A Comprehensive Assessment of Pension Systems and Asset Management Industry in Africa

This landscape study by FSD Africa provides a comprehensive assessment of the asset management industry and pension systems across 54 African countries. It identifies a general trend of conservative investment strategies, uneven regulatory oversight, and significant gaps in coverage for informal workers and women. The report recommends a shift toward risk-based supervision, the expansion of micro-pensions, and the development of national ESG taxonomies to mobilize domestic capital for sustainable economic growth.

• The African asset management industry is characterized by high market concentration, with three to five firms typically controlling more than 70% of assets in most countries.
• Investment strategies for asset managers are predominantly conservative, with bond allocations averaging 44% and equity holdings generally remaining below 20%, except in South Africa (51%) and Malawi (50%).
• Pension system typologies vary by region: 70% of the 54 countries (38 in total) primarily operate defined benefit (DB), pay-as-you-go (PAYG) schemes, which are most common in francophone and lusophone nations, while anglophone countries rely more on funded defined contribution (DC) schemes.
• Regulatory oversight for pensions is largely compliance-based; only 18 countries (33%) have implemented risk-based supervisory frameworks.
• Pension coverage is generally low, particularly for women and informal workers. In most West, Central, and East African countries, participation is typically below 10%.
• ESG integration in the pension sector is limited, with only 13 countries (24%) incorporating ESG objectives into investment strategies and only 10 (19%) publishing ESG metrics.
• There is a significant gender gap in retirement savings; for example, in South Africa, women retire with 21% less than men in retirement savings as of 2025.
• Pension asset allocation is heavily biased toward government securities, often accounting for 50–70% of total assets, while alternative investments rarely exceed 10% of portfolios except in a few markets like South Africa (26%).
• Actual replacement rates for retirees in Africa often fall below the international benchmark of 40–60%, with notional replacement rates ranging from 18% in Mauritius to 81% in South Africa.

APA

FSD Africa (2026). A Comprehensive Assessment of Pension Systems and Asset Management Industry in Africa. https://fsdafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Landscape-study-pension-and-asset-management-systems-02.02.2026.pdf

Chicago

FSD Africa. A Comprehensive Assessment of Pension Systems and Asset Management Industry in Africa. 2026. https://fsdafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Landscape-study-pension-and-asset-management-systems-02.02.2026.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=FSD Africa |title=A Comprehensive Assessment of Pension Systems and Asset Management Industry in Africa |date=January 2026 |url=https://fsdafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Landscape-study-pension-and-asset-management-systems-02.02.2026.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{fsdafrica2026comprehensive, author = {{FSD Africa}}, title = {{A Comprehensive Assessment of Pension Systems and Asset Management Industry in Africa}}, institution = {FSD Africa}, year = {2026}, month = jan, url = {https://fsdafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Landscape-study-pension-and-asset-management-systems-02.02.2026.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }