The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) has announced plans to deploy an Artificial Intelligence (AI) agent to address a backlog of more than 7,000 company registration applications and ease service delays.
Registrar-General and CEO of the CAC, Hussaini Ishaq Magaji, SAN, disclosed this on Monday in Kano during a stakeholders’ forum. He explained that the AI agent will be deployed to handle requests across compliance, registry, and customer service functions with speed and accuracy, thereby tackling challenges that have slowed down service delivery.
“In a bid to tackle the backlog of 7,000 registration applications, an AI agent was in the pipeline to handle requests across compliance, registry, and customer service with speed and accuracy,” the Commission said in a statement quoting the Registrar-General.
Bumpy Transition to AI Portal
Magaji admitted that the transition to the Commission’s AI-driven portal has been less than smooth, with many customers experiencing delays in approvals, particularly for services not covered in the first phase of deployment. He attributed most of the delays to the overwhelming number of applications that the new system has had to process.
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The CAC boss added that AI will also be deployed to manage the high volume of daily inquiries received by the Commission. According to him, the system receives no fewer than 3,000 emails per day, and the AI tool being developed is capable of reading and comprehending those emails within a minute, detecting duplicate requests, and rerouting messages to the appropriate departments for faster resolution.
Magaji reassured stakeholders that the Commission is working to stabilize its newly introduced AI portal and improve customer satisfaction. “Problems have been identified, and solutions are already in motion,” he said.
Backstory
The CAC had earlier in June launched its AI-driven registration portal, aimed at transforming Nigeria’s business environment by simplifying company registration processes and accelerating approvals. The new platform, described by the Commission as a complete overhaul of its Company Registration Portal (CRP), was programmed to provide instant name approvals and suggest alternatives when preferred names are unavailable.
Magaji had explained that name reservations under the new system would be as seamless as opening an email account, with AI ensuring real-time approvals. However, users of the portal have faced significant challenges, ranging from failed payment reflections to difficulties submitting documents. These glitches contributed to the backlog the Commission is now seeking to clear.
Despite the challenges, the CAC announced in July that the portal was processing over 11,000 transactions daily, describing the development as a major leap in automation, albeit one that still requires adjustments to function smoothly.
