Savings, pensions critical to national development – Uduanu

The Managing Director, Sigma Pensions, Mr. Dave Uduanu, has said that short-term and long-term savings are vital to the development of any nation.

Uduanu stated this during a panel session at a virtual media engagement organised by the Junior Achievement Nigeria (JAN), where they deliberated on ‘Impact of Financial Literacy on Youths.’

Junior Achievement Nigeria (JAN) is part of Junior Achievement Worldwide, the world’s oldest and largest non-profit economic education organisation operating in 120 countries.

Uduanu, who is also a board member of JAN, emphasised that it was important for people to learn how to save from a young age, especially in the university. He said this would go with them as they grew and developed into adulthood.

He stressed that savings in banks are short-term arrangements that can be used for daily needs while long-term savings are pensions that are utilised when people retire.

Uduanu said: “Savings and pensions critical to national development. Pensions are the bedrock of long-term financial savings. The longer you save the better for you. What we are saying is that it is important that we start to save for our future while we are young then wait for when it is too late. That is why at Sigma Pensions, we target university students and youth corps members for our catch them young programme.

“Saving for a pension is no magic. People should save enough money now so that when they retire, they can continue their lifestyle in retirement.

“The minimum requirement for pension is 18 per cent of income from the age of 25 while in other climes; some do as high as 30 per cent.

“The key thing here is to start now even if you are older than 25; you have to start a pension savings plan now. One good thing now is that these savings are invested by the pensions funds operators and it is all better for contributors in the future.”

Speaking at the event, the Group Head, Marketing and Corporate Communications, FBN Holdings, Folake Ani-Mumuney, said it was important to understand the role of savings.

“We have an economy where everybody is a player. We must make sure that we start teaching financial literacy at young age. We must understand the multiplier effect of savings and financial literacy.

“We expect primary school pupils to start learning about money and savings because it is important to start early.

“Financial literacy is important because it has an impact on the future. As long as they can read and write, we should teach them financial literacy,” she said.