The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) has successfully completed the first leg of stakeholder sensitization on the use of the Beneficial Ownership Register (BOR).
The journey to building Africa’s first BOR began seven years ago with Nigeria making a commitment to the world during the 2016 London Anti-Corruption Summit.
At the Summit, Nigeria pledged, among other things, to open a publicly available beneficial ownership register of corporate entities.
The CAMA 2020 heralded a new beginning as work on the BOR began in earnest, scaling through extensive development and testing in line with global standards under the guidance, supervision, and support of the World Bank.
A ground-breaking event for the launch of the BOR was held in Abuja on May 25, 2023, followed by a well-attended 3-day multilateral peer exchange review workshop.
The workshop ended on June 9, 2023, with participants from South Africa, Uganda, Germany, and the United Kingdom, among others, paying a study visit to the Headquarters of Nigeria’s Company registry, the CAC.
Many of the participants gave glowing reviews about the performance of the Commission and went on to describe it as “a shining example for African countries.”
Sequel to the epoch event, on July 12, 2023, in Abuja, the Alhaji Garba Abubakar-led CAC flagged off a training workshop on the Use of the BOR as a component of the project, which was warmly supported and assisted by the World Bank.
The training drew participants from the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), the Special Control Unit against Money Laundering (SCUML), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), and Journalists, amongst others.
Similar engagements were held in Lagos on July 25, 2023, and in Kano on July 27, 2023, recording a huge turnout of Stakeholders.
In all the venues of the training, Stakeholders had the opportunity to witness a live demonstration of the BOR as well as meaningfully engage the Commission.
With the successes recorded with the launch of Africa’s first BOR, more countries are now aiming to replicate the milestone achievement in their jurisdictions.
Kenya and Malawi, among others, are in the queue of countries expected to commence study visits to the CAC in a bid to develop their own version of the BOR.
In view of the reforms carried out by the CAC under the dynamic leadership of Alhaji Garba Abubakar, the Corporate Registers Forum (CRF) has penciled the Commission for an International Award during its upcoming 2023 Conference scheduled for Malta.
