Windhoek
The Retirement Funds Institute of Namibia (RFIN) yesterday confirmed that it will host its 10th Annual Conference on July 26.
Invited speakers for the event include Minister of Finance Calle Schlettwein, the Chief Executive Officer of the Government Institutions Pension Fund, David Nuyoma, Deputy Governor of the Bank of Namibia Ebson Uanguta, as well as international speakers.
As the sole and authentic representative body of pension funds and their members, RFIN aims to draw attention to issues such as pension funds’ role in economic growth, development of financial markets, preservation, governance, investments, planning towards retirement age and the social economic impact of retirement funds.
The Namibian pension funds industry is governed primarily by the Pension Funds Act 24, 1956 and its regulations as well as the Income Tax Act 24, 1984 as amended. Other Acts are the Maintenance Act 23, 1963, Inspection of Financial Institutions Act 68, 1962, Namibia Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority Act 3, 2001, and others.
The issues pertaining to the deployment of domestic savings for purposes of economic growth, poverty reduction, or more specifically in line with Regulations 28 and 29 of the Pension Funds Act, have recently enjoyed a lot of attention. These issues featured prominently in the public domain around land servicing and allocation, water and electricity supply, education, employment, health and housing.
Additionally, the issue of a national pension with the aim of ensuring inclusion for the majority with no access to retirement funds has been on the agenda for an extended period.
The Chairperson of the Board of RFIN, Gerson Veundja Kamatuka, together with the directors Bonita de Silva (Vice-Chairperson), Dietrich Schrywer, Zoe Nambahu, Justine Shipanga, Escher Luanda and Ramon Hansen have requested the industry and all interested parties to participate in the annual conference. The objective is to share information and deliberate on policies that continue to drive the economy.