Ejo Heza Pension Scheme, an Example Worth Emulating

Abstract

The study at hand sought to investigate the contribution of Rwanda’s Ejo Heza Pension Scheme to the dignified retirement of Rwandans so as to see whether African countries can follow suit. The specific objectives were to examine the contribution of Ejo Heza Pension Scheme to bettering lives of Rwandan residents and those in the Rwandan diaspora; to find out whether other African countries can borrow a leaf from Ejo Heza initiative so as to render their citizens’ lives better upon retirement; and to find the challenges facing Ejo Heza Pension Scheme while striving to shape a brighter future for Rwandan residents and those in the Rwandan diaspora. Two hypotheses were formulated to achieve those objectives: Ejo Heza Pension Scheme contributes significantly to bettering members’ lives; and African countries should borrow a leaf from Ejo Heza initiative to render their citizens’ lives better. he study was qualitative with documentation used for data collection. To get more information about Ejo Heza, the researcher consulted Law No 29/2017 of 29/06/2017 establishing the long-term savings scheme and determining its organization and the ministerial order No 001/18/10/tc of 05/12/2018 determining modalities of granting long-term savings scheme benefits. Findings revealed that when a member of Ejo Heza dies, the family gets support and burial allowances worth one million two hundred fifty Rwandan francs (Frw 1,250,000). Besides, if one saves Rwf10,000 for their child per month, the child will have Rwf261 million, and a pension of Rwf1.7 million per month, when he/she turns 55. The researcher affirmed that both hypotheses were approved after verification. The study recommended Ejo Heza to avail all reports on the website to enable researchers and other individuals wishing to learn from the initiative to have clear information electronically.