The Director-General of the National Pension Commission (PenCom), Omolola Oloworaran, has called on women in Nigeria’s informal sector to secure their future by enrolling in the Personal Pension Plan (PPP).
Describing them as the “driving force” of the nation’s economy, she emphasized the importance of building a financial buffer for their retirement years.
Oloworaran noted that the informal sector is the backbone of Nigeria’s economy, contributing between 54% and 65% of the GDP and employing up to 93% of the national workforce.
Despite its critical role in agriculture, trade, and transport, the sector remains vulnerable to limited funding and poor working conditions.
Women, who own 37.1% of youth-led enterprises within this space, are particularly vital to this ecosystem.
The advocacy drive took place on Monday at the Utako Ultra Modern Market in Abuja.
Persecondnews correspondents, who covered the event, reports that over 500 representatives from various markets, including Area 1, Lugbe, Nyanya, Apo, Garki, and Karu, were drawn, all aimed at empowering self-employed women with retirement security.
Oloworaran, who disclosed the plan’s core value, said: “The essence of the PPP is to give women a good financial structure at old age, were you save small and win big when you can’t work again. Every contribution below N20,000 will be rewarded.”
The Director-General announced that PenCom is launching a nationwide sensitization tour immediately.
“Starting Tuesday, we will take this message across all six geopolitical zones to ensure no woman is left behind,” she stated.
Connecting the initiative to the global celebration, the PenCom chief highlighted a shift in perspective.
“While the international theme for this year’s Women’s Day is ‘Give to Gain,’ our guiding principle at the Commission is ‘save small today and win big tomorrow.’”
The initiative received a strong endorsement from Aisha Ringo, President of the National Council for Women’s Societies (NCWS), FCT Chapter.
She lauded the drive as a necessary intervention for women who often reach old age without financial assets.
“This is commendable. So many women face their senior years with nothing to fall back on,” Ringo noted.
She further emphasized the importance of financial independence: “With the PPP, we can finally secure our own futures. Too often, we are forced to depend solely on our husbands or children. I am thrilled by this and urge every woman to key into the scheme.”
Persecondnews reports that the Personal Pension Plan is a voluntary savings vehicle introduced by the National Pension Commission under Section 2(3) of the Pension Reform Act 2014.
It is designed for self-employed individuals, informal-sector operators such as market women and traders, staff of organisations with fewer than three employees, and even formal-sector workers looking for supplementary retirement funds.
Participants are required to open a Retirement Savings Account with any licensed Pension Fund Administrator and can contribute any sum they choose – however small – at whatever interval suits them, whether daily, weekly or monthly, with absolutely no compulsory minimum and no requirement for employer involvement.
This pay-as-you-can model is particularly suited to irregular earnings common in the informal economy.
A distinctive feature is the built-in emergency facility: exactly half of every deposit is automatically placed in a contingent account that becomes accessible for urgent needs once three months of saving have elapsed.
Withdrawals from this portion can be made once every two calendar months and are paid directly into the saver’s bank account within 24 hours.
The remaining half stays protected for long-term retirement purposes, although contributors have the flexibility to shift contingent funds into the retirement bucket on an annual basis.
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