Nigeria Company Search Guide 2026: How to Verify a Nigerian Business

TL;DR. Nigeria’s Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) operates the Companies Registration Portal (CRP) at cac.gov.ng. Basic company status searches are free; certified extracts cost NGN 1,000 to NGN 15,000 (approximately USD 0.65 to USD 9.70). The interface is in English. As of May 2026, Nigeria remains on the FATF Jurisdictions Under Increased Monitoring (grey) list. Foreign buyers can access the portal and order documents without a Nigerian identity document.

What is the official Nigeria business registry?

The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) is Nigeria’s statutory company registry, established under the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 1990, now replaced by CAMA 2020 (Companies and Allied Matters Act No. 3 of 2020). The CAC operates under the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment and maintains the Companies Registration Portal (CRP) at cac.gov.ng.

CAMA 2020 was a material modernization of Nigerian company law. It introduced single-member companies, allowed for small company exemptions from audit, created a framework for limited liability partnerships (LLPs), and strengthened beneficial ownership requirements. The CAC’s digital registry went through a major re-platforming between 2020 and 2023, migrating legacy paper records to the CRP.

The CAC registers private companies limited by shares (Ltd), public companies limited by shares (Plc), companies limited by guarantee, unlimited companies, limited partnerships, limited liability partnerships, business names (sole traders and partnerships), and incorporated trustees (non-profits and NGOs). External companies (foreign companies with a local presence) are also registered with the CAC. Nigeria does not operate separate state-level company registries; the CAC is the single federal registry for all entity types.

For compliance buyers covering West Africa, it is worth noting that Nigeria is the economic anchor of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and Nigerian entity checks frequently arise in cross-border trade and investment flows across the region. Nigeria is also a founding member of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

What can you search?

The CAC Companies Registration Portal supports searches on:

• Company name (partial or exact)
• RC number (Registration Certificate number, the primary identifier)
• Business name
• Incorporated trustee name

Search results return the entity’s full registered name, RC number, incorporation date, company type, registered office address, and current status (active, struck off, in receivership, wound up, etc.).

Authenticated users with a CRP account can access additional details including director and shareholder listings, annual return filing history, and filed documents. The free public search is limited to name and registration number confirmation. Document orders require a pre-funded CRP wallet.

Data updates at the CAC are filing-event driven. Director changes, share transfers, and status changes require the company to file relevant forms. In practice, filings at some companies are delayed, so the CAC record may not reflect the most current ownership structure. Annual returns are due each year; companies in arrears may have outdated records.

How much does it cost?

Prices are based on CAC published fee schedules at cac.gov.ng as of May 2026. The NGN/USD conversion used is approximately 0.00065 (reflecting the Nigerian naira at prevailing official and market rates in May 2026). Note that the naira has experienced major volatility since the 2023 exchange rate unification; USD equivalents should be treated as approximate.

Do you need a local account or ID?

A CRP user account is required to order certified documents. Account registration at the CAC portal accepts an email address. Foreign buyers do not need a Nigerian national identification number (NIN) or Bank Verification Number (BVN) to create a CRP account for the purpose of searching and ordering company documents.

Payment for certified documents goes through a CRP wallet, which can be funded via international credit or debit card, or via Remita (a Nigerian government payment platform). International card acceptance has been variable in practice due to naira settlement constraints; buyers experiencing card issues may need to use a Nigerian-registered payment method or a local agent.

Is the website in English?

Yes. Nigeria’s official language of business and government is English, and the CAC Companies Registration Portal is fully in English. All company documents filed with the CAC and all document outputs are in English.

What’s the turnaround time?

Basic status searches are available instantly after login.

Certified document orders (certified true copies of company extracts, founding documents, and director listings) are processed within 1 to 5 business days depending on the document type and the CAC’s processing queue. In practice, simpler extracts are often fulfilled within 1 to 2 business days. Complex historical file requests may take longer.

The CRP issues digitally-signed PDF extracts. Physical certified documents with a wet CAC stamp are available through in-person collection at CAC offices in Abuja, Lagos, and state capitals, but are rarely required for international compliance purposes.

Is there an API?

No public API is available from the CAC. The Companies Registration Portal is web-based without an open data access layer. Automated bulk access to CAC records is not permitted under the CAC’s terms of service.

Commercial data suppliers (see the Local data suppliers section) aggregate CAC data and provide API access for platform-level integration.

What you legally cannot do

Nigeria’s Nigeria Data Protection Act (NDPA) 2023 (and its predecessor, the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation 2019) governs personal data processing. Director names, shareholder details, and addresses extracted from CAC records constitute personal data under the NDPA when processed by a private entity. Compliance use cases (KYC, AML screening) constitute a legitimate processing purpose, but redistribution of personal data from CAC records for commercial resale requires appropriate legal basis and, in some cases, registration with the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC).

Automated scraping of the CAC portal is prohibited under the CAC’s terms of use. Bulk data redistribution without a CAC licensing agreement is not permitted.

AML/CFT obligations in Nigeria are administered by the Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering (SCUML) and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU). Financial institutions and designated non-financial businesses must conduct customer due diligence under the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022 and the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022.

For cross-border due diligence guidance, the Global Business Due Diligence Guide covers Nigeria-specific risk considerations in the Africa tier.

