The Federal Government has registered 2.5 million small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in a move to formalise the sector and increase the country’s tax net.
Hussaini Magaji, the registrar general of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), disclosed this during a meeting with Chika Nwosu, the managing director of Palmpay Nigeria Limited.
He linked the recent upsurge in the registration of small businesses to the government’s intensified effort to formalise the SME sector and grow the economy.
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“The president has the drive to formalise the small businesses into the system and increase the tax net of the country and to encourage us so that the government can track their activities.”
Magaji added that the registration was also to tackle terrorism through money laundering channels. “The government will have the opportunity to track terrorism through the money laundering channels. That’s the essence of the registration. If someone is not registered in the formal sector, you cannot track his activities.”
He reiterated that the law has made it mandatory for any business to take place in Nigeria it must register with the Corporate Affairs Commission as Section 863 (2) made it to the extent of criminalising any business taking place in Nigeria without registration.
“The Corporate Affairs Commission is a creation of the law. And the law is in line with the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 2020. And particularly section 814 made it mandatory for any person doing business in his name, to register with the Corporate Affairs Commission.
“That is why we are going after businesses, we are emphasizing and calling people to surrender themselves for registration. If you are gaining, or if you are doing your business, if you are using your name and gaining benefits or anything to attract benefits to yourself with that name, you must register,” he said.
In his remarks, Chika Nwosu, managing director of Palmpay Nigeria Limited, said they were ready to partner with the CAC and support the government of Nigeria to introduce most of the agents who are doing various businesses through their financial platforms.
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“Our business is one of the largest in Nigeria, with over 30,000 employees and 30 million Nigerians doing various business transactions using the banking app.
“We have over 219,000 agents on our platform to hand over to CAC today.”
Business recalls that within two weeks the businesses that have registered with the CAC are, moniepoint registered 2 million small businesses, Opay registered 300, 000, kudimater registered 30,000 and Palmpay has also registered 219,000.
