Free CAC Slots Open As FG Moves To Formalise 250,000 MSMEs
Millions of Nigerian entrepreneurs operating outside the formal economy now have a rare opening to register their businesses at no cost, following the Federal Government’s decision to throw open applications for the free incorporation of 250,000 micro, small and medium enterprises.
The scheme, driven jointly by the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria and the Corporate Affairs Commission, was approved by President Bola Tinubu and unveiled at the 8th National MSME Awards held at the State House, Abuja, on June 27. Under it, qualifying nano, micro and small businesses will receive Business Name registration through the CAC, with the government absorbing the statutory fees ordinarily borne by applicants.
Beyond the waiver, the presidency said beneficiaries would gain technical training, business development support and easier access to finance and government interventions, all framed within the administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda. The initiative rests on a Memorandum of Understanding the two agencies signed in 2025, under which the CAC agreed to forgo an estimated N3 billion in registration revenue to onboard the enterprises. A standard Business Name registration ordinarily costs about N11,000.
Applications run through the SMEDAN portal at portal.smedan.gov.ng. Prospective beneficiaries are expected to create an account, complete the MSME registration form with accurate business details, indicate that the enterprise has no existing CAC number, and submit for review. Successful applicants receive a SMEDAN Unique Identification Number, after which the CAC processes the free registration. According to SMEDAN, businesses already captured in its database without CAC records may qualify automatically, and the slots are allocated on a first come basis.
The urgency behind the drive is rooted in hard numbers. The most recent National MSME Survey, conducted by SMEDAN and the National Bureau of Statistics, put the country’s MSME population at about 39.6 million as of 2021, down from 41.5 million in 2017, a fall of roughly two million enterprises the agencies linked largely to the shocks of the COVID pandemic. Micro enterprises alone account for about 99.8 percent of that figure.
Their weight in the economy is considerable. The same survey credited MSMEs with contributing about 46.3 percent of national output, 87.9 percent of employment and 96.9 percent of all businesses, even as they made up only 6.2 percent of exports. Yet a large share remain informal and financially excluded, with SMEDAN data showing that nearly two thirds of micro enterprises earn less than N50,000 a month, and officials repeatedly pointing to a high failure rate among startups.
Formalisation, the government argues, is the first step toward closing that gap. A registered business can open a corporate account, bid for public contracts, access loans and grants, and build the paper trail lenders and investors demand. The timing also aligns with tax reforms that took effect from January 2026, which raised the exemption threshold for small firms, meaning many newly formalised businesses may carry little or no immediate tax burden.
The push is not without precedent. The CAC has run periodic fee concessions and, alongside SMEDAN, has for years promoted formalisation as central to job creation and financial inclusion. What distinguishes the current effort is its scale and the direct presidential backing.
For now, the message from both agencies is that the window is open but finite. Entrepreneurs who miss the 250,000 slots will return to paying the standard fees, making early application, officials indicate, the surest route to benefiting from the waiver.