Consent application filed with the Corporate Affairs Commission
The Foundation has begun the formal process of incorporation in Nigeria. What has been filed, what is still outstanding, and what we will and will not do while registration is in progress.
The trustees of the Digital Equity & Innovation Foundation have filed an application with the Corporate Affairs Commission to register the Foundation as an Incorporated Trustees association under Nigerian law. This note sets out what that means, what has been submitted, what is still outstanding, and what we will and will not do while the process runs.
What an Incorporated Trustees association is
Nigeria has several legal forms available to organisations that are not businesses. Incorporated Trustees, registered under Part F of the Companies and Allied Matters Act, is the form used by foundations, associations and most non-governmental organisations. Registration gives the organisation legal personality: it can hold property, open accounts, enter agreements and be held accountable in its own name rather than in the names of the individuals behind it.
That last point is the reason to do it properly rather than quickly. An unregistered body that raises and spends money is, in practice, a group of individuals whose personal judgement is the only safeguard. Registration puts a structure and a public record around that.
What the application covers
The filing sets out the Foundation’s eight objects, from encouraging innovative technology in education, agriculture and healthcare, through creating a knowledge-based ecosystem using data science and machine learning, to advocacy for policies that advance technological development in Africa. Those objects define the outer boundary of what the Foundation is permitted to do, which is why they are written broadly enough to cover the work and narrowly enough to mean something.
The application also names the Board of Trustees and records the registered office in Sabon Lugbe, Abuja. The trustees are listed on our About page with their names and roles. We publish nothing else about them, because a public register of a foundation’s leadership should not become a public register of their home addresses and identity documents.
What is still outstanding
Supporting documents are being prepared for submission. Until they are filed and the Commission completes its review, the Foundation is not registered, and we will not describe ourselves as registered. You will see the phrase “registration in progress” on this site until that changes, at which point we will say so here and give the registration number.
This is a slower process than it sounds. Name reservation, trustee declarations, a constitution that satisfies the Commission’s requirements, and the statutory newspaper advertisement all take time, and a single inconsistency sends the file back to the start. We would rather take the time.
What we will not do in the meantime
The Foundation does not solicit public donations and will not do so until registration is complete. That is a deliberate restriction and not a legal technicality we are working around. Asking the public for money before there is a registered body to receive it, audited accounts to record it and a governance structure to answer for it is how good intentions turn into bad outcomes.
We are having conversations with prospective funding, government, technology and community partners, and those conversations are welcome now. What we are not doing is collecting money from the public.
What happens when registration completes
Three things follow. The Foundation opens accounts in its own name and publishes its financial policy. The safeguarding policy, currently in draft with an external adviser, is finalised and published before the first programme opens. And the first programme, most likely a Community Connect Hub, moves from planning into delivery.
Our first annual report, covering 2026 and 2027, is due in 2027. It will report actual figures against the targets already published on this site, including the targets we do not reach.
Why publish this at all
Most organisations announce themselves once everything is in place and the paperwork is tidy. We would rather show the process, including the parts that are incomplete. An organisation asking communities to trust it with their time should be willing to be legible about its own status first.
Questions about governance or registration can be sent to the Trustee Secretary through the contact form.
