The Corporate Affairs Commission and the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria are set to inject N6 billion into the economy through the free registration of 250,000 youth-led businesses, a move aimed at boosting entrepreneurship and tackling unemployment among young Nigerians.
The initiative, launched recently, targets young people operating in sectors such as content creation, small trading, and emerging enterprises, helping them transition from informal operations to formally registered businesses. By eliminating registration costs, the scheme is expected to stimulate business growth, encourage access to funding, and create thousands of new jobs.
Speaking in Kaduna during a visit by the Association of Northern Nigerian Students, the Registrar-General of the CAC, Hussaini Ishaq Magaji, urged youths to take advantage of the opportunity. He explained that the free business name registration initiative, in partnership with SMEDAN, represents a significant economic intervention designed to strengthen the MSME sector and reduce youth unemployment. He emphasised that formalising young entrepreneurs could unlock wider participation in the national economy and open doors to future government support.
This move forms part of the Federal Government’s broader push to support youth-owned enterprises and encourage business formalisation nationwide.
In a related development, CAC is deploying an Artificial Intelligence system to address service delays and manage a backlog of over 7,000 pending registration applications. The AI tool, introduced earlier this year, will be used to enhance efficiency across compliance, registry operations, and customer service. It is designed to process large volumes of requests within minutes, read and sort emails, detect duplicate submissions, and route inquiries to the appropriate departments.
Despite earlier challenges with its AI-driven registration portal—such as payment and document submission glitches—the platform currently handles over 11,000 transactions daily. CAC acknowledged that the initial strain on the system was due to high demand, including more than 3,000 customer emails received each day. With improved automation, the commission aims to reduce delays and provide faster, more accurate service for new and existing businesses.
For young business owners, the free registration initiative and digital upgrades signal a more supportive environment for MSMEs, promising easier access to formal markets, funding, and growth opportunities.
