Pension funds are increasingly being seen as an opportune source of funding for the African continent’s development needs, which the African Development Bank (AfDB) has estimated will require more than US$1.3 trillion a year to meet.
African pension funds are estimated to hold US$700 billion in assets under management, which could be channelled into projects on the continent as traditional sources of foreign funding dry up due to the realignment of global geopolitics and the pace at which infrastructure requirements are expanding.
In a first, the organisations are preparing to come together to commit to a ‘Fund for Africa’ at the ‘$700b in 1 Room All Africa Pensions Summit’, which will be held from 5-7 November in Kampala, Uganda. The summit will be hosted by the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) Uganda, which is seen as East Africa’s biggest fund with a value of more than US$7 billion, under the theme ‘Pension Funds – Powering Africa’s Growth’. It is set to convene CEOs of pension funds across Africa, chief investment officers, global investors, development finance institutions, venture and private capital firms, policymakers and government officials from across the continent and beyond.
