Every year, tens of thousands of Nigerians run businesses that exist entirely in the informal economy. They serve customers, pay staff, and build real turnover, all without a single document from a government agency to show for it. The moment they try to open a corporate bank account, bid on a contract, or apply for a grant, they hit the same wall: no CAC registration, no entry. The Corporate Affairs Commission is not a bureaucratic formality. It is the threshold between operating informally and being recognized as a legitimate actor in Nigeria’s economy.

For many small business owners, the resistance to registration comes from genuine confusion about the process, not reluctance. The CAC portal has been redesigned more than once in recent years. Fees have changed. New charges have been added. A free registration programme launched in late 2025 has created fresh questions about who qualifies and whether it is still running. Meanwhile, agents continue to quote prices that bear little relation to what CAC actually charges. This guide cuts through all of that with current, verified information about what registration actually costs, what the portal requires, and what happens once your certificate is issued.

What the CAC Actually Does and Why Registration Is Not Optional

The Corporate Affairs Commission was established under the Companies and Allied Matters Act of 1990, which was substantially updated in 2020. CAMA 2020 is the current governing legislation, and it significantly expanded the range of business structures available while also tightening compliance obligations. The CAC functions as Nigeria’s corporate registry, responsible for incorporating companies, registering business names, supervising incorporated trustees, and maintaining the national database of legally recognized business entities.

Operating a business name without registration is not a grey area under Nigerian law. The Companies and Allied Matters Act requires anyone trading under a name other than their own to register that name. Failure to do so exposes a business owner to fines and, in more serious cases, potential prosecution. Reporting by The Punch has noted that business owners risk jail terms for continued non-compliance. Beyond the legal risk, an unregistered business simply cannot access most of what Nigeria’s formal economy has to offer: corporate bank accounts require a CAC certificate, most government procurement processes require one, and virtually every institutional lender, grant programme, or accelerator asks for proof of registration before accepting an application.

The Commission turned 35 years old in February 2026, and by that milestone it had transitioned from what was once a manual, paper-heavy registry into a fully digital operation. Today, CAC registration produces an electronic certificate with a certified extract of registration information. This e-certificate carries the same legal force as any document the Commission would previously have stamped and handed over a counter. CAC no longer routinely issues hard-copy certificates for online registrations, though a certified true copy can be requested where needed.

CAC Business Name Registration in Nigeria

CAC business name registration is now entirely digital, handled through the Commission’s iCRP platform with no mandatory visit to a CAC office and no requirement for a lawyer or accountant to file on your behalf. The process has simplified considerably since the old form-based era, but it still has specific requirements, a defined fee structure, and a newer AI service charge that came into effect on April 1, 2026. Whether you are registering your first business or advising a client, understanding the current process precisely is the only way to avoid wasted payments and rejected applications.

Business Name vs Limited Company: Choosing the Right Structure Before You Pay Anything

The CAC registers three main categories of entities: business names, companies, and incorporated trustees. For most Nigerian entrepreneurs reading this, the choice is between a business name and a private limited liability company, and this decision shapes both your costs and your compliance obligations going forward.

A business name registration is the simplest and cheapest option. It suits sole proprietors and partnerships who want to trade legally under a name other than their own. It does not create a separate legal entity, which means the owner and the business are legally the same person. Debts belong to the owner personally, and so does any liability arising from the business. This is the most common registration type among traders, freelancers, artisans, and small operators across Nigeria, and CAMA 2020 explicitly allows individuals to complete this registration without engaging a legal practitioner, chartered accountant, or chartered secretary.

A private limited liability company, by contrast, is a separate legal entity with its own rights and obligations distinct from its shareholders. It can hold assets, sue, and be sued in its own name. Shareholders are liable only up to the value of their shares. Under CAMA 2020, a single individual can now be the sole shareholder and sole director of a private limited company, removing the earlier requirement for at least two directors. This structure makes sense for businesses planning to raise investment, deal with institutional clients, or scale beyond what a business name allows, but it costs more to set up and carries more annual compliance obligations.

For the purpose of this guide, the focus is business name registration, which remains the entry point for the vast majority of Nigerian entrepreneurs formalizing for the first time. The minimum age requirement for any CAC registration is 18 years.

Documents and Information You Need Before Opening the CAC Portal

One of the most practical steps you can take before going anywhere near the registration portal is assembling everything the system will ask for. Incomplete submissions are one of the most common reasons for delays and rejections. The CAC portal requires you to upload documents digitally, so you will need scanned or photographed copies ready in the right format before you begin.

For business name registration, the portal requires a valid means of identification for each proprietor. Acceptable options include a National Identity Number (NIN), an international passport, a driver’s license, or a voter’s card. You will also need a recent passport photograph in digital format. The business address is required, and the CAC insists on a full physical address, not a P.O. box. A residential address is permitted for small operators who do not yet have a separate commercial location, but the address must be accurate and verifiable.

