Running company checks in Nigeria at the moment is quite a haphazard task. This presents a situation in which potential investors are not provided with the basic form of protection expected from a 21st century Nigerian Government. With the level of IT advancements in today’s world, deploying such a solution is not a big deal. Providing a Free data company check system is quite important for easy dissemination of information by concerned parties in the business space in Nigeria.
Problem: Poor or no company lookup infrastructure
Beneficiary: CAC, FIRS, Investors, Nigerians
Proposed by: Tomi Orunmuyi, ICT & Media Expert (Msc Telecommunication Systems Management – Queen Mary University of London, BSc Electrical Engineering- University of Ilorin)
Idea Status: Pitch
HOW DOES IT WORK?
There is the need for an online open data service in order to provide corporate information for registered Nigerian companies. This should focus on collaborating all types of company data including Company Key Data, Accounts, Returns, Financial Figures, Company Appointments and Filing History. Other information such as Company Name, Status, Company Number, Incorporation Date, Company Age, Activity Description, Credit Report (latest returns) and Directors details should be included as well. For example, anyone should be able to run online checks on Nigerian companies in order to get a report such as given below:
Annual turnover is £6.5 million or more
The balance sheet total is £ 3.26 million or more
Employs 50 or more employees
May be publicly listed
May be a member of a group of companies meeting any of the above criteria
The information should be available to 3rd party service providers from Nigerian public records such as CAC and Nigerian Government Data (Tax)/FIRS.
Migrating/integrating the current company data structures to a system supporting this functionality, including building the system itself is not beyond ordinary. It is as basic (or complicated- depending on your perspective) as a Computer Science final year project assigned to 10 students. However, this is based on the assumption that company data for all registered entities in Nigeria currently exists in some kind of computer readable database.
There are unconfirmed reports that a Nigerian Senator earns between 180 million to 350 million annually. This more than enough to fund a government IT specialists team of at least 30 professionals from the private sector. This would include Database Administrators, Security Specialists, Network Engineers, IT System Administrators and programmers; with years of prior and relevant experience. Infrastructure would not be a problem due to the existence government owned entities such as Galaxy Backbone and NITDA.
This solution is achievable within six months if well planned and funded.
Full impact potential: Better protection for investors
Funding: The Nigerian Government
Marketplace: Business in general
Written by: Tomi Orunmuyi
