EDITORIAL: RSSB should review its investment strategy

The Rwanda Social Security Board (RSSB) plans to sell some of its multi-storey buildings in different parts of the country. Officials at the pension body say selling off the largely empty plazas, which have struggled to attract tenants, is one of the options being considered if it makes business sense. RSSB owns four of such buildings in the countryside, besides a couple of other plazas in the City of Kigali. While RSSB should invest and make a profit, its investment priorities should leave no room that puts workers’ savings at risk. And, if the annual Auditor General’s reports over the years are anything to go by, the pension body should look at the possibility of conducting a comprehensive review of its investment strategy. Protecting workers’ money and ensuring that it is placed in lucrative investments should be their priority. Before RSSB commits workers’ money to any venture, it should ascertain the feasibility of short- and long-term returns on investments. This Fund is what every worker looks to when retirement age beckons. It is, therefore, important that RSSB avoids venturing into projects that may put workers’ money at risk, thus potentially affecting the savers. RSSB has spent about 30 per cent of its investment portfolio on real estate development, but with the latest developments surrounding the plazas, how strategic are their investment decisions? With the plazas lying idle and largely empty all this time, what are they benefiting the body and the savers? The experience with the pension plazas is a rude reminder that it is about time RSSB thoroughly reviewed its investment strategy?

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EDITORIAL: RSSB should review its investment strategy