During a client engagement seminar that Nico Pension hosted in Blantyre, Nico Pension General Manager, Gerald Chima addressed the lack of knowledge on pension, to which he said the firm is working on ironing out misunderstandings on the topic and is creating awareness among Malawians.

Concerning compliance, Chima said that companies are still not paying on time, while others have stepped up and are remitting. On the other hand, he said that amendments to the pension act will see members to be allowed to access the funds. “This proposed amendment will also look at allowing members to borrow from other institutions, but using the pension funds as collateral,” Chima said.

He then called on companies to consider their employers and prioritise pension contributions to encourage productivity. In July this year, figures from the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) showed that the pension assets have increased 10 times from K74.8 billion in 2011 to K757.4 billion in March 2019. Following the development, RBM released a statement, threatening to name and shame the companies that hadn’t settled their pension areas.