National Social Security Fund (Tanzania)

The National Social Security Fund (NSSF) is the government agency of Tanzania responsible for the collection, safekeeping, responsible investment, and distribution of retirement funds of all employees in all sectors of the Tanzania economy that do not fall under the governmental pension schemes. There are two other pension fund organizations in the country; the Public Service Pensions Fund for all employees working directly under the government and the Parastatal Pension Fund for all employees working under governmental parastatals.[3][4]

National Social Security Fund

Type	Quasi-government
Industry	Social security
Predecessor	National Provident Fund
Founded	1997
Headquarters	B. Mkapa Pension Towers, Plot no 759, Block No 10, Azikiwe Street, Kivukoni, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Area served	Tanzania mainland
Key people	Balozi Ali Idi Siwa chairman William Erio Director general
Products	Pension fund
Revenue	TZS (2014)[1]
Total assets	TZS (2011)[2]
Parent	Government of Tanzania
Website	Fund Website

The NSSF was founded in 1997 as the successor to the defunct National Provident Fund (NPF). NSSF covers all other employers in the country and participation for both employers and employees is compulsory. NSSF is both a pension fund and a provident fund.[5]

Head office of NSSF at the Benjamin William Mkapa Pension Tower in Dar-es-Salaam

History

The social security scheme dates back to 1964 where all social security issues were handled by the NPF. The National Provident Fund Act was enacted in 1964[6] and amended in 1968. The NPF became defunct in 1997 and the Act of Parliament No. 28 of 1997 replaced the NPF with the NSSF.[7]

Corporate affairs

Management and ownership

The company is entirely owned by the government of Tanzania and is one of the four social security funds in the country. The others are the Parastatal Pension Fund, the Public Service Pensions Fund, and the Local Authority Pension Fund.[8] All the funds formerly were limited to separate sectors of the workforce; however, the regulations were liberalized in the early 2000s with all funds being authorized to enroll any employees in the formal and informal sector.[4]

Board members

The NSSF is managed by a board of twelve members, not including the director general. All board members must be Tanzanian nationals, and none of the board members may hold executive positions. The board has three specialized committees to manage operations: the Finance and Investment Committee, the Audit Committee, and the Staff Committee.[2]

Business trends

A majority of NSSF's revenue comes from employee and employer contributions. The program is a compulsory scheme and is financed with a contribution of 20 percent of employees' salaries, with half of that paid by employers and the other half paid by employees.

The key trends for NSSF for 2007-2011 are shown below (as at year ending 30 June):

	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
Registered Employees	14,927	15,560	16,592	17,666	18,779
Registered Employers	408,970	447,797	475,993	506,218	521,629
Amount Collected (TZS Mil)	162,379	205,385	255,271	300,089	356,512
Benefits Paid (TZS Mil)	50,522	81,818	85,120	110,135	136,596
Notes	[9]	[10]	[10]	[2]	[2]

Headquarters

The NSSF head office is at the Benjamin Mkapa Pension Towers in Dar es Salaam. The building formerly was named the Mafuta House. NSSF has an office in all major cities and all regional capitals.

Investments

Investment portfolio

Composition of NSSF Investment Portfolio as at 30 June 2011

  Loans (37%)

  Government Securities (22%)

  Real Estate (21%)

  Fixed Deposits (13%)

  Equity (7%)

The NSSF's investment policy requires the fund to invest 75 percent of its total annual sources. The fund traditionally invests in government securities, fixed deposits, corporate bonds, loans, equities, and real estate. Most of the investments are in loans and government securities and a large percentage of the income comes from interest collections. Recently, the NSSF has begun to invest heavily in real estate and have undertaken multi-billion shillings construction projects in various parts of the country.

NSSF Investment Portfolio 2006/07 – 2010/11[2]

Investment Category (TZS Million)	2006/07	2007/08	2008/09	2009/10	2010/11
Government Securities	159,832	164,969	158,838	185,316	271,171
Fixed Deposits	35,545	68,298	145,292	180,963	161,711
Corporate Bond	12,755	10,804	8,054	6,418	800
Loans	117,315	182,251	283,949	386,763	453,403
Equity	96,911	61,047	62,988	69,303	77,999
Real Estate	108,292	182,908	198,558	200,440	251,538
Total Investment Base	530,652	670,280	857,681	1,029,206	1,216,624

Kigamboni Bridge

Aerial view of Dar-es-Salaam and the Kurasini Creek

The Kigamboni bridge is a joint venture between the Government of Tanzania (40%) and the National Social Security Fund (60%). The Bridge is 680m long and connects the Kurasini in Dar-es-salaam to Kigamboni. Furthermore, the money will involve upgrading of the nearby highway infrastructure to reduce congestion around the bridge. The bridge is to cost $140 million and will be operational early 2016.[11] The bridge will contain a toll plaza and will be the country's first toll road. The Fund aims to recover its revenue through toll booth collections.

Dege Eco Village

Dege eco village is one of the largest investment projects conducted by NSSF. The satellite township is located in the Kigamboni area and covers an area of 300 acres. The state-of-the-art estate will house over 7000 homes and is anticipated to be completed in 2017. The estate will not only have homes but have schools, supermarkets, security infrastructure and various amenities. The investment project is worth $544 million and is a joint venture between the fund and Azimino Estate Housing Limited.

In 2016 NSSF admitted fraud in the giant project.[12][13]

References

1. "NSSF to invest heavily in coffee, cotton, cashewnut processing in three regions". IPP Media. IPP Media. 4 June 2015. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
2. "NSSF 2010/2011 Annual Report". nssf.or.tz. NSSF. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
3. "About Us - PPF Pensions Fund". www.ppftz.org. Archived from the original on 25 April 2015. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
4. "About Us - The Public Service Pensions Fund". www.pspf-tz.org. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
5. "National Social Security Fund - Overview". www.nssf.or.tz. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
6. "The National provident Fund Act 1964" (PDF). saflii.org. Government of Tanzania. 1964. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
7. Mdoe, Giza (20 August 2014). "NSSF launches scheme for Tanzanians in Diaspora". Retrieved 28 December 2015.
8. "DISCUSSION QN: QN. What are the following; NSSF, LAPF, PPF, and PSPF?". discussionqn.blogspot.ca. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
9. "NSSF Annual Report 2006-2007". nssf.or.tz. NSSF. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
10. "Annual Report 2007/08". nssf.or.tz. NSSF. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
11. "Mkapa lauds Kikwete on Kigamboni bridge". www.dailynews.co.tz. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
12. Mtulya, Athuman (27 October 2016). "Tanzania: NSSF Admits Fraud in Giant Sh1.4 Trillion Satellite City Project" – via AllAfrica.
13. "JK applauds of Kigamboni satellite township model". IPP Media. 7 July 2014. Retrieved 28 December 2015.

External links