Uganda’s Capital Welcomes Africa Pension Conference
The Uganda Retirement Benefits Regulatory Authority (URBRA) is preparing to host the 4th Annual Africa Pension Supervisors’ Association (APSA) Conference at the Serena Kampala Hotel on November 27th – 28th.
What is APSA?
APSA is a platform where pension regulators and supervisors from various African nations come together. Their goal is to improve pension supervision and regulation by encouraging collaboration, cooperation, and information exchange to better oversee and expand the pension sector in Africa.
URBRA’s Perspective
Martin Nsubuga, URBRA’s CEO, expressed the privilege of hosting the 4th APSA Annual Conference. He believes it offers Ugandan Pension Sector Players a unique opportunity to learn from international colleagues. This collaboration is expected to have a lasting, positive impact on Uganda’s retirement benefits sector.
The APSA Collaboration
Fourteen African countries, including Morocco, Sierra Leone, Malawi, Burundi, and others, collaborate under APSA. Their united commitment is to secure a stable financial future for their citizens. This collaboration serves as a driving force to unlock the potential of the pension sector in Africa.
The 2023 APSA Conference
With a theme of “Sustainable Pension Inclusion in Africa,” the conference aims to discuss strategies for making pension and retirement benefits more inclusive to combat old-age poverty. The goal is to promote voluntary retirement saving by non-salaried workers with modest, intermittent incomes.
Challenges Ahead
Nsubuga pointed out that many Ugandans are excluded from existing retirement benefits arrangements. With over 20 million people in the working population, just over three million savers are registered. This issue isn’t unique to Uganda; about 600 million young, economically active informal sector workers across Africa face exclusion from formal pension and social protection arrangements.
Factors Perpetuating Exclusion
Several factors contribute to this exclusion:
- High Unemployment and Poverty Rates: Many people struggle to save for retirement due to financial hardship.
- Digital Inequality: Rapid digitization has left some individuals behind, making access to pension services challenging.
- Irregular Remittance of Contributions: Non-compliant employers sometimes fail to contribute regularly.
- Inadequate Savings: The current savings levels may not cover post-retirement needs, such as healthcare and shelter.
Striving for Adequate Retirement Income
Experts recommend having up to 70% of one’s pre-retirement monthly income for a comfortable retirement. In Africa and Uganda, low and infrequent contributions hinder many from reaching this goal.
Gender Disparity
Women, in particular, face challenges as they are underrepresented in employment, often in lower-paying roles. This disparity affects their retirement benefits.
Building Inclusive Mechanisms
To address these challenges, Nsubuga emphasized the need to establish inclusive mechanisms and well-regulated pension systems that offer secure, accessible, and affordable retirement benefit products to citizens.
APSA Conference’s Global Reach
The APSA conference provides an opportunity to exchange ideas and experiences not only within Africa but also with delegates from Asia, Latin America, and Europe.
Conference Participants
Participants will include policymakers, regulators, government officials, private sector representatives, financial inclusion stakeholders, pension sector experts, and economists.
Sponsors of APSA Conference 2023
The APSA Conference 2023 is supported by FSD Africa, PinBox Solutions, Prudential Assurance Uganda, and Sanlam Investments East Africa.