Beyond the identification documents, you need the proprietor’s personal details: full legal name, date of birth, phone number, email address, and residential address. You also need to have settled on the nature of your business, since the portal asks for a description of the principal business activity. A brief, clear statement of what your business does is sufficient, but vague entries tend to attract scrutiny. Have at least two proposed business names ready before you start. If your first choice fails the availability check, you will need an alternative immediately, and every fresh search now attracts its own fee.

Step-by-Step: How to Register Your Business Name on the CAC Portal

The registration is handled through the CAC’s Company Registration Portal, accessible at icrp.cac.gov.ng. The first step is creating an account on the portal. You will need a valid email address, which will serve as your login credential and the address to which your certificate and status report are eventually sent. Check your inbox for any verification prompt before proceeding.

Once your account is active, the process begins with a name availability search. Navigate to the name reservation section and enter your proposed business name. The portal checks this against the existing registry to confirm no other entity is using it. According to CAC’s official service timeline, the name availability check takes approximately four working hours. If your preferred name is clear, you pay the reservation fee to hold it. As of April 2026, this includes both the base reservation fee of N1,000 and the new AI service charge of N200, bringing the name reservation cost to N1,200. The reserved name is held for 60 days, within which you must complete the full registration or lose it.

With a reserved name in hand, you proceed to complete the pre-registration form designated CAC-BNo1. This is the primary application form for business name registration. You will enter the proprietor’s personal details, describe the business activity, and provide the principal place of business address. All supporting documents, the means of identification, the passport photograph, are uploaded digitally through the portal at this stage.

After reviewing everything for accuracy, you proceed to payment. The registration fee is paid online through the CAC portal, with multiple payment channels available. Once the CAC processes and approves the application, the electronic Certificate of Registration and the Certified Extract of registration information are issued and sent to your registered email address. Multiple verified sources confirm this typically happens within seven working days of a complete, correct submission.

What Does CAC Business Name Registration Cost in 2026?

The fee structure for CAC business name registration has been updated twice in recent memory, and a third change took effect at the start of April 2026. Entrepreneurs who rely on year-old information, or worse, on agent quotes, are routinely paying the wrong amounts.

Based on the official May 2025 gazette schedule, the base registration fee for a business name is N10,000, with a name reservation fee of N1,000, making the minimum total N11,000 for a DIY registration through the portal. This remains the foundational cost. To this, you must now add the AI Service Charge that CAC introduced effective April 1, 2026: N200 for name reservation and N500 for business name registration. The total minimum cost of a business name registration in April 2026, paying through the official portal without any agent, is N11,700.

The AI service charge is an additional cost layered on top of existing fees, not a replacement for them. The CAC announced the charge publicly on its official website at cac.gov.ng, clarifying that it applies to both name reservation availability checks and business name registration filings. Entrepreneurs who attempt multiple name searches before finding an available name should plan for N1,200 per search attempt, since each search now triggers both the N1,000 reservation fee and the N200 AI charge if pursued through to reservation.

Agents and third-party registration services typically charge between N22,000 and N100,000 for the same registration, depending on who you ask. While accredited agents can legitimately assist with the process, the official portal is fully accessible to individuals without professional intermediaries. If you choose to use an agent, verify their accreditation through the CAC before paying anything.

The SMEDAN Free Registration Programme: 250,000 Slots and How to Claim One

In September 2025, CAC and the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria signed a Memorandum of Understanding making available free business name registration for 250,000 micro, small, and medium enterprises across Nigeria. The initiative is part of President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda. To make it happen, the CAC agreed to forgo approximately N3 billion in registration fees.

CAC Registrar-General Hussaini Ishaq Magaji, SAN, described the scheme at the time of signing as dismantling the cost barrier that keeps too many small businesses operating outside the formal economy. SMEDAN Director-General Charles Odii was direct about the intended impact, stating: “By removing the cost of business name registration for 250,000 businesses, we are helping more entrepreneurs take the first step toward growth, legitimacy, and access to bigger opportunities.”

To qualify, a business must be a nano, micro, or small enterprise that has not yet registered with CAC. MSMEs already captured in SMEDAN’s database without a CAC registration automatically qualify and will be contacted by SMEDAN with next steps. New applicants can access the programme by visiting portal.smedan.gov.ng and completing the registration form. Once SMEDAN profiles the business, it is passed to CAC for free registration. Physical onboarding assistance is available through SMEDAN State Offices nationwide, as well as through the agency’s Business Clinic events, for entrepreneurs less comfortable with online platforms.

The 250,000 slots are limited and processed on a first-come, first-served basis. As of early 2026, the programme was still active. Small business owners who qualify should apply before the slots fill up, since the CAC confirmed that even with the April 2026 AI service charge update, the free registration offer through the SMEDAN programme would not be affected for eligible businesses. Beyond the certificate itself, businesses registered through the scheme are linked directly to SMEDAN’s MSME database, which opens access to aftercare including grants, capacity-building programmes, and market linkages.

The New AI Service Charge and What Changed on April 1, 2026

The CAC officially announced a new AI Service Charge effective from April 1, 2026. This was communicated through a public notice on the Commission’s official website. The notice specified that name reservation, described in the announcement as “Availability,” would attract an additional charge of N200 per application, while business name registration would attract an additional charge of N500 per registration.

