…As PenCom’s Online Remittance Platform Opens
Nigeria’s pension fund has risen to N23.33 trillion at the end of the first quarter of this year, respresenting 19% year-on-year (y-o-y) growth.
The latest monthly data from the National Pension Commission (PenCom) indicated that the pension fund recorded sustained growth from January to March, after closing at N22.51 trillion at the end of 2024.
Specifically, the data reflected that the pension fund grew to N22.86 trillion in January, rose to N23.27 trillion in February and further grew to N23.33 trillion at the end of March this year, representing N61.91 billion increase in the quarter.
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The commission’s data showed, however, that despite the increase in the nominal value of the pension fund y-o-y, the Retirement Savings Accounts’ contributors stood at just 10,689,84611 million at the end of March this year, indicating about 3.98% increase y-o-y.
As part of its efforts to increase the number of contributors to the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), the PenCom has initiated some moves over the past year to enroll more workers from the informal sector in the CPS
The Director-General of the commission, Omolola Oloworaran, while speaking at the inaugural Pension Industry Leadership Retreat with the theme ‘Sustainable Retirement – Strategic Blueprint for Economic Development and Inclusion’ recently held in Lagos, lamented that out of the over 77 million informal sector workers in the country, less than 10,000 of them were actively contributing under the CPS.
To reverse the ugly situation, she explained that the commission “would look for opportunities to incentivise the informal sector to participate in the pension scheme.”
In his keynote address at the forum, Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, expressed the state government’s determination to enhance the CPS by encouraging informal sector workers to enroll in the CPS.
Represented at the event by the State Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Abayomi Oluyomi, the governor said: “Our work is far from complete. Retirement security must extend beyond formal employment to include the informal sector, the market traders, the artisans, and the good economic workers who form the backbone of our economy.
“To achieve true economic inclusion, we must develop innovative pension solutions that are accessible, trustworthy, and sustainable for all Nigerians”, he added.
Meanwhile, the PenCom has activated the new online pension contribution remittance through the approved payment solutions service providers effective from yesterday, June 1.
The commission confirmed through its social media platforms that “with the Pension Contribution Remittance System (PCRS), your employees’ pension remittance is hassle-free, 100 per cent digital, and all that is required is to select your preferred payment solution service providers now and start remitting.”
According to the regulatory commission, some employers have migrated to the online remittance platform even before the timeline.
It listed some of the service providers as including Paypen by Netline Limited, Pencentral by Chamsaccess Limited, Pensphere (formerly Paythru) by Pethahiah Rehoboth Int’l Limited, and Penremit by Cyberspace Limited.
Others are Pensol by Uniswitch Technology Limited, Penco by Gemspay Solutions Limited, Awabah by Awabah Remit Services Limited, Epcoss by Nigeria Inter-bank Settlement Systems Plc and Interswitch by Interswitch Group.
Under the new remittance regime, PenCom stated that “employers can now upload employees’ schedules and make payments of their pension contributions online from the comfort of their homes or offices. The PCRS is free and comes at no cost to the employer.
“The PCRS ensures that pension remittance schedules uploaded by employers are accurate and employee personal identification numbers and pension fund administrators are verified with PenCom before remittances are processed”, it added.
