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This case study examines Kenya’s efforts to expand pension coverage among informal sector workers. Kenya was an early innovator with the Mbao Pension Plan, launched in 2009, which allowed informal workers to make small, flexible contributions through mobile money. Despite strong financial inclusion and supportive regulation, the scheme reached fewer than 100,000 members (around 0.5–0.75% of informal workers). A newer plan under the National Social Security Fund, the Haba Haba, has achieved similar results. To address these limitations, Kenya is developing the Kenya National Entrepreneurs Savings Trust (KNEST), which will link pension accounts to loans under the government’s Hustler Fund, directing a portion of small business lending into savings. The case of Kenya highlights the limits of relying mainly on tax incentives and suggests that matching incentives, bundled insurance, and auto-enrolment pilots may be more effective in expanding pension coverage among informal workers. At the same time, it depicts the importance of looking for innovative approaches to overcome the challenges from uneffective schemes.

This case study examines Ghana’s efforts to expand pension coverage among informal sector workers through Tier 3 voluntary personal pension schemes introduced under the National Pensions Act. These defined contribution accounts allow informal workers and the self-employed to save flexibly for retirement through licensed trustees and fund managers. A notable innovation is the use of sector-based contribution channels, including cocoa farmers contributing through the COCOBOD cocoa marketing system. By linking pension savings to existing payment flows, this approach acts as a form of 'second-generation' auto-enrolment for informal workers. While coverage remains modest overall, the system demonstrates the potential of matching incentives, flexible contributions, and value-chain based enrolment mechanisms. Ghana’s experience suggests that embedding pension contributions into existing economic structures can significantly improve participation among informal workers.

This case study examines Mexico’s pension system, which includes a large funded pillar managed through Afore individual retirement accounts, with assets close to 20% of GDP. While the system provides strong incentives for formal workers, including the Cuota Social flat-rate government contribution, a minimum pension guarantee, and a Solidarity Supplement, these incentives do not extend to informal workers. As a result, voluntary pension participation among informal workers remains extremely limited, covering less than 1% of the informal labour force, despite accessible contribution channels through banks, convenience stores and digital payments. Many informal workers instead rely on expanding non-contributory pensions in old age. Mexico’s experience shows that digital infrastructure and convenient products alone cannot expand pension coverage. Extending rules-based top-ups, refundable tax credits, or matching contributions to informal workers could significantly improve participation.

This case study examines Thailand’s efforts to expand pension coverage through two contributory schemes open to informal workers: Social Security Fund (SSF) Article 40 and the National Savings Fund (NSF). Both provide flat-rate or matching government contributions, while SSF Article 40 also bundles insurance benefits with retirement savings. The NSF instead pays a monthly pension based on accumulated balances, after which retirees transition to the non-contributory Old Age Allowance. Thailand has achieved relatively strong participation by international standards. SSF Article 40 covers around 10% of informal workers, while the NSF has 2.7 million accounts, bringing combined coverage to roughly 15% of informal employment. An innovative Covid-19 use of the SSF Article 40 programme temporarily boosted the coverage of the scheme dramatically. Thailand’s experience highlights how clear financial incentives, bundled insurance, and strong financial inclusion infrastructure, including widespread mobile access and digital payment systems such as PromptPay, can support pension participation among informal workers.

This case study examines Pakistan’s efforts to develop a funded pension framework in a labour market where informal workers make up 84% of employment, and gender gaps in employment and financial access are substantial. Policy makers have promoted a shift toward defined contribution pensions through the Voluntary Pension System (VPS). Recent reforms have introduced Employer Pension Funds, allowing employers to establish voluntary funded schemes within the VPS framework. Despite these reforms, pension participation among informal workers remains negligible. Current incentives rely almost entirely on tax relief, which primarily benefits higher-income taxpayers, leaving most informal workers without effective incentives to save. Pakistan’s experience highlights the need for targeted matching contributions, integration with the broader social protection system, and the use of digital infrastructure to expand pension coverage among informal workers.

This case study examines Indonesia’s pension system and its effort to extend pension coverage to informal sector workers. The system is organised around a multi-pillar framework with a large social security institution (BPJS). Informal workers can enrol voluntarily in the defined contribution component of the BPJS pension system, while the defined benefit component is limited to formal sector workers. Despite these efforts, coverage among informal workers remains low: around 0.75% of informal workers participate, compared with about 32% of formal sector workers, resulting in overall pension coverage at roughly 13% of the labour force. Existing incentives rely almost entirely on tax relief, which provides little benefit to low-income workers. However, recent efforts by BPJS to improve communications and digital enrolment have increased participation from around 200,000 informal workers in 2019 to about 650,000 in 2024, showing some progress and learnings for future reforms Indonesia’s experience highlights that pension coverage could expand further if pension schemes are supported by stronger non-tax incentives, structural reforms to the pension design, and innovative enrolment mechanisms that build on recent improvements to outreach and digital access.

