All Africa Pension Summit 2025 Concludes in Kampala: Africa Urged to Invest Its Own Savings in Development

Kampala, Uganda The landmark All Africa Pension Summit 2025 concluded Friday 7th.November 2025 at the Speke Resort Munyonyo, spotlighting the urgent need for African nations to mobilise their domestic pension savings to fund the continent’s growth. The three-day summit brought together policymakers, pension fund managers, regulators, and private-sector investors under the theme “Mobilising Africa’s Pension Capital for Inclusive Development.”

With Africa’s pension funds collectively holding over USD 1 trillion in assets, the summit underscored the opportunity to deploy this “patient capital” into sectors like infrastructure, affordable housing, renewable energy, and digital innovation.

Pension Leaders Call for Local Investment

Patrick Ayota, Managing Director of the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) Uganda, told delegates:

“It’s time Africa takes responsibility for funding its own development. Global aid is shrinking, and we can no longer rely on others to pay for our ambitions. We must pool our savings and invest in our own future.”

Ayota highlighted that while African pension funds hold enormous assets, only a fraction is currently invested within Africa. “This is a major opportunity for Africans to catalyse our own economies by providing funding that is not tied to unfavourable conditions from foreign funding agencies,” he added.

Robinah Nabbanja, Prime Minister of Uganda, representing the President, emphasized the potential impact of domestic investment:

“If we took advantage of this USD 1.4 trillion fund, we can do a lot. We have land and labour, but we have been short of capital and entrepreneurship. Development must translate into jobs and wealth for households, not just public infrastructure.”

Leonard Zulu, United Nations Resident Coordinator in Uganda, stressed the broader strategic importance:

“Africa must look inward, mobilising domestic savings, diaspora remittances, and blended finance models to reduce aid dependency. This Summit is more than a technical discussion. It is a forum for aligning policy, regulation, capital markets, and project pipelines with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Africa’s Agenda 2063.”

Key Takeaways

1. Mobilising pension funds locally: Africa’s pension assets are a largely untapped resource for domestic investment.
2. Addressing coverage gaps: Informal-sector workers still remain largely outside pension systems, limiting capital mobilisation.
3. Strengthening governance: Regulatory frameworks, risk management, ESG integration, and local-currency investment instruments are critical to attract and deploy pension capital safely.
4. Strategic investment: Pension funds should target infrastructure, renewable energy, affordable housing, and other long-term projects that deliver social impact.

Uganda positioned itself as a regional leader in this shift. The NSSF is actively exploring ways to expand coverage and strategically invest in key development areas.

The summit concluded with a strong consensus: Africa has the capital — the real task now is to use it effectively to shape Africa’s future.