The Director General of the National Social Security and Insurance Trust (NASSIT), Mohamed Fuaad Daboh, has on September 22, 2025 signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), marking a pivotal step in advancing Africa’s infrastructure development agenda.
The signing ceremony took place on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York and was hosted by the AFC. Mohamed Fuaad Daboh, a founding member of the Africa Social Security Association (ASSA) and current member of its Governing Council, represented the Association’s Chairman, Nassar Shaaban Ameir, who also serves as Managing Director of the Zanzibar Social Security Fund.
The MoU seeks to strengthen ASSA’s institutional capacity and broaden its influence in spearheading Africa’s infrastructure investment priorities. The agreement lays the groundwork for collaboration on establishing an Infrastructure Investment Fund designed to bridge Africa’s critical infrastructure financing gap. The fund will focus on key sectors such as transportation, energy, water and sanitation, and telecommunications.
Speaking at the ceremony, Mohamed Fuaad Daboh expressed profound appreciation to the AFC for its commitment to supporting ASSA’s vision. “As one of Africa’s leading financiers and Pan-African multilateral development finance institutions, the Africa Finance Corporation’s support is unmatched in the history of social security collaboration. This partnership will not only strengthen institutional capacity but also contribute significantly to economic growth across our nations,” he remarked.
AFC President and CