Information Rapid Access

N-	Natural Resources (Minerals such as Tantalite, Coal, Kaolin, Bitumen, Silica Sand, etc)
I-	Information and Communication Technology (Business Process Outsourcing, WIMAX, Rural Telephony, Internet, e-Government, Distance Learning, Computers, Software etc)
G-	Oil and Gas (Gas Masterplan, Marginal Fields, Local Content, Spare Parts etc)
E-	Energy (including Environment, Waste to Energy, Solar, Wind, Biogas, IPP etc)
R-	Resorts (Hospitality including Hotels, Golf Courses, Theme Parks, Meetings, Conference and Convention Centres, etc)
I-	Infrastructure (Transportation, Housing, Health, Ports, Prefabs, Export Processing Zones, Markets, BOOT)
A-	Agriculture (Integrated, Food Processing, Post Harvest Technology, Aquaculture)

NIGERIA: Investment Incentives
The Federal Government has a one-stop agency set up to assist investors in the country. It is called the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (www.nipc.gov.ng/investment). It has put in place several investment incentives to stimulate private sector investment from within and outside the country.

While some of these incentives cover all sectors, other are limited to some specific sectors.

The incentives include:

1. Companies Income Tax
   The Companies Income Tax Act has been amended in order to encourage potential and existing investors and entrepreneurs. The current rate in all sectors, except for petroleum, is 30 percent.
    
2. Pioneer Status
   The grant of Pioneer Status to an industry is aimed at enabling the industry concerned to make a reasonable level of profit within its formative years. The profit so made is expected to be ploughed back into the business.
   
   Pioneer status is a tax holiday granted to qualified or (eligible) industries anywhere in the Federation and seven-year tax holiday in respect of industries located in economically disadvantaged local government area of the Federation. At the moment, there is a list of 69 approved industries declared pioneer industries, which can benefit from tax holiday.

Registering Your Business in Nigeria
Having your company or business registered confers some credibility on it. This gives the business a unique identity. Registration of businesses in Nigeria is the responsibility of the Corporate Affairs Commission, which has its head office in Abuja but has branches in most states of the federation.

According to CAC, registration is divided into three parts under the Companies and Allied Matters Act. They include registration of business names, incorporation of companies and registration of incorporated trustees. Businesses that can be registered with CAC are Private Limited Liability, Public Limited Company, Public Limited by Guarantee and Unlimited Company.

As prescribed by CAC, the minimum membership for each of these companies is two and maximum for private company is 50 members while there is no upper limit for public companies. A minimum share capital of N10,000 for private companies and N500,000 for public companies with a minimum subscription of 25 per cent of the authorized share capital.

Incorporation of (private or public) company involves searching for availability of name, completion of registration form, payment of appropriate stamp duty fee at the Federal Board of Internal Revenue, submission of Memorandum and Articles of Association together with statutory forms for verification and assessment, payment of statutory fees at the CAC. The consent of Attorney General of the Federation is required in the case of Unlimited Company by Guarantee.

Post registration issues such as change of name, change of directors, change of secretary, change of trustees, conversion of and re-registration of private company to public company, allotment of shares, etc should be directed to the Registrar-General of CAC. Expectedly, if all these procedures are strictly followed, registration of business should not take more than 10 working days, more so that CAC now works electronically.

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