NSSF and SME's Part II

This weekend, the National Social Security Fund ran an advertisement in the newspapers clarifying amounts that employers and employees will pay now that  changes to the NSSF act are legal.

Earlier media, and social media, reports had NSSF taking as much as 12% of an employees earnings. But the NSSF ad introduced the phrase pensionable salary on which the deduction is based - so it's a percent of Kshs. 18,000 (pensionable salary) and so if someone earns Kshs. 100,000 ($1,175 per month) and their employer has no current pension scheme, their deductions are: 

Tier 1

Kshs 360 from employer

Kshs 360 from employee

Tier 2

Kshs 720 from employer 

Kshs 720 from employee

So total payment for that employee, that an employer will remit to the NSSF is Kshs 2,160 - and not Kshs 12,000. This still amounts to a payment that is five times what a typical company was making to the NSSF last year (Kshs 400 per month, per employee)  

From a note at Alexander Forbes Financial Services: The effective date (of the NSSF Act) was 10 January 2014, literally giving employers no time to apply for the opt out. They thus will have to remit both Tier 1 and Tier 2 contributions to NSSF until the opt out is granted…also that these amounts  will increase each year for the next 5 years.

EDIT - Jan 21: The Government has deferred the commencement of the new NSSF Act to the end of May 2014. This means that the contributions to the fund will be made at the old rate.  Read more.

Kenya SME Options after the 2013 NSSF Bill

The new NSSF Bill enhances the level of mandatory retirement savings to be made by, and on behalf of, an employee. It classifies the contributions made towards retirement savings into various tiers for which each tier has a different treatment. For instance, the first tier must be contributed into the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) while the second tier may be contributed to a private retirement fund if certain requirements are met.

To illustrate, in year 1, the contributions to NSSF will increase from Kshs 400 (Kshs 200 each done by the employer and the employee) to Kshs 720 (Kshs 360 each done by the employer and the employee).

The balance of the 12% of earnings (6% each done by the employer and the employee) may be contributed to a private retirement fund subject to conditions detailed therein.

Thus, there are various options available for an employer seeking a retirement solution. E.g. for an employer with a staff base of 10, setting up one's own retirement fund may not be prudent due to time and cost considerations. It is instead advisable that they consider joining an already existing retirement fund under an umbrella arrangement or under a personal pension plan. They are further encouraged to use a fund that is registered by both the Retirement Benefits Authority and approved by the Kenya Revenue Authority. A list of umbrella funds and personal pension plans registered by the RBA can be found at their website.

Lastly, Alexander Forbes has a wealth of experience in structuring retirement solutions that are customized to suit the needs of an SME – and that between our umbrella fund (the Alexander Forbes Retirement Fund) and our personal pension plan (the Alexander Forbes Vuna Pension Plan), we can find an exciting solution for SME's. We are also pleased to meet with companies and talk further through the changes to the NSSF Act and its impact.

Adapted from Angela Okinda of Alexander Forbes

Reading the Barclays Tea Leaves

Barclays Kenya just published their 2008 annual report; what does some interesting points about the banking sector.


