Online Reporter
Rutendo Nyeve, [email protected]
THE pension industry has amassed total assets worth more than US$2,63 billion, a figure experts say reflects the sector’s latent strength and its potential to become a cornerstone for national development, provided a paradigm shift from narratives of collapse to renewal is embraced.
National Social Security Authority (Nssa) director for benefits and social security development, Mr Shepherd Muperi, said this while presenting at the Zimbabwe CEOs Policy Roundtable held recently in Victoria Falls.
“Total pension assets in Zimbabwe amount to approximately US$2,63 billion. This is not a sector to ignore. We have to make sure that we have the correct reforms so that they play the correct role in terms of us moving towards Vision 2030 and our economic development,” said Mr Muperi.
He acknowledged that successive cycles of inflation and currency transitions have eroded confidence in the sector, but said recent Government reforms, including strong regulatory oversight by the Insurance and Pensions Commission of Zimbabwe (Ipec), corporate governance requirements, and improved investment guidelines, are steadily restoring credibility.
“Pension systems are built not merely on financial flows but on trust. Trust that contributions will be safeguarded, managed prudently, and ultimately deliver the dignity and security promised to members. Sound governance and transparency are therefore not optional. They are a necessity,” said Mr Muperi.
Mr Muperi addressed a forum themed: ‘In a Spirit of Dialogue: Partnering for Vision 2030’, challenging stakeholders to move beyond framing the pension and insurance system as collapsing and instead focus on reimagining and strengthening it for the future.
“I want to submit that such a framing, while I take it as dramatic, is incomplete. Yes, these systems have been subjected to extraordinary economic strain,” he said.
“The true imperative before us is not to risk narratives of failure, but to reimagine and to renew. The question is not whether our systems have faltered. The question we have to ask is- ‘How can we build upon this foundation?”
The total pension assets, which amount to approximately US$2,63 billion, represent about five percent of Zimbabwe’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Mr Muperi said regionally, the average pension asset-to-GDP ratio ranges between 15 percent and 22 percent, with high-performing countries such as South Africa (80 percent) and Namibia (100 percent) demonstrating the significant economic leverage a robust pension sector can provide.
He emphasised that pensions are far more than retirement payments, describing them as long-term national savings and critical vehicles for mobilising local resources for development.
“We must resist the temptation to reduce them to a narrow notion of retirement payments. They embody dignity beyond the years of active labour. They safeguard income stability and constitute long-term national savings,” said Mr Muperi.
“We are talking about the pensions. They are critical vehicles for mobilising local resources for development, and we must embrace that.”
He said there is a need to adapt Zimbabwe’s social protection architecture to reflect the reality of the country’s labour market, where an estimated 70 percent of the workforce operates in the informal economy.
Mr Muperi said traditional pension models were designed primarily for formal wage employment and as such cannot fully capture the evolving nature of work.
He called for a fundamental reorientation of the system, advocating for a model where social protection follows the worker rather than being tied solely to the employer.
“Going forward, social protection and insurance must adapt to this new reality. They must be reimagined, embracing the dynamism of informal work, the fluidity of flexible arrangements, and the independence of self-employment,” he said.
“The architecture of social protection must be reoriented. It must follow the worker, not merely the employer.”
Mr Muperi revealed that Nssa is already advancing this agenda through the development of a social security scheme that will extend coverage to workers in the informal economy, an innovation he described as speaking directly to the needs of the time.
He outlined the critical role pension funds play in economic development, noting their capacity to underwrite infrastructure, housing, and broad-based economic growth.
Mr Muperi called for continued collaboration among Government, regulators, employers, workers, and institutions, describing pension reform as a collective endeavour that requires policy consistency, robust oversight, responsible conduct, and active participation.
“We are not starting from zero. We possess well-established and resilient legal frameworks, structured and coordinated administrative systems, and competent actuarial and financial professionals,” he said.
“The task before us is not one of salvaging remnants or piecing fragments. It’s a higher calling of strengthening and modernising what already exists. If Government, regulators, employers, workers, and institutions alike continue to collaborate, we can construct a system that restores confidence, safeguards the dignity of workers, and mobilises the long-term capital essential for national development,” he said.
