The National Pension Commission says it is driving the growth of the Micro Pension Plan and that it expects it to have positive impact on the economy and boost the pension assets.
The acting Director-General, Pencom, Aisha Dahir-Umar, during a conference in Lagos said, “The commission expects that the implementation of the Micro Pension Plan will yield positive results for Nigerians and the Nigerian pension industry.
“It would also assist greatly in the reduction of old age poverty in Nigeria. The contributions from the MPP would further boost the pension fund assets towards an improved economic development.”
She said the commission had put in place requisite infrastructure to facilitate seamless implementation of the MPP, adding that the Enhanced Contribution Registration System has been deployed to facilitate its operations.
“This system has so far aided the smooth registration of Micro Pension Contributors,” she said.
In terms of eligibility, she explained that the MPP was designed to cover persons who should be not less than 18 years of age with legitimate source of income: self-employed persons that belonged to a trade, profession, cooperative or business association; self-employed persons with a business registration as a company, partnership or enterprise; employees operating in the informal sector who work with or without formal written employment contract and other self-employed individuals.
She said that registration into the MPP was conducted through a flexible and simplified process conducted by the Pension Fund Administrator via a multi-channel platform.
Dahir-Umar mentioned that documentation requirements had been eased significantly to facilitate registration.
“It is the PFA’s duty to communicate the Retirement Savings Account, Personal Identification Number to the MPP contributor after registration,” she added.