The Fund’s journey to creating Voluntary Contributors
Tuesday, July 28 2026 11:39 am
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In June 2016, the Fund launched its first voluntary membership plan.
The plan actualised the provisions of section 10 of the NSSF Act Cap 222, which provided for Employers exempted from making mandatory contributions to register as contributing employers and subsequently register their employees.
It also provided for members whose standard contributions had ceased to be remitted to register as voluntary contributors and thereafter make contributions for themselves.
The employers and Members who enrolled on this program could make contributions via mobile money MTN and Airtel and or through the NSSF e-payment portal.
Although, membership to the voluntary savings plan was optional, the contributions were paid into mandatory accounts and members qualified for the same benefits as mandatory Contributors as was spelt out in section 19, 20,21,22,23,24 of the NSSF Act cap 222. Hence the plan was dubbed” Voluntary Mandatory”
Within one year of its launch, by June 2017, Voluntary mandatory contributions stood at UGX2.3Bn, at 73.3Bn by January 2022 and 112Bn by November 2024.
The transition from Voluntary Mandatory contributions to Smart Life
The NSSF Act Cap 222 had catered for formal sector workers, however the unique characteristics of the informal sector including lack of employment contracts, unpredictable income and in some instances little or no separation between the capital and the owner, meant that the NSSF Act Cap 222, could not cater for the unique nature of the informal sector worker.
The transition from “Voluntary- mandatory” to Smart Life” was therefore majorly driven by the need to expand coverage to the informal sector and to also encourage formal sector workers to save more thereby increasing their average payouts.
This transition could not happen without an enabling regulatory environment.
The much-awaited legislations came on January 2, 2022, when H.E. President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni Tibuhaburwa, assented to the NSSF Amendment Act, Cap 230 and subsequently on November 8, 2024, when the MOGLSD Hon Amongi Betty issued the NSSF Voluntary Contributions and Regulations 2024 – (SI 9 of 2024).
These two pieces of regulations provided a conducive regulatory environment for the Fund and culminated into the launch of the Fund’s “Smart Life Flexi”.
Smart Life Flexi is launched.
The Fund launched Smart Life Flexi the Fund’s voluntary flagship product on November 20, 2024.
Smart Life Flexi is a voluntary Fintech product, developed and built by NSSF staff. It enables people in the informal sector to save daily, this mirrors the nature of their income, at the same time it addresses the issue of adequacy of formal sector workers by providing them with a product that enables them to supplement their mandatory savings.
Savings durations range from 1 year upwards, members can save from as little as UGX5,000/=, earn interest on daily balances, which interest is credited monthly. Members can choose to exit at the end of their saving tenure or roll over their savings for another savings duration.
Convenience underpins the products offering and members can self serve across multiple channels from onboarding, making contributions and account closure.
So far, the product has been well received by people in both formal and informal segments and boasts of over 100,000 enrolments with a total portfolio size of over UGX 200Bn within 18 months of its launch.
The behavioural change is remarkable, and the product’s early success is a testament that people can save for themselves if they are offered a good value proposition.
We are therefore confident that the average payout to members will more than triple from the current UGX25Million within the next 10 years, since some members are operating Smart Life Accounts alongside their Mandatory accounts.
The journey towards the creation of value for Voluntary contributors has just begun. The plan is to continuously create relevance across the member life journey from the time the member joins the Fund to the time the member exits the Fund.
There are more products in the offing, like Smart Life Fixed term, Medi Care and Amaka among others.
