(KAMPALA, UGANDA) – Workers moving between Kenya and Uganda could increasingly take their pension savings with them after the two countries’ social security funds set up a reciprocal arrangement for transferring accumulated balances.
National Social Security Fund Uganda Managing Director Patrick Ayota said the Ugandan and Kenyan funds have established a framework that allows workers who move between the two countries to transfer their savings from one scheme to the other. The arrangement could make it easier for workers to maintain their retirement savings when changing countries of employment, particularly as businesses increasingly operate across East African borders and workers move within the region in search of employment and business opportunities.
“Somebody is working in Uganda, and they’ve saved with NSSF Uganda and they’re coming back to NSSF Kenya, they can actually ask us to send their money, those balances, back to NSSF Kenya,” said Ayota. He added that the arrangement also works in the opposite direction, allowing a worker who has saved with NSSF Kenya to transfer the balance to NSSF Uganda and continue saving.
The development points to an emerging challenge for East Africa’s pension systems, namely how to preserve workers’ retirement savings when employment becomes increasingly regional. For employees who spend part of their careers in Kenya and another period in Uganda, separate social security systems can create administrative and financial complications.
Portability arrangements can potentially reduce the need for workers to maintain disconnected pension records while allowing them to continue building retirement savings as they move between the two markets.
The cross border arrangement also comes as Uganda seeks to expand the pool of people saving through its pension system beyond workers in formal employment. Ayota said Uganda amended its law in 2022 to introduce voluntary savings, with the changes operationalised in November 2024. The move allows people without traditional employer linked pension arrangements to save through NSSF.
Since the voluntary savings product was rolled out, NSSF Uganda says it has opened about 150,000 new accounts, with the accounts accumulating close to UGX 200 million ($54,000 / GBP 42,000) over the 22 months to the interview. The fund is now seeking to extend that savings opportunity to Ugandans living and working outside the country, including those based in Kenya.
The expansion comes as NSSF Uganda’s financial base has also grown significantly. Ayota said the fund’s balance sheet increased from about $7 billion in June 2025 to approximately $9.3 billion by June 2026, an increase of about $1.8 billion.
The figures underline the growing pool of institutional capital available to pension funds and the importance of creating mechanisms that allow workers to remain connected to those systems even when they cross borders.
The portability arrangement between Kenya and Uganda could also become relevant as East African economies seek to deepen regional integration. Kenya and Uganda have extensive trade, investment and labour links, with citizens of both countries living and working across the border. The ability to transfer accumulated pension savings could strengthen the financial links between the two economies while giving mobile workers greater flexibility over their retirement planning.
However, broader regional portability would require harmonisation of pension regulations, contribution systems, taxation, withdrawal rules and administrative procedures.
Ayota said NSSF Uganda maintains a strong working relationship with NSSF Kenya, describing the two institutions’ reciprocal arrangement as an avenue for workers to transfer their balances when they relocate.
The development comes at a time when East African pension funds are also looking at ways of pooling their resources to finance investments in the region. NSSF Uganda is participating in an initiative bringing together pension funds from across Africa, with eight funds so far signed up, according to Ayota. The broader ambition is to leverage pension money and position the funds as local anchor investors in sectors such as real estate.