Pension assets hit K1.4 trillion
By Khumbo Kaliwo:
Malawi’s pension assets have grown by 27.5 percent to hit K1.419 trillion in June this year from K1.112 trillion in June last year.
This was disclosed in Lilongwe on Wednesday during a Pensions Seminar organized by Nico Group.
Making a presentation on Pension Legislation and Current Developments during the seminar, Reserve Bank of Malawi Principal Examiner for Pension and Insurance Regulation Shamiso Tsonga said annual contributions have risen from K72.6 billion in June last year to K103.6 billion in June this year.
The presentation also revealed that over 850 companies in Malawi are failing to remit pension contributions to relevant pension funds on time despite deducting pension contributions from their employees.
According to the report, of the defaulting companies 828 are from private sector and 26 are parastatals
Tsonga observed that as of June 2022 there were pension arrears amounting to K27.9 billion.
The report has also revealed that the registrar has commenced legal proceedings against 21 employees who were initially served with administrative penalties.
Meanwhile, Nico Pension General Manager Gerald Chima said the group has introduced a digital pension administration system which will allow members to access their pension accounts digitally.
“It is a top notch system, we are running the best pension administration system in the market that allows our members to interact without coming to our offices or sending documents physically,” Chima said.
Human Resource and Administration Manager at Export Development Fund Sabiti Saidi said other employers have little knowledge on the pension schemes.
“There are several things that have to be done, the pensions act was introduced in 2011 and most of the institutions are going through a learning phase but we will get there,” Saidi said.
The Pension amendment bill which the legislature tabled in 2021 sought to allow a worker to access their pension three months or six months before retirement.
