The Local Authorities Pension Fund’s (LAPF) value has grown from 450bn/- in 2011 to 539bn/- in 2012, Eastern Zone Manager Lulyalya Sayi announced.
The growth, which is equivalent to about 26 per cent, has been fuelled by revenue generated from the Fund’s investments and members’ contributions.
Some of the areas in which LAPF has invested include government securities, fixed deposits, corporate bonds, equity shares and real estate (commercial buildings).
“A big percentage of our money is invested. This is done strategically to ensure that LAPF lives longer and becomes financially secure to enable it operate with utmost efficiency,” Mr Sayi noted. He added that revenue collection from investments had increased from 15.8bn/- in 2007/2008 to 36.9bn/- in 2011/2012.
Despite the mammoth growth of the value of fund, the expenditure has also gone up from 38.6bn/- in the year 2010/2011 to 58.8bn/- in 2011/2012, an increase of 52 per cent. Mr Sayi said the increase in LAPF’s expenditure had been pushed up by an increase in retirees’ and staff salary increments.
Currently, according to Mr Sayi, LAPF is carrying out real estate investments in various areas including building a commercial complex in Mwanza at a cost of 60bn/- and construction of hostels for the Local Government Training Institute at Hombolo, Dodoma, at 54bn/-.
It has also accomplished the construction of the College of Health of the University of Dodoma at a cost of 22bn/-. He also said the Fund had started processing the construction of a complex five-star hotel at Msamvu, Morogoro, at a cost of 35bn/-, whose construction is scheduled to take 18 months.
Mr Sayi explained that the Fund also runs its own projects which include Millennium Towers Phase I and II in Dar es Salaam, Luguruni Satellite Town Project and other projects based in Dodoma, including its headquarters.
He added that the number of members had shot up from 63,302 in the year 2007/2008 to 91,595 in 2011/202.
Presently, he said LAPF enrolled members from all groups including government employees, the private sector, businesspeople and farmers. “A far-reaching reform of LAPF is to provide defined benefits with the intention of ensuring that the contributor retires above the poverty line,” he stated.
By CHRISTOPHER MAJALIWA, Tanzania Daily News
