The expected traction in onboarding the informal sector workers since the launch of the micro pension Plan by the Federal government is not happening, and so, the industry regulator, the National Pension Commission (PenCom) and the Pension Fund Operators are going back to the drawing board for a workable guideline.

President Muhammed Buhari on 28th March 2019 launched the Micro Pension Plan (MPP), targeted at bring the informal sector workers into the Contributory Pension Scheme.

The Micro Pension Plan (MPP) under the contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) has recorded 81,674 contributors as at July 2022, the National Pension Commission has said.

Dauda Ahmed, head, Micro Pension Department, PenCom made the disclosure at a PenCom workshop for Pension, Business and Labour Correspondents in Lagos.

Presenting a paper titled, ‘ The Micro Pension Plan: Bringing Financial Security at Old Age to the Doorsteps of the informal Sector’ , Ahmed stated that Contributions amounted to N296.9 million while total contingent withdrawal stood N22.3 million.

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Ahmed who equally pointed out that a total sum of N4.9 million was converted from informal to formal sectors within the period noted that the Commission was set to introduce health insurance as an incentive and other freebies that would serve as collateral to access funds by the participants of the scheme.

He assured that the commission and operators in the sector were working tirelessly to attract more people to the plan even as he regretted that lack of incentives among others have remained setback to the scheme.

In his presentation at the Workshop entitled “What you Need to Know About the Investment of the Micro Pension Fund (Fund VI,”), Ibrahim Kangiwa, head, Investment Supervision Department PenCom listed the benefits of micro pension fund investments to the economy, and to the contributor, stating that the Commission is committed to ensuring the safety of the funds.

According to him, the Commission is committed to ensuring the safety of pension funds and structures have been established in this regard.

“As the pension industry and financial system evolves, the Commission would also continue to develop and implement innovative policies to foster safety and fair returns on pension fund investment,” he added.

Modestus Anaesoronye is a leading Nigerian financial journalist with over two decades of experience reporting on the insurance and pension sectors across Nigeria and West Africa. He has held key editorial positions at major national media outlets, including The Comet, The Nation, and Financial Standard, and currently serves as a Senior Financial Analyst at BusinessDay Media Ltd. A widely travelled reporter, he has covered industry developments in more than 14 countries across Africa and Asia. Anaesoronye is a multiple award-winning journalist, honoured several times as Insurance Journalist of the Year and Pension Journalist of the Year by recognised industry bodies, including PensionScope and the Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria (PenOp), among others.

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