May 2023

Early pension bonanza hits Zambia’s finances

Zambia’s decision to allow citizens to cash out part of their pensions early is having an unintended consequence: it’s hitting a key source of government financing as the squeeze from a long-delayed debt restructuring continues to tighten. New legislation enabling people to access 20% of their pension savings has seen the National Pension Scheme Authority, or Napsa, so far pay out 5.8 billion kwacha ($300 million) since it was signed into law April 17, spokesman Cephas Sinyangwe said on state...

June 2020

BP under scrutiny over Zambian pension shortfall

When BP sold off its Zambian fuel marketing business in 2010 to Puma Energy, it appeared to be a fairly straightforward example of a super major dispensing with non-core assets. For former employees of BP Zambia, though, it marked another setback in their struggle to win recognition for pensions earned. As BP’s new CEO Bernard Looney has set out his thoughts on tackling racial injustice and a desire to help the world “build back better”, the case of ageing...

January 2018

Zambia. Investment of Pension Funds: Part 1

It is widely recognised that a pension scheme represents a long-term contract between the employer as sponsor and the members. In this arrangement, employees give up part of the current salary through pension contributions in exchange for future retirement benefits. It is, therefore important that pension funds are properly invested in order to get good returns for the pension scheme members. To achieve this, we need an enabling environment and appropriate institutions to ‘grow’ pension funds. Government has established the environment...

July 2017

Zambia. Retirement should be a happy time

RETIREMENT is for every worker, whether in full-time employment or otherwise, because one comes to the end of their strength and they have to rest. The end of work, for most workers, means their assured source of income – the salary – also ceases to come. That is why Government put in place pension schemes so that employees can have some sound financial stability during and after work life. We have seen how some pension schemes have enabled employees, as contributors, to...

April 2017

Vizor Software Selected by the Pensions and Insurance Authority Zambia

Today, Vizor Ltd announced that its regulatory reporting solution will be implemented at the Pensions and Insurance Authority of Zambia (PIA), where it will be used to strengthen and enhance the regulatory capacity of the PIA by enabling all regulated entities to electronically submit and manage: 1. Applications for registration & licensing of regulated entities; 2. Applications for authorization of appointments, and fit & proper persons; 3. File and Use applications for products, reinsurance treaties, and investment policy; and, 4. Audited Annual Financial...