President Uhuru Kenyatta congratulates Boda Boda rider Vincent Kigame on opening his digital pension savings account yesterday/COURTESY
NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 18 – Zamara Group has launched a new micro-pension solution with the aim of widening pension coverage by targeting the informal sector that has over 17 million workers.
The company’s Group CEO Sundeep Raichura says the fund aims to reach domestic helpers, boda-boda drivers, farmers and small shopkeepers.
“We also aim to reach artisans and street vendors and the self-employed women and youth to achieve old age income security through thrift and self-help,” Raichura said.
Additionally, the solution will provide a secure and affordable mechanism which any Kenyan citizen will be able to conveniently access.
Raichura said the micro-pension scheme will also be the first national-level collaborative deployment of a pensiontech solution and delivered with leading digital financial and pension inclusion stakeholders in Kenya.
The country is facing an emerging old age poverty crisis where over 9.2 million people are expected to be above the age of 60 and nearly 85 percent of them will not get a pension.
Raichura said about US$3.34 billion will be required annually to fund for the welfare of these elderly people and yet tax revenues will not be able to cope with the enormous fiscal and social cost of an even modest tax-funded social pension.
“Without an effective and immediate policy, regulatory and business response to pension exclusion however, poverty among the future elderly in Kenya will become the dominant cause of increased poverty in the country”, Raichura warned.
Director and co-founder of pinBox, Parul Khanna said the partnership with Zamara is the first step in the company’s wider goal of covering 500 million non-salaried workers in Africa.
To do this, Khanna said the company plans to collaborate with governments, regulators, pension and financial stakeholders across the continent.
