NASSIT Accelerates Investment Portfolio to Secure Social Protection & National Development
The National Social Security and Insurance Trust (NASSIT) is stepping up its investment strategy with a dual mandate: enhancing the long-term sustainability of own social security reserves while contributing meaningfully to Sierra Leone’s broader economic development.
One of the Trust’s most visible investments is the newly commissioned Sewa Ground Market, valued at approximately USD 20 million. Located in Freetown, the facility features:
85 warehouse blocks
170 upscale lock-up shops (164 single units, 6 double units)
277 medium-scale lock-up shops
1,750 open stalls
It is equipped with utilities including electricity, fans and water, and designed to provide an affordable, formalised commercial centre for small and informal traders. Wrote Acting Director General Mohamed Gondoe: by reducing the open-stall rent from Le12,000 to Le6,000 the Trust has made the facility more accessible to petty traders.
Managed via Sierra Estate Management Company (SEMCO), the investment signals NASSIT’s commitment to real-asset holdings that deliver both social and economic value.
Beyond real estate, NASSIT has long held equity in domestic and regional firms. For example, in earlier years the Trust disclosed holdings in financial services, hospitality and commercial real estate sectors: equity stakes in banks, hotels (such as the Radisson Blu and Golden Tulip), and a mortgage finance company. This diversification helps the Trust manage risk, maintain liquidity and capture returns that support its core mission: collecting contributions, paying benefits and building reserves.
Speaking at an international seminar in Abidjan in September 2024, Director General Fuad Daboh reiterated that “investment of social-security reserves is a central pillar of social-protection governance”. He emphasised that institutions like NASSIT must manage risks carefully to create value for the benefit of current and future contributors. The Trust recognises that investments not only secure pension-pay-outs but also contribute to national job creation, infrastructure and economic growth.
By advancing projects such as the Sewa Ground Market, NASSIT is contributing to the Government’s Medium Term National Development Plan and the “Big Five” game changers, aligning its investment activities with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of job creation, infrastructure development and inclusive economic growth. For example, the market opens up formal business space for informal traders, helps upgrade the city’s commercial infrastructure and strengthens the link between social protection and economic participation.
NASSIT remains aware of the complexities around managing large‐scale public investments. Audit reports have flagged issues such as investments in non-operational subsidiaries and exposures that require write-downs.
In response, the Trust is implementing stronger governance, enhanced investment oversight and better alignment of its assets with performance and viability benchmarks.
Going forward, NASSIT is committed to strengthening its investment portfolio through:
Prioritising scalable, income‐generating assets (such as real estate, infrastructure and diversified financial holdings)
Enhancing oversight, transparency and risk management to safeguard contributors’ funds
Aligning its investments with national development goals, thereby reinforcing the link between social security and broader economic advancement
Ensuring that investment returns translate into improved benefit security for contributors and dependents, now and in future generations
In sum, NASSIT is renewing its role not just as a pension fund administrator but as a proactive institutional investor — one that is helping to build Sierra Leone’s physical and financial infrastructure while honouring its mandate to protect the retirement and contingency needs of workers and their dependants.