The National Pension Commission(PenCom), has mandated all licensed Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) to ensure they are in agreement with retirees before enrolling them into the PenCare initiative. The commission stated this in a circular published in its official website.
The commission in the circular titled, “Obtaining Retirees Consent for Enrolment into the PenCare Initiative During Programmed Withdrawal Retirement Benefit Processing,” said effective from the date of the circular, (Oct 27, 2026),every PFA should obtain the informed consent of eligible retirees who elect Programmed Withdrawal at the time the retiree executed the Programmed Withdrawal Agreement.
The PenCare launch by Federal Government recently, is a social welfare initiative by PenCom and pension fund operators to provide free basic primary healthcare service to eligible retirees starting with those with low monthly pension benefit.
According to PenCom, eligible retirees must be 60 years old and above, must have chosen programme withdrawal as choice of benefit collection and must have monthly pension benefit amount between N70,000 to N150, 000.
PenCom in the circular signed by the Director of its Surveillance Department, A. M. Saleem, said the objective of the circular is to ensure that PFAs obtain the informed consent of retirees who choose Programmed Withdrawal (PW) for possible enrolment into the PenCare initiative at the point of retirement.
FG Moves to Ease Cross-Border Investment in W’Africa
The Federal Government has proposed a regional capital market framework that would allow companies and governments to raise funds across 10 West African countries without obtaining separate regulatory approvals in each market.
The proposal, presented by the Minister of Finance, Taiwo Oyedele, at the S&P Global Ratings Africa Summit in Lagos yesterday, is aimed at removing barriers to cross-border investment and improving access to long-term financing for infrastructure and economic growth.
Oyedele said fragmented capital markets across the region had limited the ability of countries to mobilise the scale of funding required for development, noting that no single market was deep enough to meet the region’s financing needs.
Under the proposed framework, an issuer approved by regulators in one participating country would be able to raise capital in other member markets without going through separate approval processes.
The arrangement, described as a regional “passport” regime, is expected to make it easier for governments and companies to access investors across the region.
Nigeria is also proposing a unified investor identification system that would allow investors registered in one country to buy bonds and equities in other participating markets without repeating registration and verification procedures.