Practical tips for foreign compliance buyers

• Use the RC number as the anchor identifier. The RC number (Registration Certificate number) is Nigeria’s primary company identifier, formatted as a 7-digit number (e.g., RC 1234567). For business names, a BN number applies. Always search by RC number rather than company name, as name variants and spelling differences are common.
• Distinguish Ltd from Plc. A private company limited by shares (Ltd) is not listed on a stock exchange. A public company limited by shares (Plc) may or may not be listed on the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX). For listed companies, the NGX maintains a separate public register of listed securities at ngxgroup.com.
• Annual return arrears are common. Many Nigerian companies, particularly SMEs, are in arrears on CAC annual returns. A company with outstanding annual returns is not necessarily defunct, but it indicates a potential compliance gap. Check the status of annual return filings in the CRP when assessing counterparty governance.
• ECOWAS cross-border context. Nigeria is the largest economy in ECOWAS. Companies operating across the West African region frequently hold Nigerian registrations as their primary entity. Verify whether a counterparty’s Nigerian registration is the operating entity or a holding structure.
• FATF enhanced due diligence. Nigeria has been on the FATF grey list since February 2023. Correspondent banks and financial institutions routinely apply enhanced due diligence to Nigeria-related transactions. Verify your institution’s EDD policy covers Nigerian counterparties at the appropriate risk tier.
• AfCFTA implications. Nigeria ratified the AfCFTA agreement. Cross-border transactions under AfCFTA frameworks from or to Nigeria require Nigerian entity verification as part of origin documentation and compliance checks.

Alternatives if you cannot access CAC directly

• Aggregator search (free, indicative only): OpenCorporates indexes CAC filings but lags official data by weeks to months. Useful for quick name-check; not for compliance-grade verification.
• CAC accredited agents: The CAC operates a system of accredited agents who can file and retrieve documents on behalf of clients. For foreign buyers who cannot complete online payment, working with a CAC-accredited legal or secretarial firm in Nigeria is a practical alternative.
• Commercial data suppliers (see section below): offer packaged company intelligence reports combining CAC registry data with credit and risk scoring.

Local data suppliers

• Dun & Bradstreet Nigeria (dnb.com). Global data provider with West Africa coverage. Offers D-U-N-S registered company reports and credit risk scoring for Nigerian entities.
• CRC Credit Bureau (crccreditbureau.com). Nigeria-licensed credit bureau covering commercial and consumer credit data. Provides business credit reports for Nigerian-registered companies with payment behavior analysis.
• CR Services Credit Bureau (creditregistry.ng). One of Nigeria’s CBN-licensed credit bureaus. Covers commercial credit data including director-linked credit histories.

Use CAC for the authoritative company registration record. Use a credit bureau when you need payment behavior, financial health, or director-linked risk analysis on top of the registry extract.

FAQ

Can a foreign company access the Nigeria CAC registry directly?

Yes. The CAC Companies Registration Portal is accessible internationally. Foreign buyers register a CRP account with an email address. No Nigerian national ID is required for standard document searches and orders. International payment acceptance has occasionally been constrained by naira settlement issues, so some foreign buyers use a Nigerian-based agent for payment.

What is the RC number in Nigeria?

The RC number (Registration Certificate number) is the primary identifier for Nigerian companies, issued by the CAC upon incorporation. It is a sequential numeric identifier, typically 6 to 7 digits, prefixed with “RC” (e.g., RC 1234567). For business names, the equivalent is a BN number. For incorporated trustees (NGOs, associations), it is an IT number. Always use the full RC number when conducting compliance verification.

What entity types are registered with CAC?

The CAC registers private companies limited by shares (Ltd), public companies limited by shares (Plc), companies limited by guarantee, unlimited liability companies, limited partnerships, limited liability partnerships (LLPs), business names (sole traders and partnerships), and incorporated trustees. External companies (foreign entities with a Nigerian presence) are also registered. Branch offices of foreign companies appear in CAC records as external company registrations.

Does Nigeria have a beneficial ownership (UBO) registry?

Yes. CAMA 2020 introduced a requirement for Nigerian companies to maintain a register of persons with significant control (PSC), defined as persons who hold more than 5% of shares, voting rights, or the right to appoint or remove a majority of directors. Companies must submit their PSC register to the CAC. However, the PSC register is not publicly searchable on the CRP as of May 2026. Access to PSC data is available to the CAC and competent authorities. This framework aligns with FATF Recommendation 24 on beneficial ownership transparency.

How current is the data in the CAC registry?

CAC data is event-driven and reflects filings made by registered companies. Director changes and share transfers require the company to file the relevant forms (e.g., Form CAC 2A for director changes). Annual returns are due within 18 months of incorporation and annually thereafter. Companies with outstanding annual returns may have outdated records. For time-sensitive compliance decisions, cross-reference the CAC record with a commercial credit bureau report.

Is Nigeria on the FATF grey list?

Yes. Nigeria has been on the FATF Jurisdictions Under Increased Monitoring (grey) list since February 2023, following a mutual evaluation that identified deficiencies in AML/CFT measures. As of May 2026, Nigeria remains on the grey list. Compliance teams should apply enhanced due diligence to Nigerian counterparties consistent with their institution’s EDD policies. Current status can be verified at fatf-gafi.org.

What is the difference between the CAC registry and Nigeria’s tax and financial regulators?

The CAC issues company registration numbers and maintains company filings. The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) at firs.gov.ng issues Tax Identification Numbers (TIN) and administers corporate income tax. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) at cbn.gov.ng regulates banks and financial institutions separately. A company may be validly registered with the CAC but non-compliant on FIRS filings. For complete due diligence on a Nigerian financial institution or regulated entity, check CAC, FIRS, and the CBN register of licensed institutions.

Last verified: May 2026. Source: Corporate Affairs Commission Nigeria (cac.gov.ng), Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (nfiu.gov.ng), FATF (fatf-gafi.org). For the full global due diligence framework, see our Global Business Due Diligence Guide.