Micro Pension: PenCom Targets Self Employed Professionals 

Ebere Nwoji

The National Pension Commission(PenCom), has said that it would focus towards  popularising the micro pension initiative among self employed professionals such as self employed lawyers, town planners, engineers, doctor among others.

The commission also said it would spice the scheme with basic health insurance plans to make it attractive to the target contributors.

To this end, the commission said it would consider  modifying the name, micro pension, so that the self employed segment of the market would  know that the scheme goes beyond informal sector. PenCom stated this at  PenCom’s special day at the just concluded Lagos International Trade Fair.

Speaking with journalists at the event, the Head of Micro Pension Department, PenCom, Dr. Babatunde Alayande, said PenCom would  intensify its awareness and sensitisation programmes on micropension, adding that  part of what the commission was looking at was the need to modify the name, micro pension.

“The commission is working assiduously to make sure that there are incentives for people participating in this micro pension plan, especially, incentives for the informal sector. Part of the focus of the commission in this respect is the need to incentivise the informal sector participants with basic health insurance plans to encourage them, so they do not just bring money and save, but have other benefits,” he said.

The   Zonal head, PenCom, Southwest Zonal office, Akinsola Adeseun, who represented the acting Director General of PenCom, Ms. Omolora Oloworaran, said, PenCom was  in charge of regulation and supervision of pension industry in Nigeria, ensuring that retirees get their pensions as at when due.

Also speaking, the  Head of Corporate Communications, PenCom, Ibrahim Garba Buwai, said, micro pension was about financial inclusion, providing a platform for savings so that workers could have something to fall back onto, especially in the time when they would no longer be active.