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PenCom canvasses investment of pension funds in Africa

By BusinessNews Staff on August 4, 2015

The National Pension Commission has said it will continue to promote the investment of pension funds within the African continent in line with the vision of the African Union’s economic development plan tagged ‘Agenda 2063’.

A statement obtained on Sunday quoted the Director General of the Commission, Mrs. Chinelo Anohu-Amazu, as saying this while addressing participants at the third international conference on financing for development in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

She stated that PenCom hoped to raise the number of workers covered under the Contributory Pension Scheme from 6.5 million this year to 20 million by 2019, using the micro-pension initiative.

“The AU Agenda 2063 is both a vision and an action plan, a call for action to all segments of African society to work together to build a prosperous and united Africa based on shared values and a common destiny,” it stated.

It said the commission was expected to translate this vision and ideals into concrete objectives and milestones as well as actions/measures and enable Africa to remain focused.

In operational terms, the statement added that the Agenda 2063 would be a rolling plan of 25 years, 10 years, five years and a short-term action

According to the statement, heads of state and governments of the African Union at the 50th anniversary solemn declaration rededicated themselves to the continent’s accelerated development and technological progress.

They also laid the vision and eight ideals that would serve as pillars for the continent in the foreseeable future.

While speaking on utilising pension funds for financing infrastructure development in Africa in one of the discussion panels, Anohu-Amazu said that PenCom was committed to the vision of the AU Agenda 2063 and would promote the investment of accumulated pension fund assets within the continent.

“PenCom is committed to promoting sustainable pension fund investments in Africa and welcomes the AU Agenda 2063 as well as the Programme for Infrastructure Development. It would project same through the annual World Pension Summit Africa Special in collaboration with the WPS Amsterdam,” Anohu-Amazu stated.

She expressed dissatisfaction with the level of coverage of the Contributory Pension Scheme 11 years after it was established, adding that the commission hoped to raise the coverage using the micro-pension initiative, which it planned to introduce soon.

“The current position of 6.5 million contributors is low relative to estimated working population. There is a plan to expand it to at least 20 million by 2019 through micro pensions. This is pertinent also due to inadequate social safety nets,” she state.

[Punch]

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