By Foster Obi
More Nigerian Traders and potential business owners have expressed happiness on the extension of the 50percent slash registration fee till March 31 2019 by the Corporate Affairs Commission CAC). A cross section of traders and business men that spoke to economywatchng.com said the extension was in their interests.
“Some us could not even raise N5, 000 to register our business since October 2018 when Vice President Osibanjo announced the discount. Although I wanted to, I could not because my income is small and there so many competing interests but with this extension, it will favour many people in my position that could not take advantage of the first promotion,” said Banji Victor, a small business owner.
Mrs Vera Oko, a fish seller said her lost hope about the registration is now restored. “By all means I will look for N5, 000 this time and register. I don’t want what happened last time to happen again. This opportunity will not escape again,” she noted.
The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) extended the 50% discount on business name registration till March 31. In a statement released on its Twitter page, the commission said it took the decision to deepen the benefits of its reform initiatives.
In October, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo had announced that the federal government has approved a special window of 90 days from October 1 to December 31 to register businesses at N5000, down from as much as N10, 000 previously. “In an effort to deepen the benefits of its reform initiatives, the Corporate Affairs Commission has extended the reduction of cost of Registration of Business Names from N10, 000 to N5, 000 after the Name Reservation of N500, with effect from the 31st December, 2018 to 31st March 2019,” CAC said in a statement released on Twitter.
“The Business Incentive Strategy is aimed at creating a window for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to formalize their businesses which will enable them own corporate account with Banks, have access to Loans, grants and other government interventions. “Members of the public are enjoined to take advantage of this window, to register their Business Names at the reduced cost of N5, 000 after the Name Reservation of N500.”
