The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has intensified reforms aimed at improving retirement outcomes while stepping up enforcement against employers that fail to remit workers’ pension contributions.
The organisation also plans to expand its collaboration with relevant agencies.
Director-General of PenCom, Omolola Oloworaran, said the proposed pension industry infrastructure investment framework has reached an advanced stage as part of wider reforms to boost infrastructure financing and deepen the pension industry’s participation in the capital market.
She disclosed this at the third meeting of the Pension Industry Leadership Council (PILC) in Abuja, where industry leaders reviewed initiatives to strengthen compliance, deepen pension awareness, expand long-term investments and enhance the sustainability of Nigeria’s pension industry.
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According to Oloworaran, “One thing that was clear from today’s engagement is the need to ensure better outcomes for all contributors, for ordinary Nigerians contributing to this scheme.
“We have also discussed how to create awareness to make Nigerians understand the importance of pensions and improve pension literacy”.
She announced that PenCom would hold the country’s first National Pension Week from September 15 to 19 to boost pension literacy and public awareness.
“We will be having the National Pension Week this year. It’s the first of its kind and it will be held from September 15 to 19. It is to draw attention to the pension industry, bring all stakeholders together, including contributors and the media, while addressing the gap in pension literacy and awareness,” she said.
On infrastructure investment, the PenCom boss said the industry had made significant progress toward establishing a pension-backed infrastructure investment framework.
“The pension industry infrastructure fund is now in advanced stages for implementation.
“We already have a framework, and the PFAs will review it with their boards and stakeholders before a decision is taken within the next one or two months”, she stated.
Oloworaran said that the pension industry, being “the largest pool of long-term savings capital in the country”, must play a more active role in Nigeria’s capital market through initiatives agreed at the meeting.
On compliance, she explained that “enforcement remains a key priority for the Commission.
“We continue to work on compliance and enforcement, which is a top priority for us, to ensure all employers contribute pensions for their workers and remit them accordingly.”
She added that the Commission would continue to adopt local and global initiatives that would improve retirement outcomes, “ensuring that we are putting more money in the hands of ordinary Nigerians and that when people retire, they can retire with peace of mind”.
