Verifying a Supplier's Company Registration: CAC, BRS, CIPC

How does a buyer confirm that a local reseller or intermediary is a registered, active company in Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa or Ghana, and what does the check not prove?

Search the national company registry for the supplier's exact registered name or registration number, and confirm four things: that the entity exists, that its type matches how it presents itself, that its status is active, and that the name on the invoice and the payment instruction matches the register. If all four hold, you know the supplier is a real registered entity. You do not know that it is competent, honest or permitted to sell laboratory chemicals.

This article covers the public registries in Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa and Ghana, written for a buyer dealing with a domestic reseller or intermediary. It is a different step from vetting an overseas manufacturer. It is also a step that comes before payment, not after, because a registry search cannot recover money already sent. Which payment rail to use is a separate question, covered in the pillar article for this cluster.

Why the check comes before payment

A social media page, a marketplace profile and a polished invoice can all be produced in an afternoon. A registry entry cannot be produced by the supplier. It is held by a state body and can be searched by anyone. That independence is the entire value of the check.

It is also cheap. Most registry front pages offer a free or low-cost basic search, and an official extract or certified record, where one is needed for a file, is a paid service whose fee should be read from the registry's own page.

Most mismatches are innocent. A trading name differs from the registered name, a company has changed its name, or the invoice carries the name of a parent or a related entity. The check is there to surface the mismatch while it can still be asked about politely, before a payment has gone to an account in a name nobody can connect to the supplier you meant to deal with.

A useful rule is to run the search from the registration number or exact name printed on the supplier's own invoice or quotation, not from a link or a number the supplier texts you. A number you looked up yourself, on the registry's own site, is independent. A number the supplier supplies together with a link to a lookalike page is not.

Nigeria: the CAC public search

The Corporate Affairs Commission runs a public search portal ^[1]. We could not load it by automated fetch for this article, which returned a refusal, so the description here rests on how the portal is referred to by other services and not on a session in it. Open it in a browser and read what it shows.

Nigerian entities are identified by a registration number whose prefix indicates the type. Companies carry an RC number. Business names, which are sole proprietorships and partnerships, carry a BN number. Incorporated trustees, such as associations and foundations, carry an IT number. A supplier that presents as a company but turns out to be a registered business name is not necessarily dishonest, but the legal person you are contracting with is then an individual or partnership, and the invoice should say so.

Kenya: the Business Registration Service

Kenya's Business Registration Service runs the Companies Registry. Its page lists an official search and a CR12 list among its services, and links to the eCitizen online services portal ^[2]. The page does not itself explain what a search returns, so read the portal's own description when you use it.

A CR12 is the document commonly requested to see a company's directors and shareholders. A buyer entering a larger contract may ask the supplier to provide a current one, and may also obtain an official search directly. A supplier that is reluctant to provide either has told you something.

South Africa: CIPC

The Companies and Intellectual Property Commission keeps the register of companies and close corporations and offers a public enterprise search from its website ^[3]. Basic details such as the name, registration number, type and status are public. South African registration numbers follow a year-sequence-type pattern, and the type suffix distinguishes a private company from other entity types.

Pay attention to status. The register shows whether an entity is in business, in the process of deregistration or deregistered. An entity that has been deregistered is not a counterparty you can sue as a company, whatever its website says.

Ghana: the Registrar of Companies

Ghana's Office of the Registrar of Companies is the registering body ^[4]. We reviewed only its front page and did not test its search, so we make no statement about the search interface. Contact the Office or use the channel its site describes for a status confirmation, and record how the confirmation was obtained.

Registered is not permitted

A company registry answers a narrow question: is there a legal entity of this name. It says nothing about what the entity may lawfully sell. A sector body can impose its own requirement on top of incorporation.

In Nigeria, the Nigerian Institute of Science Laboratory Technology published a notice dated 2 September 2020 stating that registration with the Institute is mandatory for suppliers of science laboratory equipment, chemicals and reagents, and that such suppliers must hold an annual permit before supplying; the notice also advises users to buy only from registered vendors with a current permit ^[5]. The notice we read states no penalties. Whether the requirement is currently enforced, and in what form, should be confirmed with the Institute directly.

Importation is a third question again. A supplier that brings reagents in has its own obligations at the border, which differ by country and are covered in the country import articles on this site.

Recording the check in the supplier file

A check that is not written down cannot be shown later. The record takes a few lines.

1. The supplier's name as it appears on the invoice and on the payment instruction.
2. The registry searched, the date and time, and the registration number found.
3. The entity type and status as shown, with a saved copy or screenshot of the result page.
4. Whether the registered name matches the invoice and the payee, and any explanation given for a difference.
5. Any sector permit requested, its number and expiry, and who supplied it.

Repeat the search before a large or repeat order. Status changes, and a company that was active a year ago may not be today.

What to do next: before the next payment to a new domestic supplier, run the search, file the record, and ask for the sector permit if one applies. If the registered name and the payee do not match, resolve that before paying, not after.