increase share capital by 50 per cent and 25 per cent for companies for share capitals within the threshold of N500million and over N500million respectively.
“The commission has recently deployed a new registration software in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Communications Technology which now makes it possible for accredited customers and the owner/directors of business to carry out their transactions online without having to visit the commission.
“The first phase dealing with account creation, name reservation and electronic payment are fully functional. The second phase dealing with registration for parts A, B and C will be deployed before the end of this month while the final phase on post incorporation services will commence by the end of December, 2014,” he said.
Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Mr. Akin Adaramola, linked the state of insecurity in the country to unemployment, noting that reforming business processes in Nigeria to ensure the growth of SMEs could be a way out of the menace.
“If we must grow as a nation, there is the need to consciously and deliberately put in place strategies to grow micro/small  and medium enterprises for which this campaign centres around,” Adaramola said.

--Punch News