Omolola Oloworaran, National Pension Commission’s (PenCom) Director-General, has announced that the commission aims to enroll one million self-employed women in the Personal Pension Plan (PPP) to help them build financial security for retirement. She shared this during the International Women’s Day 2026 event in Abuja, emphasizing efforts to promote PPP among self-employed women despite the ambitious annual target amid current national challenges. The goal is to expand coverage into the informal sector.
Oloworaran highlighted women’s vital contributions to families and society, noting that women dominate the informal workforce while men lead in formal employment. “Empowering women to save for their later years is crucial,” she stated. “We must start in informal settings like markets, where these women rise early, labor tirelessly, support their households, and hold communities together. Today, we’re focusing on their retirement security.”
She pointed out the informal sector’s massive scale—over 77 million workers—and expressed confidence in reaching one million female registrants yearly, tracked via contributions and PFA-reported data. Progress will be monitored daily to gauge proximity to the goal. Oloworaran also stressed including next-of-kin details during registration for handling any eventualities.
Additionally, she explained the matching fund incentive: PenCom doubles women’s deposits up to N20,000. “Open an account with N20,000, and we add another N20,000,” she said. As regulator, PenCom collaborates with PFAs, industry players, and donors to drive this initiative forward.
