The National Pension Commission has officially launched an ambitious drive to enrol one million women into the Personal Pension Plan, marking a significant shift in its strategy to extend financial security to Nigeria’s vast informal sector.

The initiative was unveiled by the Director-General of PenCom, Ms Omolola Oloworaran, during an outreach campaign held to commemorate International Women’s Day on Tuesday in Lagos.

Speaking to market women and entrepreneurs at Mile 12 Market in Lagos, she highlighted the urgent need to bridge the gap for those who fuel the economy but lack formal retirement protection.

The campaign, themed ‘Give to Gain – Save Small Today, Gain Big Tomorrow’, seeks to integrate market traders, farmers, and artisans into a structured pension system. PenCom is incentivising this transition with a week-long ‘matching contribution’ window from 9 March to 13 March 2026, where the Commission will match personal contributions up to N20,000.

The Director-General said during the event, “Nigerian women wake up very early in the morning, sometimes as early as 3 a.m. or 4 a.m., to open their shops, run their market stalls, farm the land and support their families. Despite contributing so much to the economy, many women in the informal sector live their lives without financial protection for their retirement years.”

Emphasising the accessibility of the plan, Ms Oloworaran explained that the structure is designed to accommodate irregular income patterns. “That means when you save, we also add to your savings. It is a direct investment in the dignity and financial independence of the Nigerian woman,” she added.

Addressing potential concerns about the security of the funds, the PenCom chief reiterated the robustness of the current framework: “The pension industry has been in existence since 2004, and it has proved to be safe and secure. We are targeting one million women to register under this scheme within the year. Some people think it is a high target, but considering the size of the informal sector workforce, it is achievable,” she assured the attendees.

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