Cama 2020: A Breath of Fresh Air or a Replica of the Past

Abstract

The economy of every clime requires overwhelming participation from private entities and other individuals. However, as participation grows, the task of regulation equally grows. Hence, regulators in every clime strive to capture the activities of economic participants to avoid abuse and unchecked malpractices in the economy by unscrupulous elements. For Nigeria, the rally by regulators might not have been the same as the regulatory structure has not been the most impressive globally, leading to lesser ease in doing business in the Nigerian clime. However, the signing of the CAMA Act 2020 by President Buhari on the 7th of August, 2020 engineered the beginning of a new era for corporate organizations in Nigeria. Prior to the enactment of the CAMA 2020, the 1990 Act was the relevant law. However, there were a lot of complaints that the 1990 Act had its own defects which prevented it from being at par with international standards. A major reason was that the Act was a borrowed outfit which was not amended for a long time to fit the growing complexities of the corporate world. Based on this, there was a clamor by relevant stakeholders for a new Act to be enacted to fill these loopholes and bring the law up to date with the new methods of doing business globally. This article seeks to examine the new Act and its expected impact on the Nigerian economy. It shall examine the innovations and probe whether the Act will be a breath of fresh air for the Nigerian corporate community or a mere replica of the past.