The Namibian retirement fund industry was in a healthy state and the Government should be applauded for having established a legal and regulatory framework in which wealth and the savings of the nation are protected, a leading economist said on Wednesday. The prudential regulation as well as the regulation of retirement fund market compared favourably with the best in the region, said Johannes !Gawaxab, chief executive officer of Old Mutual Namibia, when he opened a conference on the retirement fund industry in Windhoek.

At the end of March 2004, over N$20 billion was invested in a total of 482 registered pension funds in Namibia. The industry played an important role in the Namibian economy as it was central to most peoples’ financial planning needs, providing income at retirement, death and disability, !Gawaxab said.

The importance of the sector was evidenced by the fact that the authorities encouraged self-provisioning through favourable tax treatment of retirement savings and of employer-sponsored benefit schemes.