TeamApt Ltd., a subsidiary of Moniepoint Inc., has partnered Awabah to expand pension access to millions of Nigerians working outside the formal sector, targeting a long-standing gap in a retirement system whose N27 trillion ($18 billion) asset base largely excludes informal workers.
The partnership, unveiled in Abuja at the launch of Awabah’s agent licence, seeks to convert everyday point-of-sale (POS) terminals into pension enrollment and contribution channels, allowing traders, artisans and small business owners to sign up and make recurring payments with a few clicks.
Nigeria’s pension industry has grown rapidly since reforms two decades ago, but coverage remains heavily skewed toward salaried workers.
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Omolola Oloworaran, director-general of the National Pension Commission (PenCom), said the bulk of the country’s pension assets are concentrated among formal-sector employees, leaving the majority of workers exposed to old-age poverty.
The informal economy accounts for a dominant share of Nigeria’s workforce. According to Moniepoint’s 2025 Informal Economy Report, 65 percent of informal businesses report revenue growth, yet most lack structured succession or long-term savings mechanisms.
Under the arrangement, TeamApt, a Central Bank of Nigeria-licensed switching and processing firm, will deploy its Direct Debit infrastructure across its extensive POS network, enabling Awabah customers to register for personal pension plans, tokenize their bank cards and automate periodic deductions.
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Tunji Andrews, chief executive of Awabah, said the model is designed to meet workers where they already transact.
“No African worker should be one mishap away from poverty. With TeamApt’s Direct Debit service and POS reach, we can enrol market women, mechanics and kiosk owners directly from the terminals they use every day,” Andrews said.
Beyond retirement savings, Awabah bundles health insurance, accident cover and life insurance into its micropension offering, aiming to provide broader financial protection for contributors.
Dennis Ajalie, chief executive of TeamApt, said the partnership aligns with the group’s long-standing focus on Nigeria’s informal economy. Through its co-subsidiary, Moniepoint MFB, the company operates across all 774 local government areas and processes billions of dollars in merchant transactions annually.
“This is about building financial infrastructure that works for everyone, regardless of employment status,” Ajalie said, adding that regulatory support from PenCom has created room for new distribution models.
Moniepoint says it serves over 20 million businesses and individuals monthly and processes more than $250 billion in annual transaction value, positioning it as Nigeria’s largest merchant acquirer.
Analysts say digitising micropensions through existing payment rails could materially improve retirement participation if trust and contribution discipline are sustained. For informal workers accustomed to daily cash flow management, embedding pensions into routine POS transactions may reduce the friction that has historically discouraged long-term savings.
If successful, the initiative could deepen Nigeria’s pension penetration while converting the country’s vast POS network into a new engine for social protection, one transaction at a time.
