The Federal Government is in talks with the National Pension Commission to allow operators of the Contributory Pension Scheme to provide more funds for infrastructural development in the country.
Total pension assets under the CPS stood at N9.36tn as of July ending, according to the latest statistics from PenCom.
Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo disclosed this during the second annual conference of the Nigerian Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria in Abuja.
He also said the government was discussing with the banks on how to reduce the risks associated with the loan.
“We are also in discussions with PenCom, and some of these discussions we’ve had with some banks already along with PenCom to de-risk pension funds in order to enable lending for infrastructure development,” he said.
Figures from PenCom showed that the Pension Fund Administrators had so far invested N30.14bn of the rising funds in infrastructure bonds.
N6.62tn or 70.77 per cent of the funds had been invested in the Federal Government’s bonds.
The President, Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria, Mrs Aderonke Adedeji, said that successful mobilisation of pension fund and its contributions to the economic growth of any nation were essential policy objectives.
“For the first time, our country can now boast of a long-term funding base and the impact to date has included the funding of the government and government projects, development of the capital market as well as increased foreign development inflows,” she said.
The acting Director-General, PenCom, Aisha Dahir-Umar, said, “The Contributory Pension Scheme has been very impactful in Nigeria since the commencement of its implementation in 2004.”
According to her, the formation of long-term domestic capital was slowly changing Nigeria’s financial landscape.
She said it was also transforming the course and pace of socio-economic development.
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