The Central Bank of Nigeria allowed the local currency –Naira- to devaluate massively last year in a move to streamline its multiple exchange rate system, which had kept the currency artificially high.

This significant devaluation, following changes in the exchange regime, resulted in a 56.8% drop in the net value of pension fund assets in US dollars within a year, the National Pension Commission (PENCOM) reported on March 18.

The net value of the country’s pension fund assets was reported to be $14.4 billion at the end of January 2024, down from $33.3 billion twelve months earlier. However, in local currency, this value experienced a growth of 30.3% during the same period, from 14.99 trillion naira as of January 31, 2023, to 19.53 trillion naira as of January 31, 2024.

The official exchange rate of the Nigerian national currency hit 1,357 naira for one dollar at the end of January 2024, compared to 450 naira for one dollar at the same period in 2023.

Furthermore, the National Pension Commission reported that the number of Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs) grew by 3.36% between January 2023 and January 2024, from 9.89 million to 10.22 million accounts.