WHI to launch public servant investment portal next month
DAR ES SALAAM: WATUMISHI Housing Investment (WHI) will next month launch Employee Self Services (ESS) Utumishi portal, which will enable public servants to invest in the Faida Fund.
“We will be launching the system next month. Currently, we are in the pilot phase and the initial feedback has been promising. This phase has allowed us to fine-tune our features and ensure everything runs smoothly for the official rollout,” emphasised Ms Maryjane Makawia, WHI’s Senior Public Relations and Marketing Officer, while talking to the ‘Daily News’ over the weekend.. Utilising the ESS portal, public servants will have their contributions automatically deducted from their salaries, streamlining the investment process.
“This system will significantly reduce the time spent obtaining a control number and making payments. With ESS, deductions will occur automatically,” Ms Makawia stated.
Ms Makawia highlighted that the new system will be particularly beneficial for employees overwhelmed by work responsibilities, leaving them little time to invest or visit farms.
“We are working to create a more straightforward approach that encourages employees to save for their future goals,” she added.
WHI aims to register 50 per cent of employees in the third and fourth quarters of the 2024/25 fiscal year (January to June 2025). Ms Makawia noted that the system was developed in response to requests from public servants for automatic deductions from their salaries.
Employees will be able to specify how much they wish to have deducted monthly for the Faida Fund.
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Furthermore, she highlighted that the fund is currently experiencing growth, with early investors already seeing a 20 per cent increase in their contributions.
This demonstrates the positive impact of the investment strategy and encourages more public servants to participate. In August this year, the WHI Executive Director Dr Fred Msemwa stated that the increase in unit value underscores the fund’s robust financial health and stability.
“This success is attributed to our ability to engage small investors who were previously hard to reach, encouraging their participation in the formal investment system, regardless of their portfolio size,” Dr Msemwa said. He noted that the Faida Fund is the first in Tanzania to lower the minimum investment requirement to just 10,000/-, allowing a broad range of investors—including peasants, workers, students and retirees—to benefit from competitive and balanced market returns.
“We [WHI] reduced the minimum investment to include small investors, such as peasants, workers, students, bodaboda riders and retirees,” he added.
The unit value of the fund rose from 100/- during the initial sale last January to 120/- as of on Monday.
The fund is an openended scheme that, in the last 18 months, has attracted over 5,000 investors, with the total fund size growing to 31.8 billion/- from 12bn/- as of October 25th, reflecting its exceptional financial strength.
