…As Bala Mohammed commends Commission for improving ease of doing business
The board Chairman of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Ibrahim Ida who is the Waziri of Katsina State, has said that the Commission was using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to reduce the time it takes to register a company from days to minutes, assist staff to clear backlogs automatically, verify names, detect similar names, and pre-screen documents.
He said this during the 2026 Annual retreat with the theme: ‘AI at scale: Advancing an Intelligent Corporate Registry for Efficient and Trusted Service’, which held at the Ahmadu Bello International Conference Centre, Bauchi State.
The board chairman said that AI was also helping the commission to detect fraudulent companies, clean their data so that when other institutions or any foreign investor queries the CAC database, they get accurate and real-time information because, according to him, a trusted registry powered by AI is capable of attracting massive investment.
According to him, ‘Over 70% of Nigerian businesses are informal and most are in rural areas. Many do not have computer literacy. AI-powered chatbots in Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba, Fijian and any other Nigerian languages that may come in the future can guide a vulcanizer in Katsina or a fashion designer in Bauchi to register, and with their phones.
He further said that through AI dialogue they move from being a mere registry to becoming an intelligent hub for economic planning.
The chairman also said that the Board’s role was to provide the policy framework to ensure that the use of AI is ethical, secure, and compliant with the Nigerian Data Protection Act 2023, to ensure that no citizen’s data will be misused or compromised under their watch.
They are also to provide the management resources and work closely with their supervising ministry, the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment and the Budget Office to ensure funding for AI infrastructure, secure cloud systems and staff training will be prioritised.
He said that the board would also support the management to retain and upskill all staff of the Commission.
‘The Renewed Hope Agenda of His Excellency, the President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, demands that we serve 200-plus million Nigerians at scale, efficiently, without bias, without delay and without the loopholes associated with corruption.’
Ibrahim Ida urged all the participants to engage fully, speak freely and leave the venue with a shared vision to make the CAC and indeed Nigeria, a more conducive business environment.
Governor Bala Mohammed Abdulkadir of Bauchi State, who also spoke at the event, commended the good effort of the Corporate Affairs Commission for ensuring accurate data, curbing corruption and intimidation and generally improving the ease of doing business in Nigeria.
He said that Corporate Affairs Commission also provides a foundational space in the economic architecture of Nigeria, as the sole custodian of business incorporation and corporate regulation directly correlating with the vitality of the country.
He also commended the Registrar-General, Hussein Ishaq Madamisin and his visionary management team for the remarkable transformation the Commission has recorded for moving the CAC from manual registries to advance digital platforms and actively pioneering artificial intelligence to achieve world-class results rapid name reservation and swift certificate issuance are highly commendable.
According to him, ‘Our government agenda is anchored on my party’s blueprint, the response plan seeks to build massive infrastructure, enhance social services and aggressively stimulate a prosperous economic environment, riding on the private sector. To break free from reliance on federal allocations, the administration is systematically opening up the state’s abundant agricultural, solid mineral and tourism potential to the private sector.
‘In our drive towards ensuring ease of doing business, we have taken several measures, including the institutionalisation of reforms to remove bureaucratic bottlenecks and foster friendly private-corporate cooperation. We have also taken measures to eliminate multiple integration and streamline fees and processes for entrepreneurs.
‘We have empowered the state investment promotion agency to function as a seamless one-stop shop for local and international investors. The state has maintained economic engagements, including the highly successful Economic Investment Summit in 2025, that screened about billions of dollars to markets from minerals, mining, agriculture, solid minerals, energy, and infrastructure.
‘We have also constructed over 3,000 roads, over 10,000 classrooms, and over 1,000 primary healthcare facilities. Also moved from the kind of regionalist system, we were to more than six that are completely healthy, with our counterparts at the national level.
‘We are mindful of the fact that practical policy can only succeed if businesses can register and organize transparently. This is why the synergy between the state government and the CAC becomes essential.’