2024: Pension Assets Rise By N2.4trn As 320,000 Fresh Workers Join Scheme

The nation’s  pension fund assets rose by N2.4 trillion in 2024, from N19.53 trillion in January 2024 to N21.92 trillion at the end of October, 2024, the latest figure released by the pension industry regulator, the National Pension Commission (PenCom), LEADERSHIP can exclusively reveal.

This is even as about 320,000 workers joined the new pension scheme known as the Contributory Pension Scheme(CPS) within the same period.

Available data analysed by LEADERSHIP shows that the assets stood at N19.53 trillion in January, rose by about N200 billion to N19.75 trillion in February even as it nosedived to N19.78 trillion in March 2024.

By April, it went up to N19.78 trillion, grew by about N500 billion to N20.22 trillion in May, and N20.48 trillion in June 2024. In July, it rose by about N300 billion to N20.78 trillion and in August, it was N21.13trillion even as it grew by 200 billion to N21.37 trillion in September.

The fund rose by about N600 billion to N21.92 trillion as at the end of October, 2024, even as market observers expect the fund to inch towards N23 trillion by the time data for November and December, 2024 were made public by the pension industry regulator.

Similarly, as at January, 2024, 10.22million workers from public and private sectors had joined the new pension scheme from inception in 2004 till the first month of last year while an additional 320,000 fresh intake into the pension system took the figure to 10.53million as at the end of October, last year.

Investment income, according to LEADERSHIP investigation, was instrumental to the continuous growth in pension fund, despite the fact that some governments at majorly, State level are not paying the monthly pension contributions of their workers as and when due.

Similarly, the huge increase, according to findings, was attributed to new pension contributions received, interest from fixed income securities and net realised on equities and mutual fund investments.

Speaking on this development, the director general of PenCom, Omolola Oloworaran said: “Today, we have over 10.5 million contributors and oversee pension assets in excess of 21.9 trillion Naira as of October. This progress demonstrates the strength of our contributory pension system, but we are not without challenges. Inflation, for instance, continues to erode the purchasing power of pensioners, and we are actively seeking innovative solutions to address this issue.”

The pension industry, according to her, continues to face the persistent issue of delays in the payment of accrued rights, noting that, N44 billion  was approved under the 2024 budget appropriation to settle accrued pension rights for retirees from March to September 2023.  Moving forward, she stated that, “we are working with the Federal Government to put in place a sustainable solution that ensures retirees receive their benefits promptly and without undue stress.”

Disclosing that in 2024,  the commission achieved a major milestone with the launch of the e-Application Portal for Pension Clearance Certificates (PCC) in October as this initiative replaces the previous manual process, enabling companies to seamlessly apply for and receive PCCs online. Since its deployment, ‘we have issued over 38,000 PCCs, significantly enhancing ease of doing business and ensuring compliance,’ she said.

On his part, the executive secretary/CEO, Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria (PenOp), Oguche Aguda, while applauding the contributions of pension fund operators toward growing the assets, assured pension contributions that their funds are in safe hands, attesting to the fact that, there has been no reported mismanagement of pension funds under the new scheme.

He disclosed that the operators are working with the pension industry regulator to address grey areas and smoothen things to ensure that the industry attracts more subscribers and gives investment values  to stakeholders.