Kampala — Stanbic Bank Uganda and SBG Securities Uganda have launched a new pension fund management service, with speakers at the inaugural “Stanbic Uganda Pensions Conference” calling for greater mobilisation of long-term savings to support Uganda’s economic transformation.
The conference, held under the theme “The Role of the Pensions Sector in Accelerating the Tenfold GDP Growth Strategy,” brought together government, regulators and financial-sector players to discuss how pension savings can simultaneously provide retirement security and finance productive investment.
Launching the new service, Mark Ocitti Ongom, Chief Executive of Stanbic Uganda Holdings Limited (SUHL), said pension savings could become an important source of domestic capital if they are professionally managed and responsibly invested.
“Retirement savings are first a promise of dignity and security to those who have worked and contributed. When professionally managed, wisely invested and responsibly governed, they are also among the most important sources of long-term domestic capital available to our economy.”
Ocitti said Uganda’s ambition to grow its economy from about US$50 billion to US$500 billion by 2040 would require long-term capital to finance productive sectors.
“Our ambition of developing a US$500 billion economy will not be built by ambition alone. It will be built by people who work, enterprises that invest, institutions that have trust and capital that is prepared to stay the course.”
He said the new pension management capability was an extension of SBG Securities’ existing investment-management business. “It is an extension of our capacity to mobilise and responsibly steward long-term domestic capital.”
Ocitti said pension capital could support sectors including agro-industrialisation, tourism, minerals, science and technology, infrastructure, housing and productive enterprises. He also called for greater inclusion of women, young people and farmers in formal savings and retirement schemes.
Minister of State for Labour, Employment and Industrial Relations, Simon Mulongo, who opened the conference, said pension savings should serve both workers and the wider economy.
“We must move pensions from the privilege of the regular payslip to a practical possibility for every working Ugandan.”
Mulongo said the pensions sector had two responsibilities: providing retirement dignity and supplying patient capital for economic development.
He said the two objectives should not be treated as competing interests. “Properly governed, they reinforce each other.”
Mulongo cautioned, however, that pension money should not be channelled into investments simply because they are associated with national development priorities. “Development must earn pension capital.”
He said the quality of investment opportunities, regulatory predictability, enforceable contracts and project preparation would determine whether long-term savings could be effectively deployed into Uganda’s economy.
“Every strategy requires evidence rather than assumption.”
Mulongo also urged financial institutions to develop products that recognise the different income patterns of Ugandans, including farmers, traders, salaried workers and Ugandans living abroad. “Institutions should follow the places where people already operate.”
He said pension inclusion should also be measured by the adequacy and continuity of savings rather than simply the number of people registered. “A system must help members contribute enough, for long enough, to build a meaningful benefit.”
The minister also called for pension investments to remain independent of political pressure and commercial interests, while urging institutions to develop measurable outcomes from investments.
He challenged stakeholders to examine whether pension-funded investments are increasing production, employment and wages.
Grace Semakula, Chief Executive of SBG Securities Uganda, said the company had spent the past six years developing its investment-management capabilities before entering the pensions market.
“We have taken time to build the expertise required to serve Uganda’s investment market. Today, I am pleased to announce that we are ready to take the next step into pension fund management.”
Semakula said pension savings represented an important source of long-term capital and that the company understood the responsibility involved in managing them.
“Pension savings are a vital source of patient capital, and we recognise the responsibility that comes with managing these assets.”
She said SBG Securities would draw on the wider Standard Bank Group’s investment expertise across African and global markets.
The company’s approach, she said, would be based on three principles: “Security, Growth and Leadership.”
The launch comes as Uganda seeks to deepen domestic savings and increase the amount of capital available for long-term investment.
Daisy Nabakooza, Director of Supervision and Market Conduct at the Uganda Retirement Benefits Regulatory Authority (URBRA), said the structure of retirement benefits also needed attention if pension savings were to contribute to long-term investment.
She cautioned against continued reliance on lump-sum payments when members leave employment. “If we continue paying out pension savings as lump sums whenever members exit, we will struggle to realise our long-term growth aspirations.”
Nabakooza said Uganda needed arrangements that could protect members’ retirement needs while keeping appropriate portions of their savings invested over longer periods.
She also emphasised the importance of expanding pension participation beyond formally employed workers.
Mona M. Ssebuliba, Board Chairperson of SBG Securities Uganda Limited, said the new pension-management capability carried responsibilities beyond commercial expansion.
“From the Board’s perspective, the launch of SBG Securities’ pension fund management capability is therefore not simply a commercial milestone. It is a commitment to stewardship.”
Ssebuliba said pension assets represented years of workers’ contributions and therefore required strong governance, transparency and disciplined risk management.
“Pension assets represent years of hard work. Our first duty is to protect those assets and protect members’ interests through good governance, disciplined risk management, transparency and professional decision-making.”
She said growth in pension assets alone should not be treated as sufficient. “Growth in assets is never enough on its own. We must grow trust, provide access and create member value.”
Ssebuliba said the pension sector had an opportunity to channel long-term capital into housing, infrastructure, agro-industrial development, tourism, minerals and technology while expanding retirement coverage among workers in the informal sector.
The new service expands SBG Securities Uganda’s investment-management activities into the pensions sector and is intended to complement Stanbic Uganda’s existing pension-related services.
