Lagos, Nigeria | September 18, 2025
Industry experts have called on Nigeria’s insurance and pension operators to design innovative products tailored to the informal sector, which accounts for over 60% of the nation’s workforce but remains largely excluded from formal financial protection schemes.
Speaking at a stakeholders’ forum in Lagos on Thursday, financial analysts stressed that achieving broad-based financial inclusion will remain elusive unless the sector develops flexible and affordable policies suited to artisans, traders, farmers, transport workers, and other groups operating outside structured employment.
According to them, the current model of pension and insurance coverage is heavily concentrated on employees in the formal sector, leaving millions of Nigerians vulnerable to old-age poverty, economic shocks, and unforeseen risks.
Mr. Adewale Adediran, a financial inclusion advocate, argued that the National Pension Commission (PenCom) and the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) must strengthen their micro-pension and micro-insurance frameworks by simplifying registration processes, leveraging mobile technology, and improving awareness campaigns in rural and urban markets.
“Without deliberate expansion into the informal economy, the industry will continue to underperform its potential. Pension and insurance should not be a privilege for the few, but a safety net accessible to every working Nigerian,” Adediran said.
He also noted that collaboration between regulators, operators, trade associations, and cooperatives would be crucial in pooling resources and building trust among low-income earners, many of whom remain skeptical of formal financial institutions.
The call comes at a time when Nigeria’s pension industry has accumulated assets worth over ₦24 trillion, yet less than 10% of the working population is covered, while insurance penetration remains below 1% of GDP, one of the lowest in Africa.
Stakeholders concluded that expanding pension and insurance access to the informal sector would not only improve social security but also deepen financial markets, attract new investments, and boost economic stability.
