Mr. Dauda Ahmed, Head of Micro Pension at the National Pension Commission (PenCom) says lack of sufficient awareness is the major reason behind the slow pace of micro pension adoption in the country.
Ahmed said at a media retreat organised by the Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria (PenOp) that only 72, 856 persons have signed on for the micro pension plan as at November 30 2021. He equally lamented that only 10 percent of coverage has been achieved so far by the existing pension system in Nigeria.
He said the Micro Pension Plan (MPP) is a unique opportunity for the self-employed and persons in the informal sector to participate voluntarily in pension.
“The MPP was introduced to ensure that informal sector workers who constitute about 65 percent of the working population have an opportunity to save for retirement.
Ahmed listed four key benefits of the MPP as:
• It will improve the standard of living of the elderly as nit provides a regular stream of benefits at old age
• It will provide access to other incentives
• It secures financial autonomy and independence of retirees
• Contributions will be passed to the nest of kin in case of contributor’s death
The theme of the retreat was: Micro Pension: Challenges & Opportunities.
