UNIVERSAL ACCESS TO OLD AGE INCOME
Saving for retirement is crucial. However, saving for the future is difficult and voluntary contribution levels tend to be low across the world. Research has shown that barriers to saving are wide-ranging: transaction costs, lack of information or knowledge, social constraints, lack of trust in the financial system, ill-designed regulation, as well as human tendencies that hinder good decision-making. For long- term saving, the barriers are even higher.
We strongly believe this can be solved using the knowledge and experience from countries with longstanding pension systems, the local knowledge of markets, customer behavior and savings groups, the entrepreneurial spirit in Africa, supported by the government and regulators.
Our ambition is to provide flexible micro pension products for informal sector workers in Africa. A micro pension is a financial product for old age income security, targeted at self-employed people, to avoid old-age poverty. Micro pensions are aimed at people with low and irregular income in the informal sector who are often financially illiterate and have limited access to financial services.