Pension industry seek path beyond government securities

The pension industry is stepping up efforts to shift long-term savings beyond government securities as assets under management approach GH¢100 billion, even as actual allocations to private equity and venture capital remain limited despite regulatory headroom.

Impact Investing Ghana (IIGh), through the Pensions Industry Collaborative, hosted a four-day training workshop aimed at improving the capacity of pension fund managers and trustees to assess and invest in alternative assets such as private equity, venture capital and infrastructure. The programme comes against the backdrop of a pension system that has grown rapidly in size but remains heavily concentrated in sovereign debt.

Pension assets are projected to reach about GH¢100 billion by the end of 2025, up from GH¢78.2 billion in mid-2024. Historically, as much as 75 percent of those assets have been invested in government securities, a concentration that left funds exposed during Ghana’s Domestic Debt Exchange Programme.

In response, the National Pensions Regulatory Authority revised its investment guidelines, raising the cap on alternative investments to 25 percent from 10 percent, potentially freeing up as much as GH¢25 billion for non-traditional assets.

Yet uptake has been slow, largely because of limited expertise and governance concerns within pension schemes. “Profitably unlocking pension funding is a shared goal for the country. What we are hoping is to provide a structured curriculum that can be available all year round for the industry,” Amma Lartey, chief executive officer of Impact Investing Ghana said during her opening remarks at the training.

“This workshop is a critical step towards aligning Ghana’s pension capital with inclusive growth and sustainable development,” she added.

Ms. Lartey said building technical understanding among decision-makers was necessary before pension funds could move meaningfully into private markets.

Yaw Osei Tutu, strategic partnership manager at IIGh, said unlocking pension capital was central to long-term growth, particularly for sectors that struggle to attract long-dated financing. He said institutional investors needed practical tools to channel funds into areas such as infrastructure, agriculture and small and medium-sized enterprises.

The workshop, held from November 18 to 21 at Atimpoku-Juapong, brought together 27 pension fund managers and trustees. It focused on developing private equity and venture capital strategies, understanding asset allocation under different risk profiles, portfolio construction and diversification.

Sessions were led by Hamdiya Ismaila, founder and chief executive officer of Savannah Impact Advisory, and Stephen Antwi-Asimeng, an investment banking and private capital specialist with more than three decades of experience. Participants worked through case studies that simulated real-world investment decisions, including due diligence on private equity funds, preparation of investment memos and negotiation of governance rights.

According to facilitators, the case studies exposed participants to the depth of analysis required before committing pension assets to illiquid investments. Trustees, in particular, placed strong emphasis on information rights and governance protections, reflecting heightened risk sensitivity after recent losses on government debt.

The training also comes as private capital markets across Africa show signs of recovery. Private equity deal value on the continent is projected to reach about US$900.8 million in 2025, driven by sectors such as fintech, agriculture and renewable energy. Venture capital activity rose 11 percent in the first half of the year, with clean technology, artificial intelligence and fintech accounting for nearly two-thirds of deal volume.

Despite those trends, Ghana’s pension funds have yet to play a significant role in the market. Observations from the workshop showed that while understanding of private equity and venture capital is improving, most funds have not fully implemented alternative investment programmes. Participants also noted that fund managers need to better demonstrate the performance and impact of underlying investee companies to gain pension fund confidence.

Feedback from the programme pointed to measurable progress. About 35 percent of participants said they had little knowledge of private equity and venture capital before the training, while a majority reported being knowledgeable or extremely knowledgeable afterward. Nearly nine in ten rated the quality of the sessions as excellent.

Organisers said continuous training would be required to translate regulatory flexibility into actual capital flows. Recommendations included extending future programmes to allow deeper coverage of deal structuring, risk management and governance. For now, Ghana’s pension system sits at a crossroads: large, growing pools of long-term capital on one side, and a real economy in need of patient financing on the other. Bridging that gap, industry players say, will depend less on rules and more on skills.

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