MOBIKEZA: Octagon Launches a Digital Pension for The Informal Sector

MOBIKEZA is the newest pension plan launched today by Octagon Pension services Limited Company aimed at making retirement saving convenient and reality to many.

The pension plan launched on 27^th August 2019 is an innovative digital pension plan that will give workers in the informal sector with inconsistent income a flexible platform to save for their retirement.

MOBIKEZA, the newly launched product, has an added unique advantage of allowing a contributor to make unlimited deposits and periodic withdrawals via USSD or an app.

MOBIKEZA was developed with the youth, Jua Kali artisans and workers in Micro-Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in mind and has unmatched capability of convenience in on-boarding, tracking and access of funds all through the mobile with access to three types of investment funds namely; Ustawi Fund (Conservative), Hakika Fund (Guaranteed) and Usawa Fund (Balanced).

“Pension coverage rate in Kenya is significantly low at 20 percent compared to the 80 percent coverage that is currently witnessed in the developed economies. To boost this coverage, there is a need to focus on the informal sector which constitutes 35-50 percent of the economy in developing countries such as Kenya.

“We believe that MOBIKEZA will be able to address the needs of the informal sector that require a flexible and affordable product that will be able to show daily, monthly and yearly yields, in turn, boost the saving culture and guarantee a comfortable life after retirement,” said Octagon Pension Services Limited CEO Godwin Simba.

“Octagon is committed to growing the Pension Sector coverage by simplifying access and understanding of the pension industry through innovative technology platforms and educating the informal sector on the benefits of saving for retirement, the yields of such investments and how to track your funds,” the CEO added.

MOBIKEZA is powered by Octagon and is anchored under the Octagon Personal Pension Scheme, registered and regulated by the Retirement Benefits Authority. The solution’s platform is integrated with MPESA and the Bank’s platforms.

“The launch of MOBIKEZA is extremely timely with a key focus of increasing penetration of pension. As RBA, we are honored to see such great strides by Octagon in targeting a critical mass- the informal sector that comprises of 83 percent of the total workforce,” said Nzomo Mutuku, Retirement Benefits Authority (RBA) Chief Executive Officer.

“Through such micro-pension innovations, key players such as Octagon are able to convert awareness into enrolment and widen pension coverage in the country. We also have Government support through the Treasury and with support of the World Bank to increase pension penetration,” the RBA CEO added.

The Regulator lauded the need for innovation to accommodate the informal sector, unlike the current pension plans that are mostly designed to cater to the formal sector in terms of access and contributions amount.

Octagon has invested 10 Million shillings in the development of the solution.