Business registrations hit record under COVID
THE COMPANIES Office of Jamaica, COJ, is reporting a spike in the registration of businesses in proportions far exceeding its expectations in a year beset by crisis.
More than a quarter of the new registrations in 2020 were done through COJ’s Electronic Business Registration Platform, or eBRF – a portal that links to various government agencies, making it easier to complete registrations. The eBRF is a new system, with teething pains, but the kinks are being worked out, the COJ’s Registrar and CEO Judith Ramlogan, said in a release from the agency.
Some 12,809 business names, up 12 per cent, and 3,935 companies, up three per cent, were added to the roll last year – growth levels that Companies Office said set a record for new registrations.
Ramlogan said the agency expected registrations to increase, just not in such significant numbers. The largest category of new registrations was for restaurants, bars and canteens – 1,343; and construction – 275.
“We expected an increase in the usage of the eBRF platform given the Pandemic. A lot of persons chose to go online because it was safer and more convenient. We, however, did not anticipate the significant increases in registration numbers given the effect of the pandemic on the economy,” said the registrar.
“The increase shows that persons have been pivoting to create employment for themselves and they are choosing formalisation over informality,” she said.
The eBRF is said to be the equivalent of the agency’s super form for registrations.