HOW TO REGISTER A BUSINESS IN NIGERIA

By
Nigeria Small Business Ideas Portal
Smallbusiness.com.ng
 
This article shows you how to register a business in Nigeria. Your business must be registered
with the Corporate Affairs Commission, which is responsible for regulating the structure and
formation of all corporate entities in Nigeria. A lawyer may be necessary to complete
registration.

Instructions for registering your business

○ Prepare the Memorandum and Articles of Association for the business with the
assistance of a lawyer. If necessary, determine a share capital structure for the
business. The business can take one of the following forms: a private company
limited by shares, a public limited company, an unlimited liability company, a
company limited by guarantee, a partnership, a sole proprietorship or an
incorporated trustee company.
○ Determine your business name by checking with the Corporate Affairs Commission
(CAC), which will verify whether the selected business name is available for use.
Visit the CAC website www.cac.gov.ng and fill out an application, which costs N200
as of June 2010 (approximately $1.33). You can also visit a CAC office and fill out an
application for a name search. This process will take about two days to complete,
and if the preferred business name is available, it will be automatically reserved.
○ Notarize the Declaration of Compliance (Form CAC 4), which you can obtain from
the CAC website. To complete notarization, the lawyer hired to finalize registration
must go to either a State High Court or a Federal High Court. The Declaration of
Compliance will inform the court all necessary documents have been filed. This
process should take one day. The completed form will be included in the package
of documents to be submitted to the CAC to complete registration.
○ Register your business with the CAC and submit the following documents and
forms: the Memorandum and Articles of Association, the Statement of Authorised
Share Capital (Form CAC 2.4) and Return of Allotment of Shares (Form CAC 2),
Notice of Registered Address (Form CAC 3), Particulars of Directors (Form CAC 7)
and Declaration of Compliance (Form CAC 4). All forms can be downloaded from
the CAC website. This process can take two to four weeks.
○ Submit bank drafts, in the amounts required, to the CAC. Single forms cost N100
(approximately $0.66). A collection of business registration forms, on the other
hand, costs N500 (approximately $3.32). For same-day registration, an additional
 processing fee of N50, 000 (approximately $331.89) is required. These fees are as
of June 2010. Ultimately, the total payment will depend on the type of business
being registered and what the share capital structure is. Companies with a share
capital in excess of N1 million will spend more in filing fees.
Visit the Corporate Affairs Commission at www.cac.gov.ng  to kick start your business registration in
Nigeria. More business ideas at www.smallbusiness.com.ng.