February 2020

24Feb

Nigeria. Pension operators reduce investment in real estate to N220bn

The Pension Fund Administrators have reduced the amount of funds invested in real estate assets to N220bn as of the end of December 2019, latest figures obtained from the National Pension Commission have shown. This amounts to 2.15 per cent of the total assets of the Contributory Pension Scheme, which stood at N10.21tn during the period under review. The operators had invested N250.02bn in real estate as of the end of June 2019, PenCom stated. PenCom also disclosed...

February 24, 2020
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19Feb

South Africa. DA MP calls on Ramaphosa to break away from ANC

DA MP Geordin Hill-Lewis has called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to part with factions in the ANC that were opposed to policy and structural reform, and to instead assemble a progressive coalition to govern South Africa. Hill-Lewis, in the parliamentary debate on Ramaphosa's state of the nation address (SONA), said the president had made so many unwise concessions in his bid to keep the ruling party united behind him that he seemed like a leader in retreat. Hence, he...

February 19, 2020
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18Feb

11 African fintech startups selected for CATAPULT programme

Eleven African fintech startups have been selected to take part in the 2020 edition of CATAPULT: Inclusion Africa, which helps companies focusing on financial inclusion to scale. Building on the success of its 2018 edition, CATAPULT: Inclusion Africa is developed by the LHoFT Foundation and targets companies focusing on financial inclusion in Africa. It aims to build bridges between Africa and Europe. It provides selected startups with access to a tailor made program with intensive mentoring, coaching, peer-to-peer learning...

February 18, 2020
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13Feb

World Bank economic report urges Uganda to step up social protection

The World Bank has today released the 14th Uganda Economic Update which has focused on social protection systems in Uganda and proposes a more effective approach to reduce vulnerability and to support more inclusive growth. The report indicates that the coverage and design of social protection programs are currently insufficient to meaningfully address the range and scope of vulnerabilities to shocks in Uganda. It indicates that the existing direct income support programs in Uganda have low coverage, with...

February 13, 2020
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13Feb

South Africa. Trade union oppose plans to finance Eskom with pension fund

South African trade union Solidarity announced that it has started a legal process to stop plans to financing Eskom from the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF). The union says it has written a letter to the GEPF as well as the Public Investment Corporation (PIC), and it is demanding that the Trustees and the Board of these institutions should not accept the controversial plan to finance Eskom from the Fund. In the letter, Solidarity called the Trustees’ attention to...

February 13, 2020
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12Feb

Need for pensions reform in Zimmbabwe

By Abisha Ndoro The occupational pension fund industry in Zimbabwe is a national crisis. A collective introspection by industry practitioners, boards of trustees, regulators, policymakers and other stakeholders is now necessary in addressing the myriad of underlying problems and reposition pension funds on a platform of long-term sustainability for future generations of retirees. The purpose of this, and subsequent articles, is to begin a process of stimulating debate as we examine the problems besetting the pensions system and crystallise...

February 12, 2020
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11Feb

Zimbabwe pension funds to invest offshore

During an inaugural insurance and pensions industry breakfast meeting yesterday, Finance minister Mthuli Ncube said Parliament would receive the Pensions and Provident Fund Bill, the Insurance Act and the amendments of the Insurance Commission Act soon. "In the first half of the year, all three Bills will come before Parliament . . . It is going to be contained in one of the Bills (Pensions and Provident) that eventually what we are saying is that for now we...

February 11, 2020
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07Feb

Nigeria. Investing pension funds

Money saved by public and private sector workers in Nigeria for their pension under the National Pension Commission (PenCom) reached the N10 trillion mark in 2019, that is, after 15 years of consistent saving. The National Pension Commission, the regulatory body watching over private-sector pension entities that are the Custodians of the money and Pension Fund Administrators that operate like fund retailers, are the ultimate trustees of the pension money owned by about nine million Nigerians. The N10 trillion...

February 7, 2020
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06Feb

Ageing and the Elderly in Rwanda – The Missing Voice

By Francis Davis In June the Commonwealth Heads of Government (CHOGM) will meet in Kigali the capital of Rwanda . They have chosen ‘youth’ as their theme. Despite its ferocity the Rwandan genocide remains a closed book to many outside central and East Africa. While the UN dithered and major global newspapers failed to despatch reporters to cover the carnage, 800,000 people were murdered - often by hand - in a few short months. Many in London,...

February 6, 2020
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05Feb

Controversial plan to use pensions for government funding in South Africa

Labour federation Cosatu met with government, business, community and labour leaders on Monday (3 February) to present its plan to rescue debt-stricken Eskom. Key to this plan is the use of civil servant pensions and a state-run unemployment fund to cut Eskom’s debt by about R254 billion, which would then leave the power utility with a sum of around R200 billion to service, which Eskom has previously said it can manage as it currently struggles to cover its daily...

February 5, 2020
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