November 2022
10Nov

Over 84,000 Nigerians enrolled in micro pension plan –PENCOM

The National Pension Commission (PenCom), yesterday revealed that over 84,000 Nigerians have enrolled in the ongoing Micro Pension plan. This was even as the Commission reiterated that it will continue to embark on massive awareness to ensure more Nigerians key into the initiative. The Head, Micro Pensions Department at PenCom, Dauda Ahmed, disclosed this to newsmen at the ongoing Lagos International Trade Fair organised by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Ahmed noted that the commission has had interactions with would-be-...

November 10, 2022
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October 2022
28Oct

Intergenerational Solidarity

By Alan Gutterman Aging is a natural progression of the life cycle and society will always have persons of different ages who need to learn to live alongside one another. One of the most consistent themes in the debate regarding the realization of the human rights of older persons is the need to strengthen “intergenerational solidarity” between and among all levels of families, communities and nations in order to achieve social cohesion and a society for all ages and build...

October 28, 2022
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21Oct

Mercer index highlights challenges facing pensions

Withdrawals from pensions during the pandemic will have a long-term impact on the potential growth of retirement sums, according to Mercer. Pensions in Asia and globally have improvements to be made, particularly as pensions systems shift from a defined benefits to defined contributions scheme and withdrawals during the pandemic are likely to have long-term effects, Mercer representatives said. Several challenges stand in the way of ensuring the adequacy of retirement incomes, said Mathias Cormann, secretary general of the Organisation for Economic...

October 21, 2022
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20Oct

Global pension systems, including Singapore’s CPF, face issue of getting platform workers on board

While Singapore’s Central Provident Fund (CPF) is among the top-ranked retirement income systems in the world, there is room to nudge the informal workforce, such as platform workers, into contributing more to the national savings scheme. This issue was raised by panellists during a webinar on Tuesday to discuss the findings of the Mercer CFA Institute Global Pension Index, which ranked the Republic ninth out of 44 retirement systems reviewed. Into its 14th year, the index placed Singapore’s retirement system as...

October 20, 2022
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14Oct

Ghana. SSNIT to begin mass enrollment of informal sector onto pension scheme by January 2023

The Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) has announced the commencement of a mass enrollment of the informal sector onto its pension scheme by January 2023. This announcement was made at the SSNIT Employers’ Breakfast meeting in Accra. According to the Director General, Dr. John Ofori-Tenkorang, extensive consultations with stakeholders in the informal sector and the need to ensure that systems which will enhance the enrollment of the sector onto the scheme are fully operational, are the reasons why the...

October 14, 2022
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07Oct

UK Pension Fund Near-Collapse Is A Warning For America’s Pensions

Autor: Edward Siedle Around the world, there are millions of workers and retirees who are counting upon pensions set up by corporations and governments to provide for their retirement security. These individuals believe they have been “promised” certain benefits and that promises made will be kept. Unfortunately, many pensions are severely underfunded, i.e., not enough money has been set-aside to pay benefits promised. Further, the money in these pensions is all-too-often grossly mismanaged—what I refer to as “gross malpractice generally practiced.” That’s...

October 7, 2022
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06Oct

Ghana. Cocoa Farmers Pension Scheme set to take off this month

The much-awaited rollout of the Cocoa Farmers Pension Scheme is set to commence this month, the Board Chairman of COCOBOD, Mr Peter Mac Manu has announced. According to him, the trustees and implementers of the scheme would be rolling out from district to district to register cocoa farmers onto the scheme to enjoy the pension scheme’s benefit. Mr Mac Menu was speaking at this year’s cocoa day grand durbar which also coincided with the COCOBOD 75th anniversary on the theme “COCOBOD...

October 6, 2022
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September 2022
30Sep

Kenya. State to pay pension savings for 15m Jua Kali workers

The Kenya Kwanza regime has pledged to top up by half the retirement savings made by workers in the informal sector in an ambitious plan aimed at more than doubling national savings in the near term. President William Ruto said his administration will add a shilling for every Sh2 saved by workers outside the formal sector, up to Sh6,000 every year in a planned drive that targets more than 15 million workers in the Jua Kali sector. “We intend to overhaul...

September 30, 2022
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30Sep

Sustainable finance policy a ‘blind spot’ for European pension funds

Some of Europe’s biggest pension funds are not actively engaged in emerging EU-level sustainable finance policy, according to climate think tank InfluenceMap. As reported by European Pensions, the research, which covered 25 of Europe’s largest pension funds and 10 national pension fund associations, found that only four of the 25 funds and five of the 10 associations showed ‘meaningful engagement’ with sustainable finance policy. InfluenceMap stated that these findings pointed to a potential ‘blind spot’ for the industry, which has shown...

September 30, 2022
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26Sep

Progressive pension systems can help tackle inequality caused by job instability

Job stability varies drastically between individuals, with some people staying in jobs for an extended period of time, and others frequently losing their jobs. As Leanne Nam writes, this heterogeneity can be an important source of inequality that often goes under the radar of governments. Drawing on a new study, she illustrates how progressive pension systems can be used to address the problem. Heterogeneity in job stability is a salient feature of labour markets. Even in the flexible and dynamic...

September 26, 2022
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