Social protection low in region

By KABONA ESIARA, Rwanda Today

Posted  Friday, November 16  2012 at  13:04hare

The East African Community countries have been urged to form compulsory social security schemes for vulnerable groups.

A social security meeting in Kigali heard that the majority of citizens in the region still lack social protection.

A compulsory scheme, according to the delegates, would help cater for the vulnerable group—the poor, old and young—whose numbers are on the rise in the region.

Most social security providers in East and Central Africa, they argue, target the elite in the formal sector and the few wealthy people, leaving out millions of those employed in the informal sector.

Increase social security coverage

“We want politicians to increase social security coverage to the vulnerable. The governments have the capacity,” said Hosea Kili, managing director Laptrust, a Kenyan local authority pension trust.

He noted that East African countries still have a low coverage of social security, estimated to be below nine per cent.

The low numbers of people with social protection are partly attributed to the monopoly of government institutions in the sector and a few unappealing products on the market.

The Kigali conference was organised to evaluate the impact of social security investment on the socio-economic development of the region.

“A healthy nation is a wealthy nation. Governments have to give the health insurance to the needy,” Mr Kili added.

The delegates, under the aegis of the East and Central Africa Social Security Association, urged countries in the region to borrow a leaf from Mauritius, which has one of the best social protection systems on the continent. The system, they said, provides the needy with food and housing, while senior citizens travel on subsidised fares.

Save for the future

The meeting urged governments to encourage their citizens to save for their future through social security funds.

Rwanda is the only country in the region that has a big population covered by a health insurance scheme. However, the country like many in the region has a low social security coverage, standing at 9 per cent of the working class.

Kenya was cited as one of the countries recording positive results in social security protection, partly due to the liberalisation of the sector.

Kenya has over 1,400 social security schemes that have mobilised $5.84 billion from contributors. The revenue has been boosted by players in the industry coming up with products that cater even for people employed in the informal sector.

Tanzania has also allowed private players in the sub sector and is registering success.