PenCom Records 143,248 New Pension Accounts in Q1 2026, Coverage Gap Persists
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The National Pension Commission says 143,248 new Retirement Savings Accounts were opened in Q1 2026, lifting cumulative registrations to 11.18 million, though coverage remains at just 12.1% of the labour force.
The National Pension Commission (PenCom) says new Retirement Savings Account (RSA) registrations under the Contributory Pension Scheme rose to 143,248 in the first quarter of 2026, up 24.7 per cent from the 114,864 recorded in the previous quarter.
The increase lifted cumulative RSA registrations from 11.04 million at the end of 2025 to 11.18 million by the end of March 2026. PenCom attributed the stronger enrolment to improved digital onboarding and continued public sensitisation, while noting that registered contributors still represent only about 12.1 per cent of Nigeria’s estimated 92 million labour force.
Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers led the quarter with 25,024 new registrations, or 17.47 per cent of the total, followed by AccessARM Pension Managers and FCMB Pensions. The top five PFAs accounted for 54.41 per cent of new registrations, down from 62.11 per cent in the previous quarter, which PenCom said reflected growing competition among mid-tier operators. Total pension industry assets rose 7.53 per cent during the quarter to N29.52 trillion.
