Plans for common EAC pensions underway

PwC survey shows firms across the region plan to raise salaries in the next year to match rivals. Companies also considering new hires. TEA Graphic  Nation Media Group

By East african News agency

The East African Community (EAC) is to undertake a study on harmonising payment systems of pension funds across the five partner states of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.

“We want to ensure easy portability of benefits across partner states, and also enhance information sharing because we have different pension systems in the region,” said. Afrique Ramba, deputy director-general of the Rwanda Social Security Board. He said the study will establish how East Africans can secure pensions in their respective home countries even after years of service in another EAC partner state.

The study is expected to be undertaken in the first quarter of New Year.

Ramba was addressing a special EAC meeting in Kampala, on the fast tracking of the integration of capital markets, infrastructure and legal frameworks in Kampala.

Already, Rwanda has combined its Pension Fund and its Medical Insurance under one body, namely the Rwanda Social Security Board (RSSF). “There is a need to get the most appropriate system acceptable to all of the partner states because, for instance, the benefits system is getting outdated,” Ramba said.

Pierre Celestin Rwabukumba, coordinator of Rwanda Stock Exchange, said the EAC special meeting helped assess whether every EAC partner state has financial systems that are in tandem with the region’s Monetary Union framework.

“We, for instance, want to look at how the central depository systems and settlement of securities can be made easy across all EAC partner states,” he said.