The Registrar-General of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Hussaini Ishaq Magaji, has revealed that only 100,000 Point of Sale (POS) operators have officially registered their businesses with the commission as part of its POS formalization initiative.
Magaji made the disclosure during an in-house enforcement and compliance training session for state offices in Abuja on Monday. He stressed the importance of expanding the commission’s operational focus, moving beyond routine business registration to emphasize compliance and enforcement.
“Upon assuming duty in 2023, one of my key priorities was to bring the commission’s regulatory and management functions to the forefront. This led to the inclusion of compliance enforcement as a key component of my four-point agenda,” he said.
Magaji also highlighted the role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in automating routine tasks such as business registration, thus allowing resources to be allocated to more complex compliance activities.
He further reiterated the success of the POS Formalization Project, which has already registered approximately 100,000 POS operators in compliance with Section 863 of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 2020. The goal is to formalize at least 250,000 operators as part of a broader effort to regulate the estimated 40 million micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria.
“Formalisation is the first step for legitimate business operations and access to government interventions. It also mitigates the risks associated with unregistered businesses, such as money laundering and terrorism financing,” Magaji added.
