National Social Security Fund has launched a new voluntary savings plan that will allow members save as low as shs5000.
The new plan named the smartlife flexi will allow Ugandans, including those who are not NSSF members to open up an account and choose the period and purpose of the savings to which they will be getting an interest computed on a daily basis.
"This is an opportunity for Ugandans to save with an institution they can trust and will not miss a return because interest rate will be competitive computed on a daily basis as good as it gets. This will help instill the discipline of saving among Ugandans," NSSF Managing Director, Patrick Ayota said during the launch at Kampala Serena Hotel.
"Members will be able to plan for their mid- and shorter-term things they want to do, be it education health or whatever they wish."
He said this product is part of their efforts to increase the number of Ugandans saving from the current 2.3 million to 15 million members by 2035 .
Ayota said NSSF looks at growing to shs50 trillion by 2035.
"We couldn't grow the fund to shs50 trillion by ignoring the informal sector, agriculture and all other sectors which are crucial to the county.We think when a country saves, it is good for the nation. We will now have a domestic pool of saving we can tap into as a country to help develop in areas like infrastructure without borrowing a 100%. This plan has good returns for members and we think by doing this, we help Ugandans participate in the development of their own country," Ayota said.
The NSSF Managing Director said the new voluntary savings plan is available for every Ugandan, including those who are already saving mandatorily with the fund.
"The minimum amount to save is shs5000. You choose how frequently you want to save the money. It has been made very easy that you also set your target for saving and when there is an emergency, there is a way you can inform us and withdraw your savings to sort out your immediate need."
Dr. Thaddeus Musoke Nagenda, the chairman for Kampaal City Traders Association(KACITA) welcomed the plan that he said will enable their members save for business expansion among other goals.
"We have a bad habit of not saving for lets say expand business but rather going out to acquire loans which are expensive. This plan will help us start saving to expand businesses, other than acquiring expensive loans," Nagenda said.
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John Walugembe, the Executive Director of the Federation of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (FSME), an umbrella body for MSMEs in Uganda welcomed the new plan from NSSF.
"In this country, we have a low saving rate and if we are to develop as a country, we need to improve in this sphere. I am happy to note that this new product supports SMEs to save voluntarily but also be able to access their money," Walugembe said.
