The Director-Normal of the Nationwide Pension Fee (PenCom), Omolola Oloworaran, has acknowledged that the subsequent frontier of ongoing pension reforms is focused at over 75 million casual staff in Nigeria.
She made this disclosure on Monday on the government launch of Awabah, PenCom’s pioneer Accredited Pension Agent, at an occasion attended by Nairametrics.
The launch comes days after the Fee introduced that it had licensed Awabah as the primary Accredited Pension Agent (APA) for enrolling contributors below the Private Pension Plan, marking a brand new section in Nigeria’s pension reform journey.
Oloworaran mentioned Nigeria’s pension system has made vital progress however stays skewed towards the formal sector, leaving tens of millions of staff uncovered.
She defined that the subsequent section of pension reform should concentrate on closing the hole created by the nation’s predominantly casual financial system.
“In line with the Nationwide Bureau of Statistics, over 93 per cent of our workforce is casual — greater than 75 million individuals,” she mentioned.
She added that this casual workforce powers Nigeria’s financial system day-after-day, but most of them retire with no financial savings, pension, or security web.
“This hole will not be solely a social problem; it’s a nationwide vulnerability. Closing this hole is the subsequent frontier of pension reform,” she added.
“And Nigeria will not be a proper financial system. That leaves a niche that we should shut.”
“Accredited Pension Brokers like Awabah signify the way forward for pension distribution.”
“This isn’t nearly retirement financial savings; additionally it is about jobs and {economic} alternative,” she mentioned.
She famous that with pension belongings exceeding N27 trillion and greater than 10 million Retirement Financial savings Accounts, the system has achieved scale, however largely amongst salaried staff.
In line with her, Accredited Pension Brokers will function the bridge to markets, villages, motor parks, farms, and workshops by leveraging expertise to succeed in casual staff nationwide.
Stakeholders on the occasion highlighted the broader {economic} implications of increasing pension protection past the formal sector.
The CEO of Nairametrics, Ugodre Obi-Chukwu, in an interview, argued that non-public pensions, previously often known as micro-pensions, can play a crucial position in capital formation whereas offering long-term safety for casual staff.
Each audio system agreed that PenCom’s determination to license early innovators comparable to Awabah alerts a robust regulatory intent to combine casual staff into Nigeria’s pension and capital formation ecosystem, whereas additionally strengthening social safety.
PenCom has not too long ago intensified reforms geared toward enhancing entry, effectivity, and belief within the pension system.
In line with the Fee, these reforms are designed to enhance information accuracy, improve service supply, and assist its broader push to convey extra Nigerians—particularly these within the casual sector—into the pension system.
