The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has revealed that Nigerians especially in the informal sector can now contribute their pension using their smart phones and USSD.

Director General of the National Pension Commission, Omolola Oloworaran made the disclosure yesterday in Abuja during the launch of Nigeria’s first Pension Accredited Agent (APA), named Awabah.

She said, “The coverage at the moment for the informal sector is 0.25% which means essentially we’re not doing anything in this area. The Nigerian economy is also an informal economy.

“So it means that almost all Nigerians, because if less than 10% are covered, then frankly it’s like almost everybody is not covered. So what we want to see with this accredited agent initiative is pension penetration, for them to take pensions to the streets, to the villages, to everywhere in Nigeria, so that we can get all, or at least a sizable majority of workers in the informal sector to enrol into the personal pension plan.

“So what we are just gunning for is increased penetration, because financial security in old age is very important, and that’s what we are working towards, to make sure that no Nigerian is left behind, and that everybody continues to save towards their retirement,” she said.

Asked how informal sector Nigerians can enrol, the DG added, “To scale pensions to 75 million people, it has to be technology-based. So what it means is that the informal sector will be able to contribute pensions using their phones, using their mobile phones. Even if you don’t have a smartphone, you will be able to use the USSD. I believe that the agents are working on that, it’s just convenience.”

Also speaking, Chief Operating Officer, Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria (PenOp), Tonia Ifeanyin-Okoro, noted that the new initiative will boost penetration as the informal sector which comprise of over 90 million Nigerians have less than one per cent enrolled to the contributory pension scheme

She said the plan is for more Pension Fund Administrators to partner with other agencies.

In the same vein, Awabah Chief Executive Officer, Tunji Andrews, said the company was established to close the financial protection gap affecting informal workers.

“No African worker should be one mishap away from poverty,” Andrews said, noting that Awabah’s pension product combines retirement savings with insurance coverage.

He said that for as little as N3,000 monthly, workers can access personal pension plans bundled with health, accident and life insurance, adding that the company’s agent network would support nationwide pension inclusion.