The Commission has deployed AI tools to accelerate the processing of applications, reduce the backlog that has historically slowed registrations, and improve fraud detection across its registry. Earlier, CAC announced a deployment of an AI agent specifically to clear a backlog of 7,000 company registrations. The April 2026 AI service charge appears to be the cost-recovery mechanism for these technology investments, added incrementally to the existing fee schedule rather than replacing it.

For most applicants, the additional N700 total across both name reservation and registration is unlikely to be a deciding factor in whether to register. The more significant issue is awareness. Entrepreneurs who budget based on the pre-April 2026 fee structure, or who were quoted the older rate by agents, will find a small discrepancy at payment. Planning for the current all-in total of N11,700 for a standard DIY business name registration avoids any friction at that stage.

After Registration: TIN, Bank Account, and What Comes Next

A CAC certificate is the starting point, not the finishing line. The next practical steps after registration determine how quickly you can actually use your legal status to do business.

The first is obtaining a Tax Identification Number from the Federal Inland Revenue Service. For companies that complete registration through the CAC portal, a TIN is now generated automatically. For business names, the situation may require a separate registration with FIRS, depending on the pathway used. Either way, the TIN is not optional. Nigerian law requires all businesses to comply with tax obligations, and without a TIN you cannot open certain bank accounts or apply for a Tax Clearance Certificate, which is a standard requirement for government procurement and most offshore fund transfers.

Opening a corporate bank account follows registration. Most Nigerian commercial banks will ask for your CAC certificate, your certified extract, proprietor identification, the TIN, and in some cases a utility bill for address verification. Processing times vary by bank. Digital banks generally offer faster, simpler account opening than traditional commercial banks, and several have built onboarding flows specifically designed for newly registered businesses.

Depending on your sector, additional licensing may be required from industry regulators. Healthcare businesses need approvals from the appropriate medical regulatory body. Businesses dealing in food or pharmaceuticals face requirements from NAFDAC. Financial services businesses answer to the Central Bank of Nigeria or the Securities and Exchange Commission. A CAC certificate does not substitute for sector-specific permits where these apply. Know what your industry requires and obtain the relevant approvals before commencing operations in regulated areas.

Common Reasons Applications Get Rejected and How to Avoid Them

Knowing what trips up applications is at least as useful as knowing how to file one correctly. The CAC reviews every submission before issuing a certificate, and documents that fail that review go back to the applicant for correction, delaying the process from days to potentially weeks.

The single most avoidable problem is name confusion. The CAC’s system checks proposed names against the full registry, and names that are identical or deceptively similar to an existing registration will be rejected. This is not only about exact matches. A name that sounds or reads too similarly to an existing one, or that includes restricted words without authorization, will fail availability. Common restricted terms include words like “Federal,” “National,” “Government,” “Municipal,” or anything that implies an official government connection. Attempting to register a name that implies a connection to a profession or regulated sector without the relevant credentials is another quick path to rejection.

Document quality is a consistent source of rejections. Scanned copies that are blurry, cut off, or too dark to read clearly will not pass review. Photographs of documents taken in poor lighting or with a shaky hand are routinely flagged. Identification documents that have expired before the application date are automatically invalid, regardless of how clearly they are photographed. Ensure every document uploaded is current, fully visible, and correctly formatted before submission.

Address issues also cause delays. A P.O. box listed as the principal place of business is not acceptable. Vague address descriptions that the system cannot verify slow things down. Use a precise physical address with a full description, including the street name, number, area, local government area, and state. For Lagos-based applicants in particular, street addresses in densely populated areas like Alimosho, Agege, or Ojo sometimes require additional specificity to avoid being flagged as unverifiable.

Building on a Registered Foundation

The CAC business name registration process is not designed to be an obstacle. At its most straightforward, it is a portal visit, a name search, a form, a payment, and a certificate in your email. The challenge for most Nigerians has not been the process itself but the noise around it: outdated fee information, agents with inflated quotes, and general confusion about what the digital portal actually requires. That confusion has kept a significant portion of Nigeria’s 39 million-plus small businesses operating informally, cut off from finance, contracts, and institutional support they might otherwise access.

The SMEDAN programme offers a genuine window for micro and small operators who would otherwise find even N11,700 a stretch, provided they act while the 250,000 slots remain. For those going the standard route, the current total cost is N11,700 for a DIY registration, the portal is fully functional at icrp.cac.gov.ng, and the certificate arrives digitally within approximately seven working days of a correct submission. Understanding the April 2026 AI service charge means no surprises at payment, and assembling your documents properly before starting the portal session means no unnecessary delays at review.

Registration does not build a business. But it builds the legal foundation without which a growing business hits a ceiling. The clients who require a registered entity, the banks that need a certificate, the grant programmes that demand formal status: these are real opportunities, and they remain closed to businesses that stay informal. For Nigerian entrepreneurs willing to spend an afternoon on a portal and less than twelve thousand naira, the door to all of that opens.