Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. ZIMBABWE’S pension funds have grown significantly, covering over 960 000 members, but challenges such as unclaimed benefits and portfolio concentration risk need urgent attention, Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube said Friday.
Delivering his keynote address at the Zimbabwe Association of Pension Funds annual congress in Victoria Falls, the minister said the sector remained resilient under the circumstances.
“As we reflect on the past 50 years, when the pension fund sector in Zimbabwe was in its infancy and having gone through economic shocks, policy transitions and demographic shifts, among others, it is pleasing to note that the sector has evolved into a cornerstone of a social safety net,” he said.
“Today’s celebrations thus defy the challenges we met along the way and serve as a mark of triumph. In fact, I am pleased to note that pension funds now cover over 960 000 members, including active contributors, deferred members and pensioners.”
Notwithstanding this achievement, challenges needing urgent attention remain.
These include the rise in unclaimed benefits, which have gone up by 62,19%, reaching an amount of ZiG66,6 billion by December 2024.
“That’s quite a large quantum of unclaimed benefits,” he said, adding that this backlog likely stems from administrative inefficiencies and challenges, inadequate beneficiary tracing and poor member data management.
“Without resolution, this situation risks further eroding public confidence in pension systems. In this regard, I urge you all, I urge all the pension funds to urgently locate their beneficiaries and invest in better data management,” Ncube said.
“I further note that our portfolio concentration risk assets under management stood at ZiG10,45 trillion, which is approximately US$2,18 billion. This is by the end of quarter four of 2024. It’s a 36,86% nominal increase.”
However, the minister noted that this growth is heavily skewed towards.
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