Botswana's pensions system 'a ticking time bomb'

The Non-Bank Financial Institute Regulatory Authority (NBFIRA) faults that the pension system encourages early withdrawals from formal contributor funds prior to the nationally established retirement age.   Presenting the NBFIRA perspective at the Botswana Pensions Society Annual Conference in Gaborone this week, senior technical advisor Melville Brown said amongst the challenges facing the local pension system is the current state of the national social security, which he said is severely underdeveloped.

He also observed that the pension sector system is overly dependent on employer-based pension funds resulting in low pension coverage as a percentage of the population.