By KT Reporter
President Yoweri Museveni has called for a new approach to development financing in Africa, urging countries to leverage their pension and social security funds to build essential infrastructure instead of relying on expensive foreign loans.
In a speech read on his behalf by Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja at the All-Africa Pension Summit in Kampala on Wednesday, Museveni said the continent’s main challenge is not a lack of resources but the underutilization of wealth already available. “Africa’s pension funds now stand at about US$1.4 trillion, a figure larger than the lending capacity of the World Bank. If we took advantage of this enormous portfolio, we could finance critical sectors like electricity, roads, housing, and education,” Museveni said.
“Africa has always had labor and land, but we lack capital and entrepreneurship. Our pension funds offer an opportunity to fill this gap and fund our own development.” Museveni praised Uganda’s National Social Security Fund (NSSF) for its investments in affordable housing and renewable energy, describing them as a step in the right direction. He stressed that development must translate into jobs and wealth for households.
“Development alone is not enough. It must create employment and improve the lives of families,” he said. Betty Amongi, the minister overseeing NSSF, echoed Museveni’s call, urging African pension funds to become “a powerful engine for domestic development.” She emphasized that pension funds should invest in well-structured social and economic infrastructure projects.
“Imagine a generation where our own pension funds not only guarantee retirement but also build schools, hospitals, and roads for our people. For too long, we have borrowed from foreign institutions, often ending up with more debt than development,” Amongi said.
Amongi warned that reliance on external loans keeps African economies trapped in cycles of debt, advocating instead for self-reliant systems based on local capital. She cited examples of successful pension fund investments in Africa, including South Africa’s Government Employees Pension Fund investing over US$1 billion in renewable energy, Nigeria’s National Pension Commission directing US$2.5 billion into infrastructure, and Kenya’s Pension Fund Consortium channeling over US$1 billion into agriculture, energy, and affordable housing.
Patrick Ayota, Managing Director of NSSF Uganda, said the summit highlighted growing interest in collaborative solutions to Africa’s development challenges. “We expected 350 participants but got 600 from across Africa and beyond. This shows Africans are ready to find homegrown solutions if given the right platform,” Ayota said.
He revealed that East African pension funds are considering a joint investment pool, contributing about 1% of their combined US$40 billion portfolio to finance large regional projects. “Even 1% is US$400 million, enough to co-finance projects like the Kampala Expressway, which costs US$1.2 billion. Local funding can attract additional investors and keep more benefits within Africa,” Ayota explained.
He emphasized that NSSF’s investments remain guided by safety and returns, assuring that members’ money is always protected. Amongi concluded: “Let us transform pension funds from passive repositories into active engines of African development. Let us invest in ourselves, for ourselves. The future is not something we wait for; it is something we build.” If adopted, the proposal could shift Africa’s development model, using today’s workers’ savings to finance the infrastructure that will secure the prosperity of future generations.
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