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Uganda’s Silent Giant: Pension Funds Step Onto Centre Stage

  • Writer: Derry Thornalley
    Derry Thornalley
  • 2 days ago
  • 4 min read

When pension executives, regulators and investors gathered in Kampala this month for the All-Africa Pensions Summit, the talking point was not another foreign aid package or a new donor facility. It was Africa’s own money – more than US$1.3 trillion in combined pension and sovereign wealth fund assets – and how much of it is still sitting in short-term instruments instead of building roads, power plants and hospitals.


For Uganda, the host country, the moment felt symbolic. Its pension industry has grown quietly but rapidly in the past decade and is now big enough to matter – not just to retirees, but to the wider economy.


According to the latest government performance report, pension assets climbed to UGX 25.4 trillion in FY 2023/24, up 18% from UGX 21.4 trillion a year earlier. That’s roughly 12% of GDP, a significant jump from earlier years. Member contributions also rose, helped by a steady expansion of voluntary savings beyond the traditional public schemes.


Yet, by global standards, this “silent giant” is still small. World Bank data put Uganda’s pension assets at just under 9% of GDP in 2020, below many emerging-market peers – underlining how much growth remains if coverage widens beyond the formal sector.


Strong markets, cautious policy

The macro backdrop is unusually supportive. Earlier this month the Bank of Uganda held its benchmark Central Bank Rate at 9.75% for a fifth consecutive meeting, citing easing headline inflation and a broadly stable outlook as the country heads toward 2026 elections. At the same time, the African Development Bank projects Uganda’s growth at around 6.2% in 2025, driven by industry and agriculture.


For pension funds, the combination of solid growth, moderating inflation and relatively high local yields is attractive. It has allowed major schemes such as NSSF Uganda to report resilient returns, while also allocating part of their portfolios to domestic infrastructure, energy and real-estate projects that can support long-term development.


Uganda’s progress has been recognised beyond its borders. In the Absa Africa Financial Markets Index, which scores countries on six pillars including market depth, FX access and pension fund development, Uganda has consistently ranked in the top tier. It retained a top-four position in the 2024 edition and continues to be cited as a reformer in the 2025 report.


The infrastructure gap meets pension capital

The theme of Kampala’s All-Africa Pensions Summit could hardly be more pointed: Africa faces an annual US$200 billion Sustainable Development Goal financing gap, even as domestic institutions hold hundreds of billions of dollars in long-term savings. A separate analysis from the Africa Finance Corporation estimates that as much as US$4 trillion in local capital – including pension savings – could, in theory, be mobilised for infrastructure over time.


Ugandan regulators and fund managers are listening. The Uganda Retirement Benefits Regulatory Authority (URBRA) has repeatedly argued that a bigger, more diversified pension sector strengthens the financial system and supports GDP growth by deepening capital markets and lowering long-term borrowing costs.


But unlocking that potential is not straightforward. Like their peers across the continent, Uganda’s funds still tend to concentrate heavily in:

  • Government securities and bank deposits, which are liquid and familiar but offer limited diversification;

  • A relatively small pool of local equities;

  • A cautious mix of property and alternative assets, constrained by regulation and capacity.


Cross-border and global allocations are growing from a low base, but they remain sensitive territory for supervisors who must balance prudence, FX risk and political optics.


Where platforms like Verī fit into Uganda’s next phase

This is where specialised investment platforms are beginning to enter the conversation.

Verī Platform is designed to sit behind regulated institutions – banks, asset managers, pension administrators and insurers – and give them a single, regulated environment through which they can:

  • Access a broad universe of local, regional and global assets – from Ugandan government securities to African equities and offshore funds;

  • Maintain a consolidated, look-through view of every member’s holdings, even when assets are spread across multiple custodians;

  • Generate regulator-friendly reporting, so supervisors like URBRA and the Bank of Uganda retain clear line-of-sight on exposures, currency risk and compliance.


In practical terms, that could mean a Ugandan pension scheme offering its members a small but meaningful allocation to regional infrastructure funds or global equity strategies, while still booking and monitoring everything through a single, auditable platform. For trustees under pressure to improve returns, manage risk and prove governance, that level of visibility is becoming essential.


A decade that will decide the direction of travel

The next decade will likely decide whether Uganda’s pension system becomes a genuine engine of domestic and regional investment, or remains a conservative pool of savings anchored largely in government paper.


On the one hand, asset growth is strong, regulation is maturing, and markets have recognised Uganda as one of Africa’s more advanced financial ecosystems. On the other, the country still grapples with informality, limited financial literacy, and the challenge of steering long-term capital into complex projects without compromising safety.


What is clear, as delegates leave Kampala and attention shifts back to quarterly reports and policy statements, is that pension funds are no longer a quiet footnote in Uganda’s financial story. They are increasingly at the centre of debates about growth, infrastructure and resilience – and the tools they choose to invest, diversify and report with will shape not only retiree incomes, but the country’s development path for years to come.

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