PenCom concludes plans on micro pension project

The National Pension Commission (PenCom) will soon unveil its Micro Pension project, an initiative that provides pension coverage to self-employed Nigerians.

Head, Micro Pensions Department of PenCom, Mr. Polycarp Anyanwu said this at a two-day seminar for journalists in Calabar, Cross River State.

According to Anyanwu, the initiative covers three strata, the low, middle and high income earners, targeting mainly artisans, mechanics, tailors, farmers and other forms of businesses in the informal sector.

He spoke further that the agency developed the scheme following breakdown of family support and the need to prepare those in that category for old age retirement, explaining that the Pension Reform Act, 2014, established legal framework for Micro Pension.

He points out that the number of registered contributors under the formal Contributory Pension Scheme stands at 7.24 million as at September, 2016, representing just about 7.7 percent of total labour force in the country and above 4 percent of total population both private and public sectors.

He stated that the informal sector is largely uncovered by any structured pension and represents over 70 per cent of the country’s total working population, adding that  the initiative which is an offshoot of the Pension industry five-year strategic plan will bring into the scheme about 20 million contributors by 2019. It also anticipates getting into the scheme 250,000 contributors within six months of its roll out. He explained.