PenCom records 11.18 million pension registrations in Q1

The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has announced that 11,183,475 Retirement Savings Account (RSA) registrations have been made under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) during the first quarter of 2026. This marks a significant increase of 143,248 new registrations compared to the 11,040,227 accounts that were registered in the last quarter of 2025. The commission attributes this surge in registrations to enhanced digital onboarding procedures and ongoing public awareness campaigns.

Since the inception of the CPS in 2004, the pension structure in Nigeria has undergone a significant transformation. The pension system, previously based on a pay-as-you-go Defined Benefit Scheme, has been restructured to facilitate fully funded, privately managed pension accounts for both public and private sector employees. Despite these improvements, pension coverage in Nigeria remains relatively low at around 12.1 per cent of the estimated 92 million workforce.

Analysts and regulators emphasize that expanding pension coverage is a crucial challenge, particularly in the informal sector.

PenCom reported that the top five Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) were responsible for 54.41 per cent of new RSA registrations during Q1 2026, a decrease from 62.11 per cent in Q4 2025. Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers led the registrations with 25,024 new accounts, accounting for 17.47 per cent of the total. The other top four PFAs—AccessARM Pension, FCMB Pensions, TangerineAPT Pension, and Trustfund Pensions—captured 10.63, 10.15, 9.65, and 6.73 per cent of the registrations, respectively.

Demographically, female registrations made up 44.08 per cent of the new contributors in Q1 2026, while male registrations constituted 55.92 per cent. This data signifies a narrowing gender gap in pension enrolment, which is a positive trend as more women join the formal workforce. Additionally, contributors under the age of 40 accounted for 75.31 per cent of the new registrations, highlighting a youthful contributor base that promises long-term growth and stability for the pension system due to their extended retirement horizons.