“Federal Government can boost economy with N13 trillion Pension Funds” – Expert
Elizabeth Christopher
The Proprietor/Chief Executive Officer of the Abuja School of Pension and Retirement Planning, Dr. Musa Ibrahim, says the Nigerian Government can boost the economy with the N13 trillion pension funds.
According to him, the pension industry is the future of Nigeria’s economy and the federal government has no business going to multilateral organizations, borrowing while a huge amount of money in the sector is lying fallow.
In July, the Director General of the National Pension Commission, Mrs Aisha Dahir-Umar had disclosed that pension funds grew to N12.66 trillion.
Pension funds are usually invested in treasury bills, stocks and bonds.
“By the end of the year, Nigeria will be having about N13 trillion in pension funds, which is a huge amount of money that Nigeria can borrow to invest in critical infrastructure and boost the economy rather than going to multinationals to borrow and service those loans with virtually all its revenue.
“All they require is to approach the companies involved to issue the bonds while the federal government guarantees it. This will go a long way in reducing our loan problems,” said Dr. Musa Ibrahim, while speaking to the Pension Correspondents Association of Nigeria (PenCAN) in Abuja.
Speaking on the School, he said the National Board for Technical Education has granted licence to offer Diploma courses in Pension and Retirement Studies as well as other related courses.
Dr. Ibrahim noted that the complexity of the pension industry requires adequate expertise.
Consequently, the Abuja Pension school is providing the capacity-building for individuals to train them on how the sector operates.
He said the Abuja Pension School and Retirement Benefit Advisory have carved a niche in educating Nigerians about the Pension sector, while calling on pension reporters to ensure that the sector is adequately reported without misrepresentation of facts.
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