TheCable

From October 1 to December 31, business registration will cost N5000.

According to a statement released on Tuesday, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo made the announcement in Enugu at the launch of the 19th edition of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Clinics.

At present, business registration with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) costs N10,000.

“It was observed during some of the earlier editions of the MSMEs Clinics that a lot of MSMEs were finding it difficult to register their businesses as a result of cost,” the statement released by Laolu Akande, senior special assistant to the vice president on media and publicity, quoted him to have said.

“The practice since we began the MSMEs clinics is that most agencies offer price reductions, especially for registration, and all other pre-investment approvals, during the Clinics.

“So, I am pleased to announce that the Federal Government, through the Corporate Affairs Commission, has approved a special window of 90 days from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31 to register businesses at a considerably reduced rate of N5000 only, down from as much as N10,000 previously.

“This will afford more MSMEs an opportunity to formalise their businesses.”

Osinbajo said the federal government will introduce shared facilities for MSMEs.

He said the facilities would be based on a partnership between the federal government, interested states, Bank of Industry, NEXIM Bank, FIRS, NAFDAC, SON and interested private sector partners.

“The purpose of these shared facilities is to have a fully-equipped place with machinery and equipment required for various trades and businesses. MSMEs can then do their businesses at those locations at a reasonable cost,” he explained.

“This way, MSMEs are spared the financial burden of having to buy their own equipment in order to be able to do business.

“Where possible, these shared facilities would have been pre-certified by relevant agencies, removing the need for MSMEs to pursue these certifications by themselves.”