The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has revealed plans to launch a revamped retirement savings platform aimed at unlocking billions in untapped contributions from the country’s vast informal workforce.
The initiative, to be unveiled as the Personal Pension Plan, will replace the underperforming Micro Pension Scheme and is designed to make enrolment easier through the digital channels, while offering customised products for artisans, freelancers, entertainers, and broaden financial inclusion across Africa’s largest economy.
This was disclosed at the 2025 industry conference, with the theme, ‘Strengthening Insurance and Pension Frameworks for a Better Economy.’
A Micro Pension Plan is an arrangement under the contributory pension scheme that allows the self-employed and persons working in organisations with less than three employees to make financial contributions towards the provision of a pension for their retirement or upon incapacitation.
Speaking at the conference, the Director-General of the commission, Ms Omolola Oloworaran, who was represented by the Head, Corporate Communications, PenCom, Ibrahim Buwai, averred that the majority of the Nigerian workforce is in the informal sector.
He said: “Let’s talk about this issue of expanding the Contributory Pension Scheme towards increasing financial inclusion to grow the informal sector. Even though the data out there of the Nigerian labour force says 70 million or 80 million or what have you. The consensus is that the labour force out there largely resides in the informal sector.”
In another development, PenCom has banned significant cross-shareholding in multiple licensed Pension Fund Operators.
PenCom made this known in its newly released guidelines, which it said are to take immediate effect.
Significant cross-shareholding is a situation in which a significant shareholder in an LPFO acquires, or seeks to acquire, a significant shareholding in another LPFO; or otherwise becomes legally entitled, whether directly or indirectly, to hold such significant shareholding in another pension entity, by means including but not limited to the conversion of debt to equity, operation of law such as transmission on death, or any other form of vesting.
Significant cross-shareholding could arise from mergers and acquisitions outside the pension sector, which leads to individuals or entities holding equities of five per cent or more in multiple LPFOs.
The regulator stated that the move would promote transparency and good governance while protecting pension assets.
* Media Report