Nigeria’s Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) is marking its 35th anniversary with a high-stakes bet on Agentic AI.
At a commemorative event in Abuja on Tuesday, Kashifu Inuwa, the director general of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), pledged full technical backing to transition the CAC from a digital registry to an AI-first institution.
The move comes at a critical time. The Commission revealed it now processes nearly 10,000 business registration requests daily, a volume Hussaini Ishaq Magaji, the registrar-general, says is no longer manageable via traditional human-led workflows.
Beyond Digitization: The AI ‘Infusion’
While the CAC successfully migrated to the Company Registration Portal (CRP) years ago, NITDA is now pushing for a deeper integration of Generative and Predictive AI.
“We are in the AI era, and the only way to transform today is to embrace and integrate AI into your operations,” Inuwa stated.
The partnership with NITDA will focus on “infusing intelligence” into several friction points:
- Automated Name Reservation: Reducing the human-review bottleneck for business name availability.
- Predictive Fraud Detection: Using AI to flag and block fraudulent alterations of company records in real-time.
- AI Legal Assistants: Deploying specialized LLMs (Large Language Models) to guide users through complex regulatory filings.
The Growth Curve: 24-Hour Incorporation
The DG highlighted that CAC’s digital reforms have already slashed registration timelines from months to just 24 hours. However, the “AI Power Shift” aims to make “near-instant” registration a reality for the thousands of digital entrepreneurs and social media creators currently entering the formal economy.
Guardrails and Cybersecurity
A core component of NITDA’s involvement is the implementation of Ethical AI Guardrails. As the CAC handles sensitive corporate data for millions of Nigerians, NITDA will oversee:
- Responsible AI Deployment: Ensuring algorithms are unbiased and transparent.
- Enhanced Cybersecurity: Utilizing advanced AI tools to stay ahead of increasingly sophisticated hacking attempts on corporate databases.
Data Sidebar: CAC’s 35-Year Evolution
| Era | Primary System | Service Timeline | Daily Volume |
| 1991–2010s | Manual/Paper-based | 3–6 Months | Hundreds |
| 2021–2024 | Digital (CRP Portal) | 24–72 Hours | ~3,000–5,000 |
| 2025–2026 | AI-Driven (iCRP) | Under 24 Hours | 10,000+ |
