The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has recorded 9,795,957 million registered contributors and a value of pension fund assets of N14.27 trillion as at June 30.
The Director -General, PenCom, Mrs Aisha Dahir-Umar gave the figure at the 2022 Workshop organised by the commission for journalists covering the pension industry in Lagos.
The theme of the workshop was: Increasing Informal Sector Participation In The Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) :The case for Micro Pension Plan (MPP).
Dahir-Umar represented by the Head, Corporate Communications, PenCom, Mr Abdulqadir Dahiru said, increasing number of pension contributors and fund was responsible for the recapitalisation of the Pension Fund Administrators (PFA’s) by PenCom.
” The reason for the recapitalisation exercise was to ramp up the capacity of the PFA’s to manage the increasing number of registered contributors and the value of pension fund assets which stood at 9,795,957 million and N14.27 trillion, respectively, as at June 30, 2022.
“PenCom increased the Minimum Regulatory Capital (Shareholders’ Fund) requirements of PFAs from N1 billion to N5 billion in 2021.
“All PFAs have complied with the commission’s directive to increase their minimum capital during the exercise which had a 12-month transition between April, 27 2021 to April, 27 2022, “she said.
According to her, the theme of the workshop aligns with the commission’s objective of expanding coverage of the CPS as it relates to the micro pension plan.
The director-general explained that the objective is to bring into the CPS, Nigerians working in the informal sector and those who are self employed through the MPP.
Dahir-Umar noted that strategic efforts to drive the MPP remain one of the significant areas of focus of the commission.
She said, the MPP was conceptualised to expand pension coverage to the informal sector, including small-scale businesses, entertainers, professionals, petty traders, artisans and entrepreneurs.
” The MPP was implemented to curb old-age poverty by assisting the workers, as mentioned above, to contribute while working and build long-term savings to fall back on when they become old, ” Dahir-Umar said.
The director-general stated that to create awareness of the MPP, the commission, in collaboration with the Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria, is currently championing an industry media campaign in major cities in the country’s six geopolitical zones.
Dahir-Umar noted that it is expected that the exercise will bring about increased effectiveness and efficiency as well as improved service delivery in the industry.
“Let me re-affirm the commission’s commitment to creating awareness and holding social dialogue on the workings of the CPS with relevant stakeholders towards the smooth implementation of the scheme in Nigeria,” she said.
In his presentation, Mr Dauda Ahmed, Head, Micro Pension Department, PenCom said that informal sector constitutes a large and persistent scale in any economy, especially in Africa.
Ahmed stated that over 80 per cent of the working population falls under the informal sector, hence ; the need to provide a social net such as the MPP that would provide better future and retirement plan for them.
He listed the benefits of the MPP to include improved standard of living for the elderly, regular stream of benefits at old age, secures financial autonomy, access to other incentives and independence of retirees, among others.
