LAGOS — Nigeria’s pension assets under management surged 51% over the last two years to hit 31.48 trillion naira ($22.80 billion), the National Pension Commission announced on Tuesday.
PenCom Director-General Omolola Oloworaran disclosed that the retirement assets grew from 20.79 trillion naira in July 2024, driven by stronger public confidence in the contributory pension scheme.
The regulator reported that active membership in the national scheme expanded by nearly one million workers, pushing the total contributor base to 11.32 million.
This massive expansion of capital has been supported by a historic 758 billion naira Federal Government bond deployed to clear backlogged pension obligations dating back to 2007.
Consequently, accrued pension rights for retirees swung from a deficit of 21 months in arrears two years ago to a highly liquid 41-month surplus, PenCom confirmed.
The commission has also enforced stricter service standards, mandating that all standard retirement benefit approvals must now be processed by pension fund administrators within 48 hours.
To help retirees cope with persistent domestic inflation, the government approved a 32,000 naira monthly consequential adjustment to bolster payouts for eligible treasury-funded pensioners.
Recent industry data reveals that pension administrators are increasingly diversifying portfolios, allocating roughly 56% of assets to government debt while expanding exposure to local equities.
Infrastructure fund investments have also climbed past 312 billion naira as administrators seek higher long-term yields amidst ongoing central bank monetary tightening and market volatility.
