Govt launches company e-registration portal

THE Federal Government, Monday in Abuja, launched company online registration platform of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).

   The platform, referred to as CRP/GSP,  is designed to reduce the time spent on company registrations and also cut cost.  

  The project has also been expanded to include the provision of a universal payment gateway to enable users of the portal use multiple channels and platforms to make payment for the commission’s services from the comfort of their homes including investors residing outside Nigeria.

  Highlighting the importance of the project at the launch, the Minster of Industry, Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga explained that the project became imperative owing to the inability of the former vendor to deliver on the upgrade the software of the commission which resulted into customers not getting values for their money.

  He said the ministry had to engage the services of the Ministry of Communication and Technology and other stakeholders to develop the application for fast and effective delivery of services to customers and at the same time achieved transparent in the process. 

  His words: “It is gratifying to note that the new software is robust enough to accommodate all e-payment platforms such as inter-switch, e-transact, Visa card, master card, verve card, American Express and other forms of electronic payment.  The software will enable customers to file their documents on-line without having to physically visit the commission.

  “With the new application, customers can access and pay for the commission’s services on-line.  Also, customers other than accredited agents and professionals can carry out their own transactions directly with the commission.  This will significantly reduce the cost of going business in Nigeria”.

  Aganga enjoined stakeholders to take advantage of the CAC on-line registration platform, which he said is part of government’s conscious effort at making the entire process of doing business in Nigeria easy, simple and as cheap as possible, adding that the strategic role of the commission in a fast growing economy like Nigeria’s cannot be over emphasized.  

  The Registrar-General and Chief Executive of the commission, Bello Mahmud said his organisation remained committed to ensuring that the cost of doing business is further reduced adding that the minister only recently approved a 50 and 25 per cent reduction on the filling fees payable for new registration and increase in share capital for companies with threshold of N2 million to N500 million and over N500 million respectively.

  The Minister of Communication Technology, Dr. Omobola Johnson hinted that the process would improve interaction with the commission and ensure independency adding that the local content in ICT initiative seeks to increase the participation of Nigerian companies in the ICT sector, improve citizens’ access and ease of interaction with government.