The Government Institutions Pension Fund (GIPF) has announced a 4% increase in pension benefits, effective 1 April 2025.
According to the fund, the increment will apply to all GIPF pensioners, qualifying annuitants, as well as spousal and child beneficiaries.
“Pensioners whose payments have been in effect for less than a year by 31 March 2025 will receive the increase on a pro-rata basis.”
GIPF Chief Executive Officer and Principal Officer, Martin Inkumbi, said the increase is a reflection of the Fund’s robust financial standing.
“The Board of Trustees took this informed decision following the recommendation from the Fund’s actuary, which was based on the sustainability of the Fund, recent developments in local inflation, and reasonable benefit expectations of members and pensioners,” said Inkumbi.
“Furthermore, the decision was taken based on the Fund being able to maintain a funding level above 100%, thus indicating that the Fund’s assets can adequately cover its liabilities.”
Inkumbi said the GIPF aims to align pension increases with the National Consumer Price Index (NCPI) to help preserve the purchasing power of its members.
“The Trustees aim to match the NCPI to maintain the purchasing power of pension payments over time, considering affordability on the part of the GIPF,” he said.
“The Fund has historically defined affordability as the difference between the net return earned on the Fund’s investments and the net interest applied for discounting pension liabilities, which is currently about 3.73% per annum for the GIPF.”
He explained that pension adjustments are customarily made each year on 1 April, with increases typically ranging between 75% and 100% of the NCPI, depending on the Fund’s affordability.
The 4% increase , Inkumbi said was determined following a comprehensive actuarial review, which took into account the Fund’s average annual returns over the past five years, as well as its current and projected liabilities.
“In light of the volatility of investment returns from year to year, the Fund has adopted a three-year averaging method, using returns recorded at each December year-end as a reference point,” he said.
As of December 2024, the Fund had 55,507 active annuitants receiving a combined monthly pension payout of approximately N$330.4 million—translating to over N$3.965 billion per annum.
