April 2023

Nigeria. PenCom Warns Retirees Against Fraudulent Pension Group

The National Pension Commission (PenCom) says the activities of a group named Association of Pension Desk Practitioners of Nigeria (ASSOPEP) which claim to assist with pension and retirement benefits are fraudulent and illegal. Warning the public against doing business with the association, PenCom asked Nigerians to take cautious steps in seeking guidance on retirement benefits. “The general public is kindly requested to note that the claims by ASSOPEP are entirely false as the association has no affiliation with the pension industry...

Nigeria: NLC, TUC Threatens to Resume Strike in Imo State

Organised labour under the auspices of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC ) warned that its members may be forced to resume the suspended strike in Imo state if the state government failed to resolve the lingering industrial dispute. In a letter addressed to Imo state Governor, Senator Hope Uzodinma, dated March 31, 2023, the two labour bodies urged the state government to fix a date for final resolution of the dispute with workers. NLC had directed...

March 2023

Pension Administration in Nigeria: Lessons and Reflections

By Opeyemi Naimot Dawodu In every democratic society, from the jurisprudential perspective, there are certain ideals that must be present one of which is social justice. These ideals are aspirations and the nearer a society is to these aspirations, the better the society is. In a country like Nigeria, pension is one of the social objectives in partial fulfillment of the ideals present in Chapter 2 of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended 2011) and as such how this...

Nigeria. Pension Fund Assets Increase By ₦568.33b – PenCom Boss

It appears that are days of enjoyment waiting Nigerian pensioners and the stories of months of wait pay will be over. The pension fund in Nigeria is real growing. There is something that the Director-General (DG) of Pension Commission Aisha Dahir-Umar, wants you to know. It is about the pensioners money that is now available. He says the Pension Fund Assets under Management (AuM) increased by ₦568.33 billion from ₦14.42 trillion as at September 30 to ₦14.99 trillion as at December...

Why Nigerian Banks are acquiring pension firms-Razaq Ahmed

Nigerian banks are increasing their acquisition of pension firms to expand from banking to the provision of wealth management and other services, thus taping the large assets of about N15 trillion, currently under the management of Nigeria’s pension industry. This was disclosed by Razaq Ahmed, the co-founder and CEO of fintech startup Cowrywise, who spoke during Nairametrics’ Corporate Deals book webinar on Saturday. He noted that with the growth of the industry, assets under management are expected to rise to N20...

February 2023

Nigeria: SEC to collaborate with PenCom in deepening commodities sector

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced plans to collaborate with the National Pension Commission (PenCom) on areas that would assist in further deepening the commodities ecosystem. Its Director-General, Mr Lamido Yuguda in a statement said this during a meeting between the commission’s management, the Lagos Futures and Commodities Exchange (LFCE) and PenCom held in Abuja. Yuguda was represented by Mr Ibrahim Boyi, Executive Commissioner Corporate Services of  SEC at the meeting. The director-general noted that SEC was passionate about the...

December 2022

Lagos approves N707m pension bailout for parastatals

The Commissioner for Establishments, Training And Pensions, Mrs Ajibola Ponnle, has said Lagos State government approved a bailout of N707.62m for some parastatals to pay the pensions of their retirees. She disclosed the bailout of the parastatals that could not raise the funds at the 98th batch retirement bond certificate presentation ceremony in Lagos on Friday. “In line with his administration’s vision to cater to its employees even in retirement, Mr Governor also recently approved the appeal for a bailout by...

Shelter Afrique target East African bourses, pension funds in USD 500mn housing bond

Speaking in Nairobi, Shelter Afrique's Ag. Managing Director Kingsley Muwowo disclosed that the Company was considering issuing local currency Medium Term Notes in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda. "Already, we have opened negotiations with Kenya's Capital Market Authority on the possibility of Shelter Afrique issuing another housing bond to support local housing projects and we plan to do the same with capital market authorities in Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania. We want to approach it as an East Africa issue- meaning...

November 2022

Nigeria. Five southwest states owe pensioners N330bn – Union

States in the Southwest geopolitical zone, except Lagos, owe pensioners N330 billion in pensions and gratuities. The Southwest Zone of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP), made the assertion in Ibadan on Wednesday at the end of its zonal meeting. Its spokesman, Olusegun Abatan, told newsmen at the end of the meeting that Osun led the debtor states with unpaid pensions and gratuities amounting to N145 billion. He noted that the issue of unpaid pensions arrears and gratuities in Osun got compounded...

Nigeria. PenCom promises safety net on Micro-Pension Plan scheme

The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has revealed plans to intensify financial self-sufficiency for Micro Pension Plan (MPP) subscribers as the number of contributors increases to 84,000. This suggests that the level of awareness of the scheme among artisans, entrepreneurs and participants in the informal sector has increased in the last few months. The scheme is to encourage participants in the sector, which forms a large percentage of the working population, to save for their retirement. Speaking to newsmen at the ongoing Lagos...