PenCom Unveils Five Strategic Focus Areas To Drive Pension Growth
L – R: Mr. Ibrahim Garba Buwai (Principal Manager, Corporate Communications Department); Dr. Babatunde Alayande (Head, South West Zonal Office); Mrs. Carol Alex Uzomah (Assistant General Manager, Corporate Communications Department); Mr. Peter Aghahowa (Head, Corporate Communications Department); Hajiya Maryam Bello (Assistant General Manager, National Databank Management Department; Mr. Ibrahim Kangiwa (Head, Research and Strategy Management Department) at the 2021 Journalists Workshop at Radisson Blu Hotel, Lagos on 26 July 2021.
The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has unveiled five strategic focus areas to ensure a sustainable pension growth in Nigeria.
The five strategic focus areas are public enlightenment and education; resolution of outstanding pension liabilities of the Federal Government; portfolio diversification of pension fund investments; improvement in customer service delivery across the pension industry and unrelenting pursuit of sustainable growth of the pension industry by expanding coverage of the CPS.
The Director-General, Mrs. Aisha Dahir-Umar, made the revelation while briefing journalists yesterday on the activities and plans of the Commission at this year’s Journalists Workshop organized by PenCom in Lagos.
She said the five strategic focus areas are the areas of emphasis that would be pursued vigorously towards the attainment of the Commission’s objectives.
According to Mrs Dahir-Umar who was represented at the occasion by the Head, Corporate Communication Department, Mr. Peter Aghahowa, “public enlightenment and education is one of the five strategic focus Areas currently pursued by the Commission.
“This is considered germane considering that seventeen years after the pension reform in Nigeria, there still exists a knowledge gap on the CPS. Consequently, the Commission is committed to reinvigorating its public enlightenment and education drive in order to address this challenge.
“Other Strategic Focus Areas include the resolution of outstanding pension liabilities of the Federal Government; portfolio diversification of pension fund investments, improvement in customer service delivery across the pension industry and unrelenting pursuit of sustainable growth of the pension industry by expanding coverage of the CPS.
On the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), she said the number of registered contributors under the CPS has grown to 9.38 million while pension fund assets rose to N12.66 trillion as at 30 June 2021.
The DG said the growth in the pension fund assets under the new pension scheme, is an indication of prudent and sincere management of the pension fund by the pension operators and the regulator.
“The maintenance of a consistent growth trajectory continues to justify the Commission’s overriding investment philosophy of ensuring the safety of pension fund assets,” she stated.
She reassured the industry’s stakeholders that the implementation of the CPS remains on course.
She said the payment of the Federal Government approved 2.5 per cent differential in the rate of employer pension contribution for FGN retirees and employees, which resulted from the increase in the minimum pension contribution for employers from 7.5 per cent to 10 per cent, in line with Section 4(1) of the Pension Reform Act (PRA) 2014 has commenced.
The PenCom boss said “the payments would undoubtedly; boost the RSA balances of the beneficiaries towards better retirement benefits. The settlement of these outstanding accrued pension rights of verified and enrolled FGN retirees would result in reversing a major challenge that has lingered since 2014.”
She said the commencement of payment of the reviewed monthly pension contribution rate by the Federal Government is another significant step in ensuring compliance with the PRA 2014.
On technology, Mrs. Dahir-Umar said the most recent technological innovation introduced by the Commission is the in-house designed and developed online Enrolment Application, which has capabilities to register, verify and enrol prospective retirees of Treasury-Funded Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
She said by the deployment of this new application, mass gathering of people has been avoided while enhancing convenience for the prospective retirees through a seamless enrolment process.
The pilot run of the newly developed online enrolment application, according to her, will commence from August 2 to 20, 2021.
Another notable technological innovation by the Commission, she mentioned was the design and deployment of the Retirement Savings Account (RSA) Transfer System (RTS), which was launched in November 2020.
The RTS is a Computer Application developed by the Commission, through which RSA holders transfer their RSAs from one Pension Fund Administrator (PFA) to another. Indeed, the activation of the RSA transfer provision, which deepens individual choices, is a major milestone in the implementation of the CPS.”
