CAC and SMEDAN launched a scheme to register business names at no cost to a large batch of small businesses. Here's what it actually covers.
The agreement behind it
CAC and SMEDAN signed an agreement on 26 Sep 2025. Under it, CAC waives its usual statutory fees, and SMEDAN handles mobilising and profiling the businesses that come through the scheme.
CAC's own notice frames this as part of a wider push to bring more small businesses into the formal register, with the state effectively absorbing the registration cost. For a business that has been trading informally, this is a real opportunity to formalise without the usual fee standing in the way.
How many businesses it covers
The scheme covers 250,000 free business name registrations. That is a large but finite number, not an open-ended offer.
News coverage reports no fixed closing date beyond the slots running out. If you are eligible, applying earlier removes the risk of the scheme closing before you get to it.
Who the scheme is actually for
News reports describe the scope as business names only, for businesses not yet registered with CAC. That detail comes from press coverage of the scheme rather than a single, fully detailed public notice, so treat the edges of it as worth confirming directly with SMEDAN.
Our guide to checking your own eligibility covers the exclusions reported alongside this scope in more detail.
How to apply
Applications go through portal.smedan.gov.ng, according to SMEDAN's own site and the news coverage describing the process. You register there, and SMEDAN confirms your eligibility before the business name registration proceeds.
There is no reason to pay a third party to apply on your behalf. The application sits on SMEDAN's own portal, the same way SCUML's free registration sits on its own portal without a fee attached.
Keep a copy of whatever confirmation the portal gives you once you apply. If a bank or a customer later asks for proof your business name is registered, that record is what you'll reach for first.
Common mistakes
- Paying someone who promises to secure a slot. Nobody can promise a slot ahead of SMEDAN's own confirmation, and the application itself carries no fee.
- Assuming an existing business name qualifies for a free reissue. The scheme targets businesses not yet on the CAC register.
- Waiting too long to apply. A fixed number of slots means late applicants risk the scheme closing first.
- Confusing this with full company registration. This scheme is described as covering business names, a different filing from registering a limited company.
For the wider picture of what SMEDAN and the CAC each do, see the SME regulators hub, and our guide to the RC number a full company registration carries if a business name isn't what you actually need.