Grapevine

NSSF opens door to informal sector workforce

The National Social Security Fund (NSSF) has launched a new initiative that will recruit millions of the country’s workforce, mainly in the informal sector, into the formal savings space. Under the ambitious Livelihoods Support Project, the Fund will enhance both beneficiaries’ capacity and their willingness to save. Mr Patrick Ayota, the Fund’s managing director, said once implemented across the country, the project will, in the long run, contribute to their strategic objective of recruiting at least 50 per cent of Uganda’s working population by 2035. “The Fund has come to a realisation that we must onboard the informal sector into the social security net, particularly those involved in small-scale agriculture if we are to achieve the desired coverage of up to 15 million Ugandans,” he said at the launch of the project at Amwa Primary School, Okwang Sub-county in Otuke District. The project is currently being piloted in four districts; Otuke in northern, Kayunga in central, Sheema and Mitooma in western Uganda. In Otuke, more than 10,000 new members taking part in the project have registered and started saving with the Fund. Mr Ayota said in the next year, the Fund will have sufficient data to evaluate the success of the pilot. “The lessons we will have learned will enable us to put in place a detailed policy framework to scale the initiative across the country as well as implement the initiative sustainably,” he added.

Mr Paul Omara, Otuke County MP said: “Now all of us can be part of the NSSF saving programme. And I can tell you for us in Otuke County we’re not going back. We’re moving forward and we will continue to make this a much better item.”

The recently appointed NSSF Board Chairperson Dr David Ogong, representing the Minister of Gender, Labour, and Social Development applauded the Fund for devising innovative ways of recruiting the informal sector workers.