Pension assets, now running into trillions of naira, can help fund infrastructure, housing, energy and other productive sectors if properly channelled, operators in the industry have said, as they joined the regulator and the media to discuss how the sector can support Nigeria’s $1 trillion economy target.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria (PenOp), Mrs Anthonia Ifeanyi-Okoro, represented by Ms Olajumoke Akinwa, Head of Business Development, Media, Brands and Communications, at a conference with pension correspondents held on Wednesday in Abuja.
The event was themed “The Role of Regulator, Operators in Actualising Nigeria’s $1 Trillion Economy Target.”
Ifeanyi-Okoro said the target demanded serious effort. “A $1 trillion economy is not an abstract ambition. It is a goal that demands deliberate capital formation, long term investment, and strong institutions working in step,” she said.
She noted that the funds are among the largest pools of long term domestic capital in the country. If well channelled, she said, they can finance growth while still protecting contributors’ retirement benefits.
According to her, the regulator provides the framework, oversight and confidence that keep the system safe, while operators bring discipline and prudent investment decisions. “Neither can succeed alone, and the strength of this partnership will shape how far we go,” she said.
She stressed that the goal could not rest on the regulator and operators alone. “The $1 trillion ambition belongs to all of us, and its actualisation must be a collective effort,” she said, calling on businesses, development partners and government agencies to take part.
Also speaking, the Director General of the National Pension Commission (PenCom), Ms Omolola Oloworaran, represented by the Head of Corporate Communications, Mr Ibrahim Buwai, said retirees in the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) now receive their benefits within a maximum of 48 hours of retirement.
Buwai said the Commission had a day earlier launched the Presidential Pension Security Initiatives, covering pension care, recovery, health insurance and the minimum pension guarantee.
He said the PenCare health insurance initiative was designed to outlive any change in leadership at the Commission, and is run by an independent board of trustees made up of stakeholder representatives and health experts.
On the minimum pension guarantee, he said the provision, introduced in the Pension Reform Act of 2004, had never been activated because of funding gaps.
It was unveiled yesterday by President Bola Tinubu, he said, and pensioners receiving less than the new minimum will have their pensions automatically raised to that level. Payments under the guarantee had already begun, he added.
Buwai also addressed a common concern among journalists, saying the pension reform had not abolished any benefits and that the law allows employers to pay additional benefits to workers.
He assured the media that PenCom would remain careful about what it announces. “We must be sure that it is something that is actually happening,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Executive Secretary of the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD), Ms Tolulope Odunaiya, represented by the Head of Corporate Communications, Mr Olugbenga Ajayi, said the agency had introduced three new initiatives to improve the welfare of pensioners under the Defined Benefits Scheme (DBS).
One of them, called “accreditation without borders,” lets pensioners enrol on the payroll through an online platform without travelling to a physical office, including those living abroad or in rural areas.
Ajayi said PTAD had also formally launched a retiree health insurance platform to give pensioners in the scheme free and accessible healthcare.
The agency has also put in place a way of confirming when a pensioner has died through periodic renewal of records, rather than relying on reports from unions or relatives.
He said payment of pensions to the personnel concerned was now up to date and that the agency would keep introducing measures to improve their welfare.
The Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Awabah, Mr Tunji Andrews, said about 80 per cent of Nigerians, roughly 160 million people, work in the informal sector and earn less than $5 a day, leaving them exposed to health risks and without a retirement plan.
He said Awabah, set up in 2021, has given more than 50,000 informal and semi formal workers access to financial wellness services. Andrews said innovations by PenCom had cut the number of fields needed to onboard a customer onto the Personal Pension Plan (PPP) from about 35 to four.
He said the infrastructure for onboarding was now in place and that the remaining gap was public awareness of the product. He appealed to the media to help spread the word.
In her welcome address, the President of the Pension Correspondents Association of Nigeria (PenCAN), Dr Nana Musa, thanked PenCom for creating a platform to strengthen ties between the industry and the media.
She said pension correspondents recognise their responsibility “to inform, educate and hold stakeholders accountable through accurate, balanced and responsible reporting.”
She urged her colleagues to keep bridging the information gap and help Nigerians understand the importance of pension savings and retirement security.
