Business
Uganda’s pension fund – The National Social Security Fund to invest in Kenya stocks
(Reuters) – Uganda’s sole state pension fund said on Wednesday it would start investing in Kenyan debt and equities and establish a private equity fund to expand its Ugandan investments into unlisted companies.
The National Social Security Fund is one of the biggest investors in the country, with assets of Ush 2.74 trillion (US$1.04 billion) last year, and has about Ush 130 billion (US$49.3 million) to invest every month from contributions.
Kenya offers a more varied array of established companies to invest in compared to Uganda, said the fund’s CEO, Richard Byarugaba.
The National Social Security Fund already has large holdings of stocks on the Uganda Securities Exchange.
“The main problem National Social Security Fund faces is that Uganda doesn’t have a deep equity market so our investment options are limited, yet we have a lot of cash — about Ush 130 billion (US$49.3 million) in fresh cash to invest every month,” he told reporters.
“So we’re working on an idea of setting up a private equity fund that will be looking at investing in small and medium enterprises and we’re also planning to increase our investments on the Nairobi Stock Exchange,” Mr Byarugaba said.
The pension fund expanded its assets by 29 percent last year after improving contributions from its members.
