KAMPALA — The National Social Security Fund (NSSF) has declared a record 22.53% interest rate on members' savings for the 2025/26 financial year, the highest in the Fund's 40-year history.
A total of Shs5.44 trillion will be credited to members' accounts — the largest annual payout ever and about Shs2.64 trillion more than last year.
Finance Minister Henry Musasizi announced the rate on Thursday during NSSF's 14th Annual Members' Meeting in Kampala, following the Fund's performance for the year ended June 30, 2026.
"The interest amounting to Shs5.44 trillion, which will be shared by the members, is the highest interest rate in the history of the fund," Musasizi told the gathering. He said the result reflected "record-level performance of the Fund."
The new rate is a sharp jump from 13.5% declared for 2024/25 and 11.5% for 2023/24. It also surpasses the previous record of 15% paid for 2017/18 under former Managing Director Richard Byarugaba. Rates had dipped to 9.65% in 2021/22 before climbing again.
The interest will be credited to qualifying balances in line with Section 36 of the NSSF Act. The amount each member receives depends on their opening balance for the year, minus benefits paid during the period.
NSSF Managing Director Patrick Ayota, who presented the year's results, said the Fund's total income rose 85% from Shs3.51 trillion to about Shs6.51 trillion, while assets under management grew 26% to Shs32.87 trillion. This puts the Fund on course towards its Vision 2030 target of Shs80 trillion.
Member contributions increased to Shs2.42 trillion, up from Shs2.13 trillion in 2024/25. Realised income — interest, dividends and rent — rose to about Shs3.88 trillion, with interest income from bonds at Shs3.49 trillion and dividends at Shs369 billion.
Ayota attributed the surge to stronger investment returns and unrealised (mark-to-market) gains on bonds and equities as regional stock markets rallied. Equities rose to 18.4% of the portfolio from 13.3% a year earlier, while fixed income remained the core at about 76.5%.
He noted that Shs4.32 trillion is invested in Uganda, about 76% of it in government bonds.
"We impact the nation in three ways: through our investments, our operations, and our payouts to members," Ayota said.
Benefits paid out climbed 17% to Shs1.549 trillion, reaching more than 46,000 members. The average turnaround time for benefit payments fell to about 4.5 days.
The Fund now has 3.6 million registered members, although about 2.7 million currently have balances on their accounts. Ayota said many of the remaining accounts belong to members who have already received their benefits.
NSSF has a standing "return promise" to pay at least two percentage points above the 10-year average inflation rate, now about 3.7%. The 22.53% rate far exceeds that floor.
The Auditor General, Edward Akol, said KPMG Certified Public Accountants had audited the Fund's financial statements on his behalf, covering its financial position as at June 30, 2026, its changes in net assets and reserves, cash flows and accompanying notes.
"In my opinion, the accompanying financial statements present the true and fair view of the financial position of the Fund," Akol said.
Minister of Gender, Labour and Social Development, Gen Henry Tumukunde, said: "Social security funds are an important driver of economic growth and development, and they should be managed in a way that creates sustainable value for workers, businesses, and the wider economy."
At the meeting, Ayota also unveiled NSSF's Vision 2035, which he said is built around increasing both Ugandans' willingness and capacity to save, as it pursues a target of 15 million members and assets of Shs80 trillion.
Members and the public reacted with excitement shortly after the announcement. "Today is like Xmas for NSSF members," one attendee wrote as the meeting was being streamed. Others posted in different WhatsApp groups, "Money has come" and "Thank you NSSF."
