By LOVETH AZODO, Lagos
The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has announced plans to redesign the Micro Pension Plan (MPP) as part of efforts to expand financial inclusion and bring more informal sector workers into the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).
This was disclosed at the 2025 Annual Conference of the Nigerian Association of Insurance and Pension Editors (NAIPE), themed “Strengthening Insurance and Pension Frameworks for Better Economy.”
PenCom’s Director-General, Ms. Omolola Oloworaran, represented by the Head of Corporate Communications, Mr. Ibrahim Buwai, noted that the majority of Nigeria’s labour force is concentrated in the informal sector, making its inclusion critical to the success of the pension system.
“The labour force out there largely resides in the informal sector. How we bring them under the contributory pension scheme is very important in a country like Nigeria, where the social safety net is not that strong. Pension is what will come in handy to strengthen that,” Oloworaran said.
The Micro Pension Plan was originally launched in 2019 to allow the self-employed and workers in organisations with fewer than three employees to save for retirement.
However, uptake has remained low, with only about 200,000 contributors and assets of roughly N1 billion recorded so far.
According to Oloworaran, PenCom is now set to relaunch the scheme under a new name, the Personal Pension Plan, tailored to meet the diverse needs of informal sector workers.
The redesigned product will be stratified to cover artisans, professionals, entertainers, sportsmen, and other categories.
“One of the major issues is onboarding. With the new plan, we are focusing on technology-enabled solutions so that registration can be as simple as carrying out a POS transaction.
We are also considering a Super Agent model in collaboration with Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs),” she explained.
On the broader use of pension funds, PenCom reiterated its commitment to channeling investments into infrastructure, private equity, and other real-sector ventures.
The DG stressed that this dual approach supporting economic development while ensuring real returns for contributors was essential to safeguarding the purchasing power of retirees.
