Nigeria’s expanding financial inclusion has yet to translate into widespread retirement security, with only 9.1 per cent of adults covered by formal pension arrangements, a new survey by Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access has shown.
The 2026 Access to Financial Services in Nigeria Survey revealed that pension participation increased from 7.8 per cent in 2023 to 9.1 per cent in 2026.
Despite the improvement, the figure means that roughly 90 per cent of Nigerian adults remain outside the formal pension system.
The disclosure was made in Abuja on Wednesday at the presentation of the survey, which examined access to and use of financial services across the country.
Director-General of the National Pension Commission, Omolola Oloworaran, said the figures demonstrated that expanding retirement savings among workers outside the formal economy remained one of the major challenges confronting pension reform.
“Pension participation has risen from 7.8 per cent of adults in 2023 to 9.1 per cent in 2026. That progress is real, and it is encouraging. But turn the statistics around. Roughly nine out of every 10 Nigerian adults still stand outside any formal pension arrangement,” she said.
Oloworaran said a large section of the population, including traders, farmers, mechanics, drivers, tailors, hairdressers and digital-economy workers, continued to earn incomes without making adequate provision for retirement.
“They work, they earn, they carry this economy. But too many of them are growing older without building any security for the day they can no longer work. That is the great frontier of pension reform,” she added.
The PenCom chief said financial inclusion should not be measured merely by the number of Nigerians who had bank accounts or access to financial platforms.
She said pensions were particularly important because they provided a mechanism for converting earnings during people's productive years into financial security after retirement.
According to her, PenCom is redesigning pension inclusion through the Personal Pension Plan in an effort to extend coverage to workers outside the conventional employment structure.
She called for collaboration among regulators, financial institutions and other stakeholders to determine the incentives and distribution mechanisms that would encourage informal-sector workers to save regularly.
Oloworaran further proposed a pension inclusion map that would combine EFInA's survey findings with PenCom's regulatory and industry data.
The proposed system, she said, would help identify pension gaps across different locations and population groups, including by gender, age, occupation and income.
“As we roll out the Personal Pension Plan, I invite EFInA to work with PenCom and the industry to test what works, from digital onboarding to accredited pension agent distribution framework, transaction-based savings, matching incentives and behavioural models,” she said.
She warned that increasing the number of registered pension accounts would have limited impact unless contributors made regular payments.
“An account that is open but never funded will not provide dignity in retirement. One true measure of success is whether Nigerians are saving consistently and accumulating enough to live on when they can no longer work,” Oloworaran said.
Presenting the survey findings, EFInA Chief Executive Officer, Foyinsolami Akinjayeju, said pension coverage remained low even among groups with relatively better access to financial services.
She put national pension coverage at about nine per cent, compared with 12 per cent among urban residents and 13 per cent among the richest 60 per cent of Nigerians.
The survey was carried out between April and June 2026 under the supervision of the National Bureau of Statistics.
It covered 18,679 adults aged 18 and above across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, representing about 98 per cent of the targeted sample of 18,950 respondents.
The report showed that broader financial inclusion had continued to improve, rising to 79 per cent in 2026, while financial exclusion dropped to 21 per cent from 26 per cent in 2023.
Formal financial inclusion reached 73 per cent, while 64 per cent of adults used digital financial services.
However, the survey found that financial products capable of providing long-term protection remained poorly utilised.
Formal credit reached only 10 per cent of adults, while insurance penetration stood at five per cent, leaving approximately 95 per cent without insurance coverage.
Akinjayeju said the improvement in access had not been matched by a corresponding improvement in financial well-being.
The proportion of financially healthy adults rose from 16 per cent in 2023 to 25 per cent in 2026, leaving 75 per cent financially unhealthy.
“Access is increasing, but financial health is not catching up at the same pace,” she said.
The survey also identified considerable gaps between urban and rural residents and between men and women.
While 85 per cent of urban adults had formal financial inclusion, the proportion fell to 58 per cent in rural areas, producing a 27-percentage-point difference.
Formal inclusion among women stood at 67 per cent, with the national gender gap recorded at 11 percentage points.
EFInA Board Chair, Dr Agnes Olatokunbo Martins, said the country's financial inclusion agenda needed to focus increasingly on the outcomes generated by access rather than simply the availability of financial accounts and applications.
“Access is only the beginning of the journey; it is not the destination,” she said.
Martins said financial inclusion should ultimately enable households and businesses to manage their finances more effectively and expand their participation in economic activities.
The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Olayemi Cardoso, represented by the Director of Consumer Protection and Financial Inclusion, Dr Aisha Isa-Olatinwo, said the low utilisation of pensions, insurance and formal credit remained a concern despite the overall progress recorded in financial inclusion.
“The policy challenge before us is therefore no longer simply to open an account or expand access point. It is to ensure meaningful usage, affordability, reliability, safety, trust, and measurable improvement in financial health,” Cardoso said.
He disclosed that the review of the National Financial Inclusion Strategy 3.0 had been concluded and that preparations had commenced for NFIS 4.0.
According to him, the next strategy will focus more strongly on data, accountability, consumer protection and financial health.
Meanwhile, Moniepoint Group Vice President, Corporate Affairs, Edidiong Uwemakpan, said financial data could be deployed more effectively to expand access to formal financial services, particularly for women entrepreneurs.
She said 62 per cent of female entrepreneurs covered by the company's impact study obtained their first formal business loan through Moniepoint.
Uwemakpan added that 83 per cent of users reported an improved quality of life, while 85 per cent said they had greater confidence in achieving their financial goals.
The Deputy Head of Mission at the German Embassy, Johannes Lehne, said the findings would help Germany align its development cooperation with Nigeria's evolving needs.
He said particular attention would be given to initiatives that promote women's economic participation and support the agricultural sector.
Lehne said Germany remained committed to contributing to “a prosperous and all-inclusive Nigeria”, noting that cooperation between Germany and Nigeria had continued for more than 50 years.
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