PenCom advises on safe investment window for African pensions

The Director General of the National Pension Commission (PenCom), Chinelo Anohu-Amazu has emphasized the need for pension fund managers and regulators in Africa to ensure safety of the retirement savings of workers across the continent.

This she said is important in ensuring the workers contributions and not placed in unsecured investments where the aim of making such contributions will not be met when it is needed. She spoke during the just concluded Annual Leadership Symposium organized by the Africa 2.0 Organization in Maputo, Mozambique, saying pension fund assets in Nigeria had risen to $26 billion as at October 2015.

The fifth edition of Africa 2.0 Annual Leadership Symposium has as its theme “The Whole is Greater Than the Sum of the Parts – What’s Your Role”. Reflecting on Investment in Africa, the Director General said pension fund managers in Nigeria are amenable to investing part of the pension funds in infrastructure and real estate through viable and secure investible outlets. She also harped on the need for both pension regulators and operators to ensure the institution of adequate risk mitigation tools, saying this should be the guiding principle in the investment of pension assets. She further emphasized the imperative of timely payment of retirement benefits of workers in order not to compromise their comfort after their active working period, which is the main objective of saving towards retirement.

Meanwhile, the symposium aimed at achieving a committed community who understand their part in the whole, their contribution and how they will work together for impact Africa 2.0. It also sought to align plans for action that contribute to the Africa 2.0 whole and will; make systemic and lasting impact and effective partnership between all actors including Government, Media and Civil Society and put in place an innovative content and ideas that spark a global conversation both during and after the event.

The Symposium was declared open by the former President of Mozambique, Joachim Chissano who spoke passionately about Africa’s struggle for emancipation from colonial rule prior to independence. He maintained that the struggle is ongoing post-independence, albeit of a different kind, until the continent attains its full potentials in development.