Barclays Peek
- Is the second largest bank in Kenya behind KCB, but still tops in profit – with Kshs 8 billion ($100 million) before tax. Has 126 billion ($1.58 billion) in deposits, loans of 108 billion ($1.35 billion) and total assets of 168.5 billion shillings. It would probably reclaim the number one status from KCB, but KCB shareholders will next month absorb the assets of S&L, their mortgage subsidiary
- Shariah Banking Barclays launched La Riba in 2008 – and in 2008 they managed to mobilize over 2 billion in new la riba deposits to stand at 3.3 billion ($41 million) at end of year, but gave out just 19 million in loans
- Customers They have a popular Business club – with over 10,000 members some of whom were flown to Dubai, China and Holland. Barclays had 930,000 customers in 2008 (2007 was 580,000) – compared to Equity Bank’s 3.3 million customers, and 60,917 shareholder 60, 917 (up from 58,945 in 07)
- Staff cutback? Employees in 2008 reduced by 16% - as group had 5,571 at December 08 compared to 6,900 in December 07. In 06 they had 2,197 (but it appears in 2008, they shed the part time staff whose numbers reduced from 4115 to 1698)
- No thanks Agriculture. Agriculture is referred to as the backbone of Kenya’s economy7, but Barclays estimate their exposure to the sector to be just 1% of loans. Private industries account for 44%, with 10% each to manufacturing and to transport & communications sectors.
- Asset finance reduced?? Assets under financial lease decreased slightly – still at 6.1 billion
- Gloabl crisis / External Impact? a 1% or decrease in interest rates would impact profit about 5%, but there’s no impact from strength/weakness of Kenya shilling (bank only does business in Kenya)
- Directors: the three directors who were appointed at previous times are up for re-election on May 15; Brown Ondengo (2003), Jane karuku (2003), and Paul Phemngorem (1998). Barclays (UK) parent, with 68.5% of the vote, will pretty much determine who will remain or leave the board. No other shareholder has more than 1%, with the next largest being Kenya’s national social security fund (NSSF) with 2%
- Cheaper to borrow overseas than the NSE: The bank received subordinated debt in the form of a tranche of NSE listed bonds of 2 billion shillings (3,078b) repayable over 5 years – at 10.36%. They also borrowed 1.25 billion from their Barclays parent; BBK in the form of a 10 year loan at just 2.39%
- Pension Funds gloomy outlook The Barclays staff pension scheme with 44% equity investments was down 13% in value (to Kshs 7 billion), compared to a gain of 6% in 07

Kutwa Tuesday: From Stanchart to LPG

stories found this week

Stanchart Bank:

Smaller profit - Standard Chartered is being much maligned for being the first bank to report a profit drop in 2008 of 4% to 4.7 billion shillings. ($59 million) (Increased 29% in 07). The bank which adopted a conservative approach compared to Barclays, KCB and Equity. Stanchart had asset growth of 9% to 99 billion (13% in 07), deposits up 4% to 77 billion and loans up 10% to 43 billion in 2008. Still their shareholders will get the highest dividend of any listed bank in 2008.

Here are some other performance comparisons of the main banks that have so far reported their 2008 results.

Goes for smaller customers - In a slight about turn, Stanchart has also launched a new low cost transactional account called Hifadhi, costs 2,000 to open, no ledger fees, or ‘cash handling fees’ with e-statements you only pay for transactions you incur, though its’ not as affordable as other 'cheap' bank accounts for small earners. Going for smaller customer has been a recurrent theme in 2008 with banks, insurance and investment companies lowering the minimum subscription amount. Examples are pepea from Barclays, Toboa from Old Mutual and even the Government of Kenya which lowered the minimum investment for GoK treasury bonds to just Kshs. 50,000 (~$625)

Bank briefs
- Stanchart get back to what they are good at – big corporate deals this one for Kengen
- Gulf African launches a shariah compliant mortgage scheme
- New bank branches: First Community bank now in Malindi, Ecobank in Kisii, while Family Bank re-opened in Githurai
- Another SMS sends Equity customers into bank panic withdrawals this time in Machakos.

From the blogs

Siasa mbaya, maisha mbaya: Global economic slump aside, Nairobi’s Stock Exchange will not see a bull run until the country’s political problems are sorted out according to MainaT

The Sunday Nation broke a story of the old Embakasi airport been handed over to an unlicensed new airline, but airport analysis comes from one Coldtusker

Following in the success of the infrastructure bond (over-subscribed by 45%), the Kenya Government is offering another bond to supplement its budget deficit; this one is for 8.5 billion ($106 million). More details from Conceptadvisoryservices and the minimum investment is just 50,000 ($625).

Kenya Rugby Effects: Kenya had a wonderful run at the IRB World Cup in Dubai, and knocked out defending champions Fiji in the quarter finals. Here’s some rugby loss reactionfrom Fiji.

Elsewhere

Employees lose & lose - it’s been a bad week for employees as the Employment Act was set aside and the government shifted more of the pension burden to civil servants to contribute towards their own retirement funds.

