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Electronic registration of companies begins Oct 1 – FG

By on August 16, 2014

The Federal Government on Thursday said the Corporate Affairs Commission would as from October 1, this year, begin the electronic registration for companies willing to set up businesses in Nigeria.

The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, disclosed this in Abuja, while addressing journalists during the quarterly meeting of the ministry and its parastatals.

All heads of parastatals under the ministry were present at the meeting, which was held to review progress made so far in the implementation of the Federal Government’s policies as well as to discuss some of the challenges confronting the ministry.

Aganga said online registration would help to reduce the cost of doing business significantly as well as the time it takes for local and foreign investors to set up their outfits in the country.

He said, “We are hoping to have electronic registration of companies and this will commence from October 1, this year. We hope to ensure that from that date, Nigerians would no longer have to incur other extra costs and inconveniences to travel to the CAC office to register and wait for a long period of time before they register their businesses.

“That will bring the cost and the time of setting up businesses down significantly in this country. This is the first time ever that Nigeria will have an online electronic system.”

Aganga also said the Nigerian Industrial Revolution Plan was being implemented effectively, adding that five new policies would soon be unveiled for the steel, textile and garments, palm oil and vegetable oil, cocoa processing, and petro-chemical sectors.

The minister said the Federal Government had commenced a pilot programme to help farmers to borrow up to 75 per cent of the value of their commodities in the custody of the Abuja Securities and Commodity Exchange.

He said, “We have a pilot programme, which is mainly to support the agric transformation agenda. This is primarily to support our farmers in five commodities. Our farmers can now bring their products to a warehouse, where, once they have been accepted, the farmers are able to borrow 75 per cent of the value of what they deposited in the warehouse.

“This will transform how those commodities are sold and solve a number of problems, thus making it easier for farmers to access loans to produce these commodities.”

Aganga explained that the Federal Government was working with Stanbic IBTC Bank to support farmers in the scheme, adding that the move would enable them to produce more of the products.

The minister also said that the code of corporate governance had been harmonised, noting that unlike before when it only regulated the conduct of private sector businesses, the public sector would now be governed by the new code.

Meanwhile, the Bank of Industry has said it has disbursed N51bn to the textile sector under the Cotton, Textile and Garment Development Scheme.

The Managing Director, BoI, Mr. Rasheed Olaoluwa, stated this while answering questions from journalists at the meeting.

He said through the disbursement, the bank had been able to create and retain over 300,000 jobs in that sector of the economy.

Olaoluwa added that the bank would continue to provide funds at low interest rates to support the industrial revolution policy of the government.

 

 

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