Yemisi Izuora
Parthian Pensions Limited has advocated rise in financial literacy to enhance and deepen adoption of pension scheme in the country.
This is even as the newly approved Pension Fund Administrator (PFA) is focusing on the micro pension market to gain fresh Retirement Savings Account (RSA) holders into its customer base.
Speaking at the 10th National Conference/Anniversary of Nigerian Association of Insurance and Pension Editors (NAIPE) held in Lagos, the Head of Operations, Parthian Pensions Limited, Mr. Adetunbi Ashaye called on stakeholders in Nigeria’s pension sector to educate Nigerians on the importance of subscribing to the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).
While highlighting some of the developments in the industry that demonstrate its potential for growth, he said, people that are clamouring to exit the scheme, have forgotten so soon that it was because of the past bad experiences that the new scheme came on board.
“This is because the previous pension system was unfunded. Now that it is funded through the contributions of the employees and the employers, it is highly regulated.
“What really needs to happen is the need to drive financial literacy because people in Nigeria see pension as insignificant, something that is not important,” he advised.
“The impact of the scheme to the economy is ensuring that people have good retirement; people have good life after they have stopped working. In other words, what we need to do in the industry as operators is to ensure financial literacy. We need to let people know what is going on and why they should continually support the contributory pension scheme,” he added.
Saying most Nigerians see insurance and pensions as unnecessary, he noted that, “their concern is that, if they cannot provide for their immediate needs, which is food, shelter and clothing, why should they save? And it still boils down to a Micro Pension Plan.
“What should be happening in the industry now is to simplify, digitise micro pension plans, and ensure diversification in different ways so that we can reach out to everybody.”
With pension assets projected to reach N29 trillion at the end of the year, he said, “the pension industry performance in the first quarter, 2025 shows N79 billion was paid for Programme Withdrawal and N54 billion for Annuity.
“There is also the certification of asset classifications, and what we need is transparency, which is what PenCom is doing, people are looking and seeing how the funds are growing.”
Meanwhile, he said, his PFA will leverage on the opportunities provided by micro pension plan to enrich its customer base and bring more people who are not currently covered under the regular scheme into the pension safety net.
“Though, we are one of the late entrants into the industry, that doesn’t mean that we don’t have what it takes to excel.
“So, we are technology driven as we leverage technology for effective service delivery to our contributors. This is effective and it’s going to drive people and companies towards us.
“In another instance, we are going to flood micro pension space which still remains untapped. About 70 to 80 million people are in that space.
“So, we are not just coming into the business, to cannibalise RSA holders, we are coming to bring on board new RSAs and chart a new course,” he assured.
Saying its prospective contributors should expect simplicity, and less complexity in onboarding, he added that, “they can onboard from the comfort of their homes. We care about you (our customers) and we will always check on you. There is human face to every service we render. We will drive towards financial literacy. We are the pensions managers of choice, trust and we will get that actualised.”