Madaraka finalized - Madaraka Estate houses were finally sold, apparently ending a long long running saga between homeowners, the City Council and the National Housing Corporation who should really update their website.

Laptop mania - so many offers for laptops these days, new this week were
- Safaricom selling Macbook with broadband modem for 100,000 ($1,250)
- Acer A110 laptop on sale with open office for $230 - great for Kenyans new to mini laptop market
- Even my bank/broker (CFC) hawks Acer Aspire 4710 and has loans that work out to 5,500 ($70) per month

Is Grad School a Con? - Half the Sunday Nation advertisements were for colleges aiming at the recent high school graduates whose results were announced last week. Also growing are the numbers of universities and master programs, but this article argues against going to grad school to avoid the recession with the author pointing out that;

- Grad school pointlessly delays adulthood.
- PhD programs are pyramid schemes
- Business school is not going to help 90% of the people who go.
- Most jobs are better than they seem: You can learn from any job.
- Graduate school forces you to overinvest: It’s too high risk.
(found at chris blattman)

LPG Shocker - when to buy cooking gas last night. Found the cylinder, however it appears that there is now a valve that will be mandatory on all cylinders from April 2009 - it is a universal valve, that will enable consumers to buy LPG /cooking gas from any supplier e.g. Kenol., Total, NOCK - replacing cylinders from any of them, since they will now have a common head/valve. The move is supposed to break the monopoly of established companies e.g. if you had a Kenol gas cylinder, you could only replace it at Kenol when buying new gas, whereas if you wanted to switch to Shell gas, you’d have to buy a brand new cylinder.


new gas cap

The problem was that many Total stations did not have the valve. (I checked at three stations) and they all sent me to the place that has everything in Kenya - Nakumatt. Nakumatt also say they stock valves for all companies, but only had the generic caps to sell. It’s scary to use a generic caps, since there are many fires in Kenya caused by exploding/leaking cooking gas cylinders. Hope this turns out ok when April comes around and more consumers realize they have to buy caps which cost anywhere from 500 ($6.25) to 900 shillings each, another cost to the burdened urban consumer. It would also be nice if oil companies and/or the Government conducted some consumer awareness about this matter, not leaving it to Nakumatt and untrained Petrol attendants.

NSSF: apples & oranges

Kenya’s National Social Security Fund finally released their year end results in the newspapers today after many years of pressure by governance experts and regulators. The scheme hopes to convert into a pension fund and states that it plans to hold an AGM soon

While the statements show improved performance over the last four years (NSSF-K was abused in the 1990’s and forced into bad property investments and lost billions in collapsed banks), how does it compare with NSSF Uganda who released their results last week?

approximate conversion to US$

Buildings/property/land
NSSFK $434 million (35%)
NSSFU $76 million (13%)

Government Securities
NSSFK $115 million (9%)
NSSFU $289 million (51%)

Equities
Uganda list their holdings. – as Uganda Clays , Baroda, Nsimbe, DFCU, Stanbic, Serena, HFCU, Victoria properties. Kenyan one does not list but would include Unilever Tea, Nation media group, HFCK (11%) KCB (8%) British American Tobacco (20%) East African Breweries (8%), EAP cement (27%), and National Bank (48%)
NSSFK $618 million
NSSFU $54 million

Current assets
NSSFK $50 million
NSSFU $350 million

Current Liabilities
NSSFK $20 million
NSSFU $11 million

Members Funds
NSSFK $1,240 million
NSSFU $548 million

Totals assets
NSSFK $1,240 million
NSSFU $564 million

Income:
NSSFK $61 million
NSSFU $38 million
however the Kenyan one include changes in market value of shares in last year, adding another $80m to bring total income to $141m

Costs
NSSFK $41 million
NSSFU $7 million

Net Gain/Profit
NSSFK $147 million
NSSFU $31 million

Earlier:
- Under its current format, the ultimate payout will be low from NSSF(K) and the benefits at retirement will not be enough to sustain a majority of retirees
- Comparison between Stanbic Kenya and Stanbic Uganda.