In retrospect, it is widely attested that an active pension ecosystem effectively congregating players – a regulator, administrators, custodians, public and private sector employers and working-class persons across several age groups – is well established in Nigeria. The maturity of this industry relative to more advanced economies of the world like the US or the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development nonetheless, the pension industry globally has displayed great resilience, navigating the turbulence and whirlwinds: macroeconomic shocks, economic downturns, recession and more recently a global pandemic in 2020, which instigated a fold-down of companies, job losses and a sharp drop in macroeconomic numbers and indices. In spite of periods of passive economic activities, the pension industry has, over time, consistently helped in mobilising the much-needed funds, notably from the middle-income segment of the economy for propelling growth.

According to the National Pension Commission, at the end of 2020, the same year the COVID-19 pandemic severely raged resulting in two-quarters of negative economic growth, pension assets in Nigeria grew to N12.3 trillion. This amount represents 8% of Nigeria’s nominal Gross Domestic Product. There were only a handful of industries that put up a similarly stellar performance for the financial year.

More recently, PenCom also noted that Retirement Savings Account registrations from inception hit 9,383,204 as of June 30, 2021. This was marked by growth from 9,300,058 recorded in the first quarter of 2021. Overall, the cumulative pension contributions from inception to the end of the second quarter of 2021 amounted to N7.10 trillion.

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