Uganda’s employment situation has changed drastically over the past few years. This means a large population of the workforce is no longer dependent on employment from large organizations but rather on small informal institutions. This, according to the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) Managing Director Richard Byarugaba presents great opportunities for the Fund to grow.
Byarugaba said there is a potential customer base of close to 2 million workers who do not have any form of social security cover out of about 4 million Ugandans working in the formal sector. In addition, the informal sector employs over 11 million people, most of whom are not members of the Fund and this therefore provides a great opportunity for NSSF to widen its scope.
“We have been piloting this plan in the market since November last year and it has been well received. As at end of May 2017, we had recruited 3,017 voluntary employers and collected Ushs 2.6 billion. In addition, we recently carried out a survey and about 77% of our respondents are still interested in saving with us but they require a mid-term product they can access before retirement age,” he added.
Also in attendance, Private Sector Foundation Uganda’s (PSFU) Executive Director Gideon Badagawa said, “NSSF is not government oriented, it is about the private sector and the reason we save is so we can invest for the future. Mobilization of much needed funds for the economy through the informal sector is therefore key to our growth as a country.”
