Opening Address at the All Africa Pension Summit

Salutations

The Right Honourable Prime Minister, representing His Excellency the President,
Honourable Ministers and Central Bank Governors,
Chairpersons and Chief Executives of Pension Funds and Social Security Institutions,
Leaders of Regulatory Authorities and Capital Markets,
Representatives of Organized Labour and Employer Associations,
Colleagues from the African Union, Regional Economic Communities and Development Partners,
Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen—

All protocols observed.

It is a privilege for me to join you at the All Africa Pension Summit—an event that sits at the intersection of dignity for today’s workers and prosperity for tomorrow’s Africa. Pensions are more than a paycheck in retirement. They are a promise we make to millions of teachers, nurses, farmers, artisans and public servants: that a lifetime of work will translate into security and opportunity.

But pensions are also something else. They are patient capital. Properly stewarded, they can become the backbone of Africa’s transformation—financing clean energy, resilient infrastructure, affordable housing, inclusive digitalization, and climate-smart agriculture; creating jobs while protecting value for beneficiaries. The question before us is not whether pension funds should help finance sustainable development; it is how to do so prudently, at scale, and with measurable impact.

Distinguished Participants,

This summit arrives at a pivotal moment for our continent. Africa is young, urbanizing and entrepreneurial, but also uniquely exposed to multiple risks. Our infrastructure gap remains significant, as does the need for quality jobs and social protection. Meanwhile, African pension assets—public and private—have been growing. 

Even as we keep on moving ahead with an unwavering focus on beneficiaries’ long-term interests, that growth represents a strategic opportunity to mobilize domestic savings for domestic development. Pension funds offer multiple opportunities.

1. Their long-term horizon is well matched to assets like infrastructure, housing, and climate adaptation where returns accrue over time and where stability is prized.

2. When they adopt strong environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards, they set market norms, lower perceived risks, and crowd in other investors.

3. Pension funds can anchor blended finance vehicles, local-currency bond issuances, and public-private partnerships (PPPs), providing the stability that complex projects need.

4. By further leveraging their potential, pension investments serve workers twice. First, as contributors who get a secure retirement, and secondly as citizens who benefit from better services, stronger economies, and healthier environments.

Therefore, this Summit is more than a technical discussion. It is a Forum for aligning policy, regulation, capital markets, and project pipelines that go hand-in-hand with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Africa Agenda 2063.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The UN family is fully committed to supporting Africa’s sustainable development financing, not as a source of capital but as a convener, knowledge partner, and risk-mitigation ally. We do this through various interventions. 

• Convening the Right Coalitions.
  We bring together governments, regulators, asset owners, asset managers, international financial institutions, and the private sector to align incentives, clarify rules, and reduce transaction costs. UN-convened platforms—such as the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) and the Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance—help investors translate commitment into portfolio practice.
• Building Standards and Capacity
  Through UNDP, UNEP, UN Global Compact and others, we help adapt global standards to local realities related to ESG integration, climate risk disclosure, impact measurement, and sustainable finance taxonomies. We support regulators and funds with technical assistance and peer learning across countries.
• Strengthening Pipelines
  UNDP’s SDG Investor Maps identify commercially viable, impact-rich investment themes and illustrative business models. UNCDF and UN-Habitat help localize finance—preparing municipal and sub-national projects. UNOPS provides infrastructure project preparation and independent oversight services. Together, these efforts aim to create bankable, transparent opportunities that institutional investors can consider.
• De-Risking and Blended Solutions
  With multilateral banks and development finance institutions, the UN contributes to blended finance instruments that crowd in private capital, including credit guarantees and performance-based incentives. All these are designed to protect beneficiaries and ensure value for money.
• Data, Disclosure, and Impact
  We support governments and markets to improve data availability and decision-useful disclosure, so that risk-adjusted returns and development impact can be consistently assessed, compared, and reported.

In Uganda, the UN system brings a practical perspective on how a country team can partner with authorities and markets to advance sustainable development finance. I will give a few examples.

1. Integrated National Financing Framework (INFF).
   Working with the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, the UN Country Team has supported the design and implementation of Uganda’s Integrated National Financing Framework. This helps the Government to align public budgets, tax policy, development cooperation, and private capital around national development priorities and the SDGs.

2. SDG Investment Pipeline and Market Intelligence.
   Through UNDP’s SDG Investor Map for Uganda and complementary analytics, we are helping identify investible themes in renewable energy, value-adding agro-processing, affordable housing, health supply chains, and digital services. These areas can suit long-term investors when structured appropriately.

3. Sustainable Finance Ecosystem Building
   Together with regulators and capital-market stakeholders, UN agencies are supporting dialogues on ESG disclosure, sustainable bond frameworks, and fit-for-purpose prudential guidance. These enable institutional investors to access credible, transparent instruments aligned with global best practices and local constraints.

4. Local Development Finance and Project Preparation
   UNCDF is piloting local finance solutions to prepare smaller-scale, replicable projects, such as climate-resilient market infrastructure, last-mile energy, and water systems, that can be pooled into investable vehicles over time. UNOPS and UN-Habitat stand ready to provide preparation and assurance services for complex infrastructure.

5. Human Capital and Just Transition.
   Through ILO, WHO, UNESCO, and others, the UN supports labour market systems, health, and skills development, which are critical complements to financing development. 

Dear participants,

The UN system will be your partner in all efforts to bringing technical support, connecting to global standards and peers, and helping to crowd in additional partners where needed.

But we must remember that, across the African continent, workers rise before dawn, to open shops, till fields, teach children in classrooms and go to offices. Their savings are entrusted to pension funds to give them protection and for us to growth. If we do our work well, those savings will come back to them as dignity in old age. If we do our work exceptionally well, those savings will also return to them as power that lights their homes, roads that link their markets, clinics that heal their families, and ecosystems that sustain their futures.

That is the promise of pension capital aligned with sustainable development. It is prudent, it is practical, and it must be invested in our people, in our own markets, for our shared prosperity.

On behalf of the United Nations, I thank the organizers for convening this timely summit. I thank the pension leaders and regulators who carry this responsibility with integrity. And I reaffirm the UN’s commitment as a convener, knowledge broker, and systems partner to help translate ambition into well-governed, investable, and impactful opportunities across Africa.

Let us leave this summit with clarity, courage, and a concrete plan so that Africa’s savings can build Africa’s future.

Asante sana. Thank you.