February 2026
24Feb

Nigeria. Fighting poverty in retirement: The role of pensions for informal workers in Nigeria

In Nigeria, the word “pension” evokes different reactions. For many civil servants and corporate workers, it symbolises hope for a near-comfortable retirement. However, for the majority of Nigerians working in the informal sector, it represents a bleak future. These are the market traders, motorcycle riders, small-scale farmers, artisans, and workers in countless micro and nano-scale businesses. With approximately 90% of Nigeria’s workforce operating outside the formal economy, pension coverage for informal workers is almost non-existent. Believe me, this has...

February 24, 2026
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23Feb

Nigeria. Ogun introduces fresh pension benefit to boost CPS confidence

The Ogun State Government has introduced an Additional Pension Benefit (APB) to address stakeholder concerns following the full implementation of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) in the state. Approved by Governor Dapo Abiodun, the initiative was announced after consultative meetings with organised labour, the State and Local Government Pension Administration Committees, and the Commissioner for Finance and Chief Economic Adviser, Dapo Okubadejo. The CPS became fully operational in Ogun State on July 2, 2025. The APB is a one-off payment at retirement designed to...

February 23, 2026
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18Feb

Nigeria. Ogun govt clears pension backlog, boosts retiree welfare

The Ogun State Government has announced the clearance of pension and gratuity arrears owed to workers who retired between 2012 and 2020, reaffirming its commitment to the welfare of retirees. The disclosure was made on Tuesday by the Economic Adviser and Commissioner for Finance, Dapo Okubadejo, during a media briefing organised by the Ogun State Ministry of Budget and Planning. Okubadejo explained that the backlog was linked to the Defined Benefits Scheme, under which retirees receive monthly pensions, noting that the current...

February 18, 2026
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11Feb

Nigeria Turns to Fintech Model to Fix Informal Sector Pension

For six years, Nigeria’s “Micro Pension Plan” (MPP) has been inactive. It was launched in 2019 by the Buhari administration to include millions of traders, artisans, and gig workers in the pension system. However, progress has stalled. As of Q3 2024, only about 164,000 out of a target of roughly 75 million informal workers had registered. Of these, only about 12,000 had funded accounts. This means coverage is effectively zero. On Monday, the National Pension Commission (PenCom) made a significant change....

February 11, 2026
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January 2026
22Jan

Nigeria. ‘Only 215,914 informal workers enrolled in personal pensions as 92m remain uncovered’

The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has disclosed that just 215,914 Nigerians in the informal sector are enrolled in the Personal Pension Plan (PPP), leaving about 91.88 million workers without any form of pension cover out of an estimated 92.1 million informal-sector workforce. The pension regulator, in its third-quarter 2025 report, said the figures highlight the enormous untapped potential within the informal sector and underscore the need for a more deliberate and coordinated industry-wide strategy to deepen micro-pension adoption. PenCom noted that...

January 22, 2026
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12Jan

Nigeria. Driving growth with recapitalisation

With macroeconomic headwinds still blowing, regulatory shakeups underway, and citizens demanding more value for their trust, Omobola Tolu-Kusimo writes on whether 2026 could be the year these industries either break new ground or stay stuck in the cycle of unrealized potential. The year 2025 ended with increased premiums, improved regulatory oversight, and renewed investor interest following NAICOM’s enforcement of the Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act, 2025 (NIIRA 2025).reforms and recapitalisation efforts. However, insurance penetration remains below 1per cent, a stubborn reminder...

January 12, 2026
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December 2025
16Dec

Nigeria. 92.4% of Personal Pension accounts unfunded despite push

Industry data indicate that the majority of the Retirement Savings Accounts under the rebranded Personal Pension Plan were largely unfunded, marking a glaring disparity between registration and actual contribution within the micro-pension scheme. This is against the backdrop of Nigeria’s pension industry recording a 5.93 per cent increase in its Total Net Asset Value to N26.09tn as of the end of the third quarter from N24.63tn in June 2025, driven by strong investment returns in equities and government securities. The PPP...

December 16, 2025
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05Dec

Nigeria to extend social protections to 60 million in the informal sector

The minister made this disclosure in Abuja during a two-day national dialogue on expanding social protection to informal workers. He said the Federal Government is taking concrete steps to address decades of exclusion affecting millions of Nigerians who earn a living in markets, farms, workshops, roadside enterprises and other informal settings. “Today, we write a new chapter in our collective journey to give dignity, inclusion, and protection to the over 60 million Nigerians who make up our informal economy,” the minister...

December 5, 2025
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November 2025
19Nov

Nigeria. Pension fund soars to N26tn

Nigeria’s pension fund assets recorded 22.03 per cent growth as of the end of the third quarter, as they rose by more than N4.71tn, with Pension Fund Administrators deepening their allocation to Federal Government securities, according to the latest monthly data released by the National Pension Commission. The figures, contained in PenCom’s latest Monthly Industry Report, indicated that total pension assets increased from N21.38tn in September 2024 to N26.09tn in September 2025, marking a robust year-on-year expansion of the Contributory...

November 19, 2025
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October 2025
10Oct

Nigeria. PenCom reintroduces gratuity for federal civil servants

The National Pension Commission has disclosed that it has deployed a framework to restore gratuity for Federal Civil Service under the Contributory Pension Scheme. Director-General of PenCom, Omolola Oloworaran made the disclosure in Abuja on Thursday at a Stakeholders' Conference on the Workings of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) for Employees and Pensioners of Federal Government Treasury-Funded Ministries, Departments and Agencies Represented by the acting commissioner, Technical at the commission, Hon. Hafiz Kawu Ibrahim, the DG said, 'Working with the office...

October 10, 2025
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