May 2017

Nigeria’s pension fund calls authority to increase coverage

The Interim Chairman of the Management Committee of the First Guarantee Pensions Limited Comrade Issa Aremu has called on the new management of the National Pension Commission (Pencom) to increase contributory pension scheme enrollment figure. He made this call at a news conference in Abuja. Aremu, who is also the General Secretary of National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria, noted that the current enrolment of less than seven million subscribers in the National Pension Commission was...

Nigeria. ‘First Guarantee Pension Board is Ready to Resume Business’

The Board and Management of First Guarantee Pension Limited, one of the licensed Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) in Nigeria, said owners of the company are ready to resume normal business operations, six years after suspension of the company’s former board and management by the insurance sector regulator, the National Pension Commission (PenCom). Vice Chairman of the company, Nze Chidi Duru, who stated this during a courtesy visit to THISDAY Newspapers, said that the board is ready to take back the...

Nigeria. State Government of Uyo suspends payments of pensions for retired Civil Servants

AKWA Ibom State pensioners have decried non-payment of their pensions and gratuities despite recent bailouts and Paris Clubs refunds, pleading with the state government to pay their entitlements. It was gathered that from August 2015 till January 2017, retired civil servants have not been paid their gratuity and pension arrears, due to perceived embargo on the payment of gratuities and pensions by the state government. One of the pensioners claimed that from January 2017 till date, the total amount of...

Sustainable finance, financial regulators, and the changing landscape in Nigeria

Today, Kodak is gone because it did not pay close attention to the threat posed by the smartphone technology to its business. It did not adapt to the changing nature of its business environment. The rest now is history. Sustainability is the potential new threat, if ignored or taken for granted. Sustainability has become a new mantra, a philosophy of sorts. It however means different things to different people. If one takes the literary meaning of the word, it simply...

April 2017

Nigeria. All Eyes on Dikko, New PenCom DG

As Aliyu Dikko assumes office as the new PenCom DG, Nigerian workers and pensioners are expectant that the seasoned banker and experienced finance manager would bring his wealth of experience to bear in resolving pending issues in their overall interest, writes Ebere Nwoji As the new Director General, National Pension Commission (PenCom), Aliyu Dikko, takes over the mantle of leadership from Chinelo Anohu – Amazu, a number of tasks are awaiting his immediate actions. Some of these are – implementation of...

Nigeria’s PenCom General Director hands affairs over

A new chapter in the affairs of the National Pension Commission, PenCom, opened yesterday, after the erstwhile Director-General, Mrs. Chinelo Anohu-Amazu, handed over the affairs of the Commission to the Head of Corporate Responsibility, Aisha Dahiru-Umar. PenCom is the industry regulator overseeing assets of more than N6 trillion of pension assets in the country. The handover followed the arrival of her disengagement letter last Friday which was officially delivered to her. As reported by Vanguard yesterday, her removal was effected through...

Nigeria. Row over N22b pension legacy fund

Are 10 insurance firms owing the Federal Government’s Pension Transitional Directorate Department (PTAD) N22 billion meant for the Pension Legacy Fund? Yes, says PTAD. Yes, but. .., say some of the firms. The fund includes the liabilities and assets of pension funds of erstwhile pension offices and treasury funded pensions of parastatals, universities and colleges of education in charge of pensioners under the old pension scheme, known as the Defined Benefit Scheme (DBS). The PTAD, under the Pension Reform Act (PRA)...

March 2017

Nigeria. Insurance Companies Yet to Remit over N19bn Pension Fund

The Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) has said that the federal government is yet to recover all the legacy pension assets, funds and liabilities including over N19 billion in the custody of insurance companies. The Executive Secretary of PTAD, Ms. Sharon Ikeazor, disclosed this at a media briefing in Abuja on “reshaping the landscape of pensions administration for the defined benefits scheme.” Ikeazor said that the legacy fund was inherited from the defunct Pensions Offices and Boards of Parastatals when PTAD...

Invest Africa’s Pension Funds In Infrastructure, NEPAD Advocates in Nigeria

Mr Ibrahim Mayaki, Chief Executive Officer, NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency, has tasked African governments to commit to a roadmap that will allow pension funds to invest in infrastructure. A statement in Abuja by the communications section of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) disclosed this on Monday at the venue of the ongoing African Development Week which began on Thursday in Dakar, Senegal. The meeting was organized by ECA and the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the statement...