The National Social Security Fund (NSSF) has received Shs 42.6 billion in dividends from its investment in Airtel Uganda for the 2025 financial year.
Handing over the dividend cheque, Airtel Uganda managing director Sumendra Sahu applauded NSSF’s record 22.53 per cent interest rate, equivalent to about Shs 5.44 trillion, paid to members for the 2025/26 financial year.
Sahu described the payout as “mind-boggling”, saying it was likely the highest interest rate in the fund’s history.
NSSF bought about 4.21 billion Airtel Uganda shares for approximately Shs 199 billion when the telecom was listed on the Uganda Securities Exchange (USE) in 2023. The public offer price was Shs 100 per share.
NSSF managing director Patrick Ayota said a volume discount reduced the fund’s effective purchase price to Shs 47.17 per share.
“By the end of June 2026, the shares had climbed to Shs 152, a gain of over 100 per cent,” Ayota said.
The investment gives NSSF an approximately 10.6 per cent stake in Airtel Uganda, held on behalf of its 2.6 million members. Ayota said Airtel’s dividend contribution to NSSF has also grown steadily.
“NSSF received Shs8 billion when Airtel first listed and Shs 31.7 billion for 2024. With the latest payout, cumulative dividends stand at Shs 82.3 billion,” he said.
Ayota estimated that about Shs 250 billion is required to generate one percentage point of interest for NSSF members, meaning Airtel’s contribution was equivalent to roughly two percentage points of the 22.53 per cent interest rate.
“Airtel still represents an amazing value for this country,” Ayota said.
He said NSSF is a long-term investor that reviews its holdings annually and sells only when it determines that a stock’s value has been exhausted.
Ayota attributed NSSF’s record interest payout to diversification across Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda, as well as across sectors including telecommunications, banking and breweries.
By the end of June, about 76.8 per cent of NSSF’s assets were invested in fixed-income instruments, 18.4 per cent in equities and 4.8 per cent in real estate.
The fund’s assets under management grew by 26 per cent, from Shs 26 trillion to Shs 32.8 trillion. NSSF has also raised its 2035 assets-under-management target from Shs 50 trillion to Shs 80 trillion.
The fund’s voluntary savings scheme, launched 22 months ago, has attracted more than 120,000 members and Shs 217 billion in savings.
Ayota said half of the scheme’s savers have less than Shs 100,000 in their accounts, with contributions starting as low as Shs 5,000 through mobile phones. He credited Airtel for helping negotiate affordable transaction costs.
He said NSSF has also reduced the average benefit-processing time to about 3.8 days over the past three months, from 5.6 days, while its cost-to-income ratio stands at about seven per cent.
Responding to social media claims questioning the fund’s returns, including allegations that NSSF invested in drug cartels and cryptocurrency, Ayota said the scepticism reflected how Ugandans “sometimes don’t believe good news.”
Meanwhile, Sahu announced that Airtel Uganda has become the first operator in Uganda, and the second in Africa after the Democratic Republic of Congo, to launch satellite-powered mobile connectivity through a partnership with Starlink.
He said the technology would extend coverage to areas where building terrestrial networks is difficult, including Bwindi National Park, the Rwenzori Mountains and islands on Lake Victoria.