Rwanda’s long-term savings scheme — "EjoHeza’’ — has scooped a certificate of merit by International Social Security Association (ISSA), for its innovative solutions for pension coverage extension to the informal economy in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Rwanda Social Security Board has announced.

The RSSB indicated that the award is from the results of the competition for the ISSA Good Practice Awards for Africa 2023, presented at the opening day of the ISSA Regional Social Security Forum for Africa, which was held from May 17-19, in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.

''The award testifies the commitment of The Government of Rwanda to delivering equitable social security to all Rwandans, it is also in recognition of the impressive work done by the Government of Rwanda over the last decades,'' said the RSSB Chief Benefits Officer, Regis Hitimana.

Inspired by ISSA on Administrative Solutions for Extending Pension Coverage, and following a successful rollout of universal health insurance scheme, in December 1998, Rwanda introduced the long-term daving scheme in the National Social Security Pension System, RSSB said.

This, it said, is a second pillar voluntary public pension model (defined contribution) accessible and affordable to informal sector workers.

"Therefore, EjoHeza has provided a vehicle that people in the informal economy can use to save for retirement and a strategy for pension coverage extension,” RSSB observed.

To achieve EjoHeza objectives, RSSB indicated, innovative strategies were followed. They include Government incentives, digitalisation that facilitates easy registration and payment of contributions and benefits using cell phone, and attractive design offering pre-retirement benefits.

Others are extension of coverage to children aged under 16 years and EjoHeza mobilisation approach and implementation strategies where public education and awareness efforts involve central, local government institutions and organisations including cooperatives, associations, youth, and women.

As of May 2023, the cumulative subscribers in EjoHeza are more than 3.2 million, which account for 24 per cent of Rwanda’s total population and 39 per cent of the country’s working age population — many of whom are from low-income households.

Of the subscribers to EjoHeza, 50.6 per cent are male, while 49.4 per cent are women, with total savings amounting to Rwf45.4 billion.

Meanwhile, RSSB data show that the number of active savers in EjoHeza was 2.6 million as of March 2023. The share of women in this scheme was higher (about 49 per cent of the total subscribers), than only 32 per cent of total contributors it accounted for in the RSSB formal sector scheme.

The long-teem savings scheme (EjoHeza) was established by the Government of Rwanda under law N° 29/2017 of June 29, 2017.

It is primarily intended to help informal sector workers have access to pension benefits once they retire — while aged 55 — but formal employees can also be members to it if they want.

So far, only about 10 per cent of the Rwandan workforce is in the formal sector, and is entitled to formal pension scheme.