Oguche Agudah (FCIB, FCS, M.IoD) @ Africa Pension Supervisors Association Conference

It was enlightening, it was fun and it was stimulating to be with Pension regulators across Africa at the recent Africa Pension Supervisors Association #APSA Conference. The Conference with the theme - “Chronicling Africa’s journey towards a dignified retirement” had several sessions to dissect these issues, hear from the regulator and operator side and come up with some resolutions.

I had the opportunity and privilege of sharing some insights from the Nigerian experience in several areas. The informal sector is a large untapped area where millions of Africans are without any form of pensions. The panel which comprised of the legendary Gautam Bhardwaj (He’s compiled a massive book on Micro pensions), Parul Khanna Thuto Mahlanza and @Kaleba Mwimbas ought to work through various models that worked and the issues that hampered the growth of pensions to these informal sector workers.

Then the panel on embedding ESG practices for pension funds was al another interesting one- anchored by the passionate Evans Osano, DBA , with Mark R. , DAVID ASHAIGBOR, MUTUMBI MUNDIA, and Bruno Mweemba as fellow panelists. Everyone agreed that we already incorporate some form of ESG practices in our activities, we just might not have the language for it or have that agreed across board. Mark R. made the point about “framework overwhelm” which I latched on to and argued that there are just so many frameworks from different organizations and jurisdictions, that we need to have a set of agreed frameworks within Africa and across the board that are sort of generally accepted principles that will help measurement, definition and management. The work that South Africa is doing with Regulation 28 is worth looking at.

One of the best parts for me was realizing that the hotel we were staying at was funded by Zambia’s largest pension fund, NATIONAL PENSION SCHEME AUTHORITY (NAPSA) and was launched?just?last?year. A real case of walking the talk.

Interesting insights to take away and work on. There was a renewed sense of collaboration amongst countries, but also amongst regulators and operators if we were going to meet the gap In the informal markets, invest confidently In alternatives, embed ESG practices, and ensure technology helps us to manage the growth and be more efficient as an industry within Africa.

The host country, Zambia were fantastic and hats off to the magnificent Sibajene Zulu and Aaron Mukuwa for leading the coordination efforts. A big thanks to the Africa Pension Supervisors Association secretariat, Pensions and Insurance Authority (PIA) Zambia and FSD Africa for a well-put-together event, that sparked conversations, provoked discourse, brought together various angles and came up with resolutions to work on to improve the pension landscape in Africa.

The future is daunting but bright.

#people #Africa #nigeria # pension #leaders #tomorrow #pensionsforgood #micropensions #PIA #APSA #informalsector