Kenya's newly elected president, William Ruto, hailed the savings scheme of Uganda's National Social Security Fund (NSSF) as a model for Kenyans to emulate.
He made the remarks while speaking at a retreat for the Kenya Kwanza Parliamentary Group in Naivasha.
"Today, we are among the least savers in our continent," he said. "Tanzania has a better savings culture than us and yet they have a smaller economy. Uganda has a huge pension scheme, bigger than ours, and yet they have a smaller economy."
He said that he wanted to see the savings culture in Kenya rise so that it could be on par with its neighboring countries like Uganda, which have smaller economies but better savings practices.
Ruto further mentioned that the team from NSSF Uganda would arrive the next morning to coach the Kenyan team on how they can save better.
"Today we have savings of maybe 1.5 trillion which is very small—it's not even a 10th of the savings in Uganda," he added.
In his speech at the launch of the multi-million NSSF Housing Estate on the 8th of September, Uganda's president Yoweri Kaguta Museveni also hailed the fund for its collective savings approach to development.
He compared the efforts of the Fund to that of a mongoose which are very tiny animals but when they combine together, they can kill a big animal such as a cobra; explaining that unity and partnerships are key to overcoming challenges.
He said: "We are moving well. Once we have mobilized all the 9M homesteads to be involved in commercial activities, we will have a very good system of savings and investment."
He further explained that he has always been impressed by the NSSF's efforts to invest money from which the savings are gotten. He added that he is happy to see the progress being made in terms of housing construction and business activities across the country through this collective saving approach.
The remarks from the two presidents come at a time when the fund is undergoing preparations for its 10th virtual Annual Members Meeting that will be held on the 27th of September starting at 9am.
To register for the event, follow the link here.
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