Uganda: NSSF and partners aim for $300 million for regional infrastructure

NSSF Uganda and several East African pension funds are working on a regional vehicle designed to raise approximately $300 million in anchor capital to finance infrastructure and real estate projects. Patrick Ayota, the managing director of the Ugandan fund, explained that this goal is based on the commitment of about 1% of the balance sheets of the participating institutions.

The initiative, referred to as an Africa Pension Fund, aims to bring together pension schemes from Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. According to The EastAfrican, the capital raised will serve as a foundation to attract additional investors for projects requiring larger amounts of funding.

The mechanism seeks to utilize a portion of the long-term savings held by pension funds as local capital for regional projects. The planned investments will focus on infrastructure and real estate, two sectors where financing needs remain high in East Africa.

NSSF Uganda itself has a rapidly growing financial base. According to Daily Monitor and Citizen Digital, its balance sheet increased from approximately $7 billion in June 2025 to nearly $9.3 billion in June 2026, enhancing its capacity to participate in large investment vehicles.

This initiative builds on commitments made during the All Africa Pension Summit held in Kampala in November 2025. A United Nations report in Uganda indicated that several East African pension fund officials had agreed to consider mobilizing a portion of their assets into a common platform for transformative investments.

The $300 million mentioned today does not represent a direct fundraising effort from the diaspora. Instead, it reflects the capital that the participating retirement institutions aim to collectively establish, while NSSF Uganda’s campaign targeting Ugandans living abroad remains a separate voluntary savings initiative.