KAMPALA — Uganda needs to increase its national savings rate from the current 24% of gross domestic product (GDP) to 40% by 2040 to generate the investment required to achieve its long-term economic growth ambitions, Finance Minister Henry Musasizi has said.
Musasizi made the remarks at the 14th Annual Members’ Meeting of the National Social Security Fund (NSSF), where he linked increased domestic savings to the government’s Tenfold Growth Strategy and its target of expanding Uganda’s economy to about US$500 billion by 2040.
“Uganda’s savings rate currently stands at 24% of GDP, but needs to rise to 40% by 2040 to match the level of investment required to support the country’s growth ambitions,” Musasizi said.
The minister said achieving the target will require greater mobilisation of domestic savings, including through institutions such as NSSF.
The savings target comes as Uganda seeks to increase investment in infrastructure, productive sectors and other areas considered critical to economic transformation.
Musasizi said NSSF has an important role to play in mobilising long-term savings while ensuring members’ money is invested prudently and generates competitive, risk-adjusted returns.
He cautioned that members’ savings should be invested in commercially viable projects that are professionally appraised and properly governed.
The minister also pledged government support to ensure NSSF operates in a competitive environment, including faster decisions on viable and time-sensitive investment opportunities.
The push for higher savings comes amid efforts to expand participation in formal and long-term saving schemes. Musasizi encouraged farmers, market vendors, students, boda boda riders and other workers in the informal sector to take advantage of NSSF savings products.
NSSF Managing Director Patrick Ayota said the Fund attracted 311,000 new members during the financial year, increasing its coverage to 24.1% by June 2026.
Member contributions rose by 13% to Shs2.4 trillion from Shs2.13 trillion, while 55,000 dormant accounts were reactivated.
Ayota said the Fund paid Shs1.5 trillion in benefits to 50,499 members during the year and deployed Shs4.54 trillion in investments, including Shs4.32 trillion in Uganda.
NSSF’s growing role in long-term savings was underscored at the meeting by the announcement of a record 22.53% interest rate for members for the 2025/26 financial year.
The rate will result in Shs5.44 trillion being credited to members, compared with Shs2.79 trillion distributed in the previous financial year.
Musasizi said the return was above Uganda’s 10-year average inflation of 4.1% and the 3.7% inflation recorded at the end of June 2026.
Ayota said NSSF’s Vision 2035 strategy seeks to increase membership to 15 million savers, equivalent to 50% of working Ugandans, while growing the Fund to Shs88 trillion and achieving 95% stakeholder engagement.
Gender Minister Gen Henry Tumukunde said NSSF should play a broader role in Uganda’s economic transformation while continuing to protect workers’ savings.
“NSSF must increasingly see itself not simply as a custodian of savings but a catalyst for economic transformation,” Tumukunde said.
He said the Fund, as a financial institution managing workers’ private savings, must protect the value of those resources and invest them prudently in initiatives that generate measurable value.
The government’s 2040 savings target therefore places greater emphasis on expanding the pool of domestic capital available for investment, while institutions such as NSSF are expected to mobilise and invest a larger share of workers’ long-term savings.