Investment savings - Nigerians are ahead of the citizens in other African countries, including South Africa, Kenya and Morocco, in investment savings, according to a recent survey carried out by global financial services firm, MasterCard.

The private Guardian Newspaper on Friday said the survey was part of a 2011 research that involved 17,620 consumers across 24 markets in  Asia/Pacific, Middle East and the African region.

The survey noted that while 77% of respondents saved through investments in Nigeria; the figure for Kenya is 71%; South Africa 42% and Morocco 26%.

However, while Nigerians invest hugely, the survey revealed that only 28% of them plan for retirement, compared with 45% of South Africans, 24% of Kenyans and 28% of Moroccans.

“Setting money aside for emergencies is one of the first steps to saving that smart consumers should take to protect themselves from the negative effects of global economic events, and they should have a savings buffer of at least three months’ salary,” Daniel Monehin, area head, East and West Africa and Indian Ocean Islands, MasterCard Worldwide, was quoted by the newspaper as saying.

The research also revealed that Nigerians understand the importance of saving their money, with 87% of respondents agreeing to be saving on a regular basis, with a commitment to increasing their savings in the six months following the survey.

When questioned about their primary reason for wanting to increase their rate of saving over the subsequent six months, the survey shows that 82 % of the respondents indicated they were wary of the impact that global economic events may have on the Nigerian market, and that they needed to prepare for unforeseen emergency expenditure.

The survey also illustrated that the percentage of their total salaries that Nigerians intended to save in the following six months was diverse, with 28 % saving one tenth or less, 39% saving between 11-30%, and 20% saving more than one third of their salaries.

“The results of this survey showed that Nigerians were aware of the potential impacts of the global and local economic conditions, and they were taking measures to insulate themselves from adverse financial repercussions of events in the global economy,” Monehin said.

Pana 03/02/2012