Old Mutual Pension Services has bemoaned the growing tendency among some employers to withhold employees’ pension contributions, saying the level of non-compliance is unacceptable.
Speaking in Mangochi on Friday during the inaugural 2025 Old Mutual Pension Trustees Conference, the company’s general manager Tawonga Manda said failure by employers to remit pension funds remains one of the biggest challenges threatening the sustainability of country’s pension schemes.
“The level of non-compliance is huge. If you look at the number of employers who have registered, but are not remitting contributions, it is alarming. We have a large number of non-contributing employers,” he said.
Manda said this is among the reasons they convened the conference to deliberate on key issues and develop innovative strategies to improve compliance to ensure sustainable pension returns.
In his remarks, Reserve Bank of Malawi director of pension and insurance supervision Kaluso Chihana reminded employers, particularly in the formal sector, of their legal obligation to remit pension contributions in line with the Pension Act 2023.
He encouraged individuals in the informal sector to explore social protection schemes to secure their future.
“Even if you are not on a formal pension scheme, you can still safeguard your future through alternative social protection mechanisms because pension scheme is one of the social protection means,” he said.
Held under the theme ‘Shaping the future of pensions: Resilience, sustainability and innovation’, the conference brought together about 200 trustees, regulators and financial experts to discuss how to strengthen the country’s pension system.
