With the help of the ILO actuary, the SSC presented the ILO NPF model to the pension funds industry consisting of RFIN, GIPF and NAMFISA on Friday, 02 August 2024. The same presentation was provided to employers about a month ago. SSC was also supposed to present the governance framework but did not present anything, indicating that none of the governance framework options formulated by Manfred Zamuee was acceptable to the Ministry of Labour. The presentation by SSC and ILO was also supposed to come up with a roadmap for the implementation of NPF. However, they had nothing to present in this respect to employers and the pension fund industry stakeholders. We understand that the SSC plans to continue with their consultations and will present the ILO NPF model that the government prefers to different stakeholders, including members of the public.

The Namibia Employer’s Federation hosted a feedback and engagement session with its stakeholders on 7 August at NIPAM. The GIPF CEO, his legal experts, various principal officers of umbrella funds, a few large funds, ICAN and NASIA, attended the meeting. The purpose of the NEF consultation was to solicit views regarding the ILO NPF model and a plan of action in response. Marthinuz Fabianus is a member of the NEF committee that hosted this session.

Here is feedback from a few high-profile attendees of the engagement session:

“It was an informative session but, at the same time, very concerning regarding  the possible unintended consequences an NPF would pose to the ecosystem.

Perhaps the real focus should be on possible avenues of engagement that would yield desirable outcomes. The “SSC model” would be a better compromise. There must be a recognition that those covered by existing PFs don’t need to be brought into the net. What is the “ILO model” fixing for the existing PFs? Whatever must be fixed surely can and should be done with such funds. If at all necessary. 

The “ILO model” is opaque on governance and investment strategy. Admittedly I haven’t read the full report. But worried that the NPF would not be under the watch of Namfisa but managed and run by a yet to established team. Under whose auspices, no one knows!” ~ Asset management industry spokesperson

“I was happy to receive the invite, and I found the session very informative especially the ILO influence.

I believe Ramon articulated the key issue well.  “What is it we want to achieve with the NPF”? If it is to provide “appropriate” or “adequate” income to all Namibian’s who are over a certain age, then we need to address the issue at the right platform and not try to fix or tamper with a system that is not broken.”

~ Former senior NAMFISA official

Important notice and disclaimer
This article summarises the understanding, observation and notes of the author and lays no claim on accuracy, correctness or completeness. RFS Namibia (Pty) Ltd does not accept any liability for the content of this contribution and no decision should be taken on the basis of the information contained herein before having confirmed the detail with the relevant party. Any views expressed herein are those of the author and not necessarily those of RFS.