In a bid to migrate micro, small and medium (MSME) business owners from the informal to the formal sector of the economy, the Nigerian Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME) has supervised the registration of about 150 companies with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).
Their registration with the CAC facilitates their inclusion in Nigeria’s tax net.
The Nigerian Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME) on Friday presented CAC registration certificates and the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) tax identity numbers to beneficiaries of the NASME/Oxfam MSME tax compliance project held in Lagos.
This was in partnership with Oxfam, an international confederation of 20 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working with partners in over 90 countries to end the injustices that cause poverty. It is said to be the sole sponsor of this project in partnership with NASME.
Orimadegun Agboade, president/chairman of council of NASME, said the project was targeted at supporting 180 MSMEs— 90 in Lagos and 90 in Edo State— to file with the relevant authorities.
In achieving this, the president explained that NASME moved to initiate a negotiation with the federal government to review the initial N10, 500 fee for CAC registration to N5,500 in what he termed a ‘carrot strategy’ geared towards making affordable the process to MSMEs.
“This is believed to help eliminate or reduce the possibility of progress being hindered by unregulated activities of companies in the informal space, as well as help boost government revenue through a wider tax net, hence spring economy growth,” he said.
“NASME led a coalition of 23 Business Membership organizations (BMOs) to execute the project which kicked off in March 2018 and ended in December 2018,” Agboade explained.
“Today we are happy to present CAC registration certificates of some of the SMEs that formalised their business during the cause of the project here in Lagos,” he said.
Beneficiaries of this project have the opportunity to access credit facilities from deposit money banks due to increased credit worthiness upon company registration. Hence this should promote growth prospects of small enterprises medium and big enterprises.
The president during an interview with BusinessDay commended the efforts of the CBN in ensuring banks commit to providing credit to MSMEs. However, the high interest rate environment of the Nigerian economy still creates default risk potential and unwillingness for MSMEs to consider loans from banks.
Speaking with one of the beneficiaries, Najeedeen Adebimpe, proprietor of An-Nejoom School, he described how pleased he was with NASME and OXFAM stating, “upon registration of my school at little or no cost, now I am in Business
