CONTACTS: +254 726879488 (Mobile)
+254770 455 116 (Office)
Kenyan firm in a deal to widen pension coverage in Kenya
In Kenya, the Retirement Benefits Assets as a percentage of GDP stood at 13.4%, compared to more developed markets like the USA at 84.1% and the UK at 105.3%. ... This can be achieved by signing up to a registered Retirement Benefits Scheme and contribute to it during your working years.
By Monicah Muema
Pension fund administrator Zamara Group has entered a deal with Singaporean based tech firm pinBox solutions to launch a unique micro-pension inclusion partnership to widen pension coverage in Kenya.
The country currently has over 17 million informal sector workers.
“Through our partnership, we aim to reach and empower the millions of domestic helpers, boda-boda drivers, farmers, small shop-keepers, artisans and street vendors, and especially the youth and self-employed women in Kenya to achieve old age income security through thrift and self-help,” said Zamara Group Chief Executive Officer Sundeep Raichura.
According to Raichura, the deal is expected to provide a secure and affordable mechanism which any Kenyan citizen will be able to conveniently access simple and regulated pension and insurance solutions while the micro-pension scheme will also be the first national-level collaborative deployment of a pensiontech solution and delivered with leading digital financial and pension inclusion stakeholders in Kenya.
Parul Seth Khanna, the director and co-founder of pinBox, said the partnership with Zamara and its consortium of leading insurance and banking partners to launch Africa’s first, national-ID linked, and private sector driven national micro-pension scheme will tap the country’s 17 million informal sector workers.
“This is a very important first step for us as we march ahead in collaboration with governments, regulators and pension and financial inclusion stakeholders across Africa to help deliver secure and affordable retirement solutions to 500 million excluded non-salaried workers”, Khanna added.
The country is facing an emerging old age poverty crisis where over 9.2 million people are expected to be above the age of 60 and nearly 85 per cent of them will not get a pension.
It is estimated that about US$3.34 billion will be required annually to fund for the welfare of these elderly people and yet tax revenues will not be able to cope with the enormous fiscal and social cost of an even modest tax-funded social pension.