The National Social Security Fund (NSSF) earned the most from its investments in MTN and Safaricom for the financial year ending in June, according to its annual report.
The report, which assesses the fund’s performance, shows that MTN, Safaricom, Equity Group Holding, CRCD Tanzania, and National Microfinance Bank were the top contributors to NSSF’s dividend income for the 2022/23 financial year.
During this period, NSSF received UGX 31 billion in dividends from its MTN shares, a significant increase from the UGX 9.3 billion earned in the previous year.
NSSF is the second-largest shareholder in MTN, holding an 8.84 percent stake in the company.
The fund benefited from MTN’s substantial profit increase, which reached UGX 409 billion for the year ending in 2022. Similarly, NSSF’s dividend income from Equity Group Holdings rose to UGX 19 billion from UGX 14.1 billion, while it received UGX 16.1 billion, UGX 14 billion, and UGX 10.6 billion from Safaricom, CRDB Tanzania, and National Microfinance Bank, respectively.
NSSF allocates approximately 12.51 percent of its investments to equities, including stocks and securities. Other investments make up 78.4 percent, with fixed assets and real estate accounting for 9.01 percent.
For the year ending in June, NSSF reported a 15.11 percent increase in revenue from fixed income investments, rising from UGX 1.9 trillion to UGX 2.2 trillion. Dividend income also surged by 45.42 percent to UGX 145.12 billion from UGX 99.7 billion in the previous year, marking the largest growth among the fund’s investment sources.
However, income from real estate experienced a slight drop to UGX 11.94 billion from UGX 11.97 billion, while revenue from fixed income increased to UGX 2.04 trillion from UGX 1.8 trillion. Fixed income remains NSSF’s primary source of revenue, growing by 13.57 percent.
MTN is the only Ugandan company among the top five dividend earners, with the others being Equity Group Holdings, Safaricom, CRDB Tanzania, and National Microfinance Bank.
Financial Markets Analyst Mr. Andrew Mwima noted that the Uganda Securities Exchange is less active compared to markets like the Nairobi Securities Exchange due to its limited number of listed companies.