84.9m informal workers face retirement without safety net.
By Victor Ahiuma-Young The National Pension Commission, PenCom, is stepping up efforts to expand pension coverage among Nigeria’s self-employed and informal sector workers, as an estimated 84.9 million people remain without pension coverage, exposing a significant gap in the country’s retirement security system.
Figures presented at the 2026 Annual PenCom Media Conference in in Lagos, showed that although the informal sector accounts for an estimated 93 per cent of Nigeria’s workforce, only 242,690 informal sector workers had enrolled in the Personal Pension Plan, PPP, as of July 2026.
The figures, based on estimates of the informal sector workforce, put pension coverage among the group at just 0.29 per cent, highlighting the challenge facing efforts to bring millions of traders, artisans, farmers, professionals and gig workers into the pension system.
The Personal Pension Plan was introduced under Section 2(3) of the Pension Reform Act, PRA, 2014 to extend pension coverage to self-employed persons and workers in the informal sector who may not have access to conventional employer-sponsored retirement savings arrangements. The scheme allows eligible contributors to make flexible payments daily, weekly, monthly or at their convenience, depending on their income and circumstances. Registration requires a National Identification Number (NIN) and a phone number, while prospective contributors can register directly with a Pension Fund Administrator (PFA) or through an accredited pension agent. the presentation identified several obstacles to wider participation, including irregular earnings, limited awareness, distrust of financial institutions, preference for readily accessible savings, geographical barriers and gaps in digital literacy.
MSEApp News is publishing an original rewrite of this tip for readers, based on reporting associated with Vanguard.