‘Adoption of micro pension’s scheme key to financial inclusion’

MICRO pension has been identified as one of the channels that can be applied to drive financial inclusion in the nation’s economy, the Managing Director of IEI Anchor Pension, Glory Etaduovie, has said. According to him, the micro pension involves helping the low income, the unstructured businesses, individual professionals, retail outlets, the unexposed and the artisans, develop a virile savings culture, getting benefits of financial advice, affordable credits and enhancing minimum capacity to access same, payment and remittances platform and benefits of insurance and banking services.

He said IEI Anchor Pension, was working in this regard to avoid being left out, noting that most, if not all of the Pension Fund Administrators (PFAS), have internal structures largely in place already.

“These include closely monitoring the Regulator’s ‘dance’ steps and domiciling same in our company. Staffing and a robust ICT network is being enhanced. Remember that, those in the micro pension sector constitute no less than 60 % of the population. There is also a growing tilt towards increasing entrepreneurial drive, as the direct jobs are decreasing. It is thus a larger untapped market,” he said. Etaduovie frowned at the larger number of unstructured Nigerian population, saying: “They are left to chance and limits of their knowledge and capacity to deal with the challenges and vagaries of getting old. “Ironically, we are all affected, because they are our uncles and aunties; brothers and sisters; fathers and mothers who now lean on us for family pension plans (if any), or handouts of stipends that caters for only a few days, and back to square one.

“Aging becomes undignified. Health and maintenance remain a critical issue of aging. The current working population is thus under siege. There are endless requests for support here and there.”