This case study examines Türkiye’s pension reforms, which replaced tax incentives with direct government matching contributions in its voluntary private pension system (BES). Introduced in 2013, the reform expanded incentives to non-taxpayers, including informal workers, and was associated with significant growth in voluntary pension participation. The government match was increased from 25% to 30% in 2022, further strengthening incentives, while contribution limits linked to the minimum wage have also supported higher savings. Türkiye introduced auto-enrolment for public and private sector workers in 2017, although opt-out rates remain high. The system also includes an additional incentive for savers who convert their balances into long-term retirement income products. Türkiye’s experience shows that direct matching incentives can significantly increase pension participation, particularly in countries where tax-based incentives exclude large segments of the workforce. Thailand’s experience highlights how clear financial incentives, bundled insurance, and strong financial inclusion infrastructure, including widespread mobile access and digital payment systems such as PromptPay, can support pension participation among informal workers.

This case study examines Malaysia’s efforts to expand pension coverage among informal sector workers through several programmes managed by the Employees Provident Fund (EPF). The EPF covers around 50% of the labour force and holds over US$240 billion in assets, providing a strong platform to extend pension saving beyond formal employment. Malaysia’s first informal sector initiative, the 1Malaysia Retirement Scheme (1MYR), launched in 2010 and achieved limited uptake. A revised approach was introduced in 2018 through the i-Saraan scheme, offering government matching contributions, recently increased to 20% from 2025. Participation has grown to over 500,000 accounts, though balances remain modest. Additional initiatives include i-Suri, which offers targeted matching contributions for low-income housewives, and i-Saraan Plus, which will link pension saving to gig-economy platforms. Malaysia’s experience shows how strong national pension institutions, digital targeting, and well-designed matching incentives can expand participation among informal workers.

This case study examines India’s evolving approach to pensions for informal sector workers, from the early NPS-Lite Swawalamban co-contribution model to the much larger Atal Pension Yojana (APY). Unlike most pension schemes for informal workers, that are defined contribution, the APY is a defined benefit scheme that promises a guaranteed monthly pension of Rs 1,000 to Rs 5,000 from age 60, with the government underwriting the guarantee if investment returns are insufficient. APY has reached around 70 million accounts, equal to about 13% of the informal sector, far exceeding newer schemes such as PM-SYM and PM-KMY, despite those offering a 100% matching contribution. India's experience suggests that guaranteed retirement income, low-cost centralised infrastructure, easy digital enrolment, and broad access channels can be more effective than matching incentives alone in expanding pension coverage.

This case study examines Nigeria’s efforts to extend pension coverage in a labour market where around 93% of workers are employed informally. The core of the system is the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) introduced in 2004, which has successfully built pension assets for formal sector workers. To reach informal workers, Nigeria launched the Micro Pension Plan (MPP) in 2019, allowing self-employed and informal workers to open Retirement Savings Accounts with flexible contributions and partial liquidity. Despite this initiative, participation has remained extremely limited, with around 175,000 members—less than 0.5% of the informal workforce. Recent reforms have introduced the Personal Pension Plan (PPP) to modernise the scheme, improve digital access and allow features such as two-pot savings and third-party contributions. Nigeria’s experience shows that flexibility and digital access are necessary but insufficient without operational matching incentives and stronger integration with social protection systems to expand pension coverage.

This case study examines Rwanda’s Ejo Heza Long-Term Savings Scheme, launched in 2018 to expand pension coverage among informal workers. Managed by the Rwanda Social Security Board, the scheme integrates with existing pension administration systems and digital government databases to allow simple registration and mobile-based contributions. Ejo Heza has achieved one of the highest participation rates among informal pension schemes globally, reaching over three million members, around 73% of employment, with the majority of participants from the informal sector. The programme initially combined matching contributions, life and funeral insurance benefits, and targeted incentives for low-income savers. Ejo Heza highlights the potential of innovative financial incentives. Beyond financial incentives, Rwanda’s experience highlights the importance of non-financial incentives such as low-cost administration, strong public trust in government institutions, extensive marketing through cooperatives and local networks, and high mobile money penetration in achieving large-scale pension participation.