For years, EjoHeza has carried a simple but powerful promise: that even informal workers can save for a dignified retirement. Yet for many, that promise has felt distant, weighed down by rigid rules that did not reflect the realities of irregular incomes, emergencies and competing daily needs. The proposed reforms approved by Cabinet recently mark an important course correction—one that deserves strong public support. Allowing members to access up to 30 per cent of their accumulated savings before retirement is perhaps the most transformative change. Informal workers do not live in a world of predictable salaries and safety nets. Illness, school fees, accidents or business shocks can wipe out fragile livelihoods overnight. A savings scheme that locks away every franc until retirement risks being ignored altogether. ALSO READ: Ejo Heza: Can new savings scheme secure the future of informal workers? By introducing controlled flexibility, EjoHeza becomes not just a retirement product but a life-support tool, one that encourages people to save with confidence, knowing their money can help them when it matters most. Equally significant is the reduction of the minimum threshold for a monthly pension from Rwf4 million to Rwf2 million. The old benchmark, while well-intentioned, was unrealistic for many low-income earners and inadvertently discouraged saving. A lower, more attainable target gives contributors a clearer sense of purpose and progress. It reinforces the idea that retirement security is not only for the formally employed or the well-paid, but for motorcycle taxi drivers, market vendors and casual labourers as well. The added flexibility at retirement, which allows higher lump-sum withdrawals while protecting a minimum pension also respects how people actually plan their later years. Many retirees face pressing needs that require capital, not just monthly instalments. Letting savers balance both is a pragmatic recognition of lived experience. ALSO READ: Activists call for strategies to address gaps in EjoHeza saving scheme Critics are right to note that very low incomes still limit saving capacity. These reforms do not solve the broader challenges of wages and vulnerability. But they significantly lower the psychological and practical barriers to participation. In making EjoHeza more flexible, inclusive and realistic, policymakers have strengthened its credibility. The task now is to pair these reforms with sustained sensitisation and broader labour protections—so that saving for old age becomes not an aspiration, but a norm.
