The registration of voluntary pension scheme providers has been extended to the end of July, after industry players failed to meet a March deadline.

Peace Masozera Uwase, the director for Financial Stability at the National Bank of Rwanda (BNR) said many private players had requested for more time.

“There were a number of administrative issues that voluntary pension scheme providers needed to address such as drafting trust deeds and registration of trustees with the Rwanda Development Board. A lot of those administrative issues took longer than earlier anticipated,” said Uwase.

Ms Uwase was speaking on the sidelines of the presentation of the central bank monetary policy and financial stability statement on February 22 at the Kigali Serena Hotel.

Parliament liberalised the pensions sector in 2015, which has already attracted over 50 private pension schemes managed by insurance firms.

The new pension law mandates the central bank to license and supervise voluntary pension scheme providers.

Analysts expect more Rwandans to start saving with the voluntary pensions providers, a development that should boost pension asset growth.

Total contributions to the Rwanda Social Security Board increased by eight per cent in December 2016 to Rwf73.7 billion due to an increase in the number of contributors from 369,343 to 391,242.

The pension fund’s investment income increased by one per cent from Rwf24 billion to Rwf24.2 billion mainly due to income earned from investments in fixed-term deposits and government securities.

However, the increasing number of claims is reducing pension assets.

Latest data from National Bank of Rwanda shows that pension claims increased marginally from 15.2 billion in 2015 to Rwf16.8 billion.