By Timothy Mukoba, Co-founder & Chief Commercial Officer, Systech Limited
In a continent where over 80% of the workforce is in the informal sector, Africa’s pension coverage gap is more than a statistic, it’s a call to action. Speaking at the 3rd ARBS Annual Pension Conference 2025 in Diani, Timothy Mukoba challenged the region to rethink how we engage workers, data, and design thinking to drive pension inclusion.
Understanding the Mobilization Gap
Across Africa, the informal sector contributes up to 60% of GDP, yet less than 10% of these workers have any form of retirement savings. In Kenya, that figure drops below 5%. The reasons are complex: a lack of awareness, trust, and products that truly reflect the realities of gig workers, small traders, and young digital natives.
According to Mukoba, “We can’t fix this by using the same models that excluded them in the first place. We must reimagine pensions around people, not policy.”
Breaking Barriers through Design Thinking
Design Thinking is a practical framework for flattening the mobilization barrier. It begins with empathy, understanding what different groups value and fear about saving. Through ideation, prototyping, and testing, pension schemes can design products that reflect real user behaviors – flexible, mobile-based, and emotionally resonant.
“Design Thinking forces us to stop assuming what people want and start asking,” he noted, highlighting the need for human-centered innovation in financial services.
Digital Technologies: The Game Changer
Technology, is the enabler that can democratize pensions. AI and big data can aggregate fragmented financial activity across platforms to personalize savings journeys. Lifestyle-based and impact investment pension products, like a “Solar Pension Fund” that lights up communities today and supports retirees tomorrow, show how purpose and profit can intersect.
The future of pension mobilization lies in personalized, goal-oriented products that evolve with each contributor’s life. Whether through digital wallets, micro-savings apps, or data-driven insights, technology must meet people where they are, not where we assume they’ll be.
Related Article: Rethinking Pension Innovation in Africa
Re-tyring, Not Retiring
Mukoba closed with a powerful reframe: “We must move from a retirement mindset to a RE-TYRE-ment mindset, one that keeps people moving, creating, and investing in their own future.”
The message was clear, Africa can turn pension mobilization from a challenge into a movement.
