By Pamela Whitby, Writer & Editorial Adviser
For a pension trustee considering an investment in a new road, economic benefits are only part of the picture. The question is: can it deliver reliable returns, at an acceptable level of risk, for the people whose retirement savings would help finance it?
In April 2025, seven Nigerian pension subscribed alongside other institutional investors to a ₦32.5 billion, 20-year bond issue to finance the first phase of a ring road around Ado-Ekiti, in Ekiti State. InfraCredit, Nigeria’s specialist infrastructure credit-guarantee provider; guaranteed the bonds, providing additional repayment protection.
That month South Africa’s Public Investment Corporation, representing the Government Employees Pension Fund, invested US$40 million in Africa50, the pan-African infrastructure investor.
Then in January 2026, Ghana’s Ci-Gaba Fund secured commitments exceeding its US$30 million first-close target with more than two-thirds was anchored by local pension funds. It offers a channel into private businesses through private-equity and private-debt funds.
These examples do not establish a continent-wide shift, but they sharpen the question: how can more institutional capital finance Africa’s infrastructure and businesses while protecting retirement income?
That question will shape PIAfrica 2027, the 10th annual pension and alternative investment conference taking place in Mauritius from 17–19 March.
Balancing development and retirement returns
African pension funds hold an estimated US$455 billion in assets, according to the OECD’s Africa Capital Markets Report 2025. This money already supports retirement obligations but redirecting even a portion requires an investment case trustees can defend.
The case for putting more pension capital to work within Africa was a central theme at PIAfrica 2026, which brought together more than 200 delegates from over 20 countries. For Leslie Ndawana, chief executive of South Africa’s National Fund for Municipal Workers (NFMW), that means giving domestic and intra-African opportunities closer consideration.
NFMW’s own portfolio demonstrates this approach. Its 2025 integrated report shows an 11.9% allocation to domestic alternatives. Its broader impact investment programme more than doubled from R2.2 billion in 2020 to R5.1 billion in 2025 and represents 14% of the fund. Infrastructure exposure within that programme rose from R1.4 billion to R2.6 billion, alongside investments in healthcare, education and technology.
In neighbouring Botswana, the Debswana Pension Fund illustrates how African investment and overseas diversification can coexist. According to Debswana Chief Cxecutive Thato Norman demographic and economic prospects had driven allocations to China and India. He also noted that African debt had offered stronger yields when developed-market sovereign bonds paid little or even negative returns.
Regional diversification still requires careful judgement. Uganda’s National Social Security Fund (NSSF) 2023-2024 report describes a more conservative portfolio strategy amid difficult conditions in Kenya, followed by improved confidence after its Eurobond issuance and repayment. healthcare, education and technology.
During 2023/24, NSSF increased its investment in Kenyan treasury and infrastructure bonds by over 50%. Its 2025/26 report describes further diversification efforts, including engagements on the Kampala–Jinja Expressway, partnerships to support affordable housing and assess investments across the energy and oil and gas value chain––all subject to rigorous due diligence and the fund’s return and risk requirements.
Permission is only first step
For infrastructure investments, Debswana’s Norman stressed the importance of the rule of law, clear regulation and stable long-term policy. Higher allocation limits may create room to invest, but do not oblige trustees to use it.
Nigeria illustrates the deployment gap. In March 2026, infrastructure, private equity, real estate investment trusts and mutual funds accounted for 3.95% of pension assets, compared with 58.07% in federal government securities, according to the quarterly report of the National Pension Commission (PenCom).
The motorway bond illustrates how guarantees can attract pension capital. At PIAfrica 2026, Hafiz Kawu, PenCom’s executive commissioner for technical matters, stressed that guarantees and first-loss capital can help to mitigate investment risks, alongside project preparation and knowledge sharing.
Practical barriers include liquidity mismatches, lengthy due diligence, valuation difficulties, data gaps and limited technical capacity. Milka Mungunda, executive officer of Namibia’s Social Security Commission, described how private equity and venture capital had supported healthcare expansion and agricultural modernisation. But she also warned that inadequate due diligence and immature strategies had caused losses.
Ghana’s Ci-Gaba offers one route to specialist expertise. Rather than requiring pension schemes to select individual businesses, it invests through fund managers. FSD Africa Investments committed US$7.5 million to support its first close. The fund targets US$75 million, with priority sectors including agriculture, healthcare and clean energy.
Building an enabling environment
Pooling can diversify exposure and provide specialist expertise, but trustees must still scrutinise fees, managers’ track records, currency risk and how capital will be returned.
Better information can help. The Africa Credit Rating Agency (AfCRA), launched in Mauritius on 7 October 2026, aims to close information gaps through independent assessments grounded in African data and expertise. Ratings cannot, however, replace scrutiny of project revenues, fund managers and exit arrangements.
Thapelo Tsheole, chief executive of Mauritius-based international securities exchange AFRINEX, argued that exchanges should provide clearer exit mechanisms and valuation benchmarks for alternatives. Listing infrastructure-related and structured securities could improve price discovery and create potential routes to sell. He also called for greater coordination among regulators, pension authorities and exchanges.
Some foundations exist. The African Exchanges Linkage Project’s trading platform, launched in December 2022, facilitates cross-border securities trading. The Africa Pension Supervisors Association provides a forum for regulatory cooperation and knowledge sharing, although neither initiative establishes common investment rules.
Product design matters too. ESATAL chief investment officer Umulinga Karangwa described initially structuring trade-finance exposure in formats similar to mutual funds, familiar to pension investors. As confidence grew, investors became more receptive to longer maturities and different return profiles.
Yet trade finance faces strong competition. Old Mutual Uganda portfolio manager Godfrey Bukomeko highlighted double-digit local-currency government-bond yields in some markets. Alternative credit must compete on risk-adjusted returns; falling sovereign yields can make investors more receptive.
These questions run through PIAfrica 2027’s programme. Its Trustee and Investment Committee Readiness Masterclass will address due diligence, manager selection, fees, currency exposure and exits. Conference discussions will examine how regulation, investment structures and governance can turn allocation capacity into investment.
Join pension funds, regulators, development finance institutions and fund managers in Mauritius on 17–19 March 2027. Register here.