Nigeria has showcased its progress in implementing beneficial ownership transparency in the extractive industry at the ongoing 10th Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) Global Conference in Brussels, Belgium.a
The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) highlighted the country’s beneficial ownership framework during an Opening Extractives programme on Wednesday, where participating countries discussed practical approaches to using beneficial ownership data to strengthen transparency and accountability.
The Registrar-General of the CAC, Ishaq Magaji Hussain, said Nigeria became the first African country to establish a public beneficial ownership register for the extractive sector in 2019.
Hussain, who spoke as a panellist at the session themed, “Beneficial Ownership Data in Practice,” said the country had continued to strengthen the system, with the framework now covering businesses across the wider Nigerian economy.
Other countries represented during the panel discussions included Argentina, Armenia, Colombia, Ghana, Liberia, the Philippines, Senegal, South Africa and Zambia.
According to the CAC boss, the commission serves as the central repository and custodian of beneficial ownership information in Nigeria, with the register designed to be accessible to the public.
He said the Federal Government had adopted beneficial ownership disclosure as part of its broader transparency and accountability framework, with plans for the system to interface with public procurement, revenue collection and law enforcement institutions.
He specifically mentioned the Nigerian Revenue Service, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit among the institutions that can utilise beneficial ownership data.
Hussain said the significance of the system extended beyond government investigations, describing it as a framework for transparency across the extractive industry and the broader economy.
> “Beneficial ownership goes beyond the use by government agencies for investigation. It’s for the general society. It has basically become a framework for transparency in all activities in the extractive industry and the central economy.”
He explained that companies seeking incorporation in Nigeria are required to disclose information on their ultimate owners, while subsequent changes in ownership must also be reported.
According to him, the requirement is particularly important in the extractive sector, where licences and permits are issued to corporate entities rather than directly to individuals.
He said maintaining up-to-date beneficial ownership records enables regulators, investors and other stakeholders to identify the individuals who ultimately control companies holding licences and permits.
Hussain said companies are also required to file annual returns, warning that failure to update their records could result in a company becoming inactive.
He added that companies whose stated purposes had ceased to exist were required to notify the CAC and could either voluntarily wind up or be compelled to do so.
The CAC Registrar-General further stressed the importance of beneficial ownership information to investors, particularly foreign investors, as well as persons with significant control registers that rely on standardised beneficial ownership data to identify the ultimate owners of Nigerian companies.
The Brussels conference is bringing together representatives from EITI member countries and other stakeholders to examine how beneficial ownership information can be translated into practical tools for transparency, accountability and improved governance of natural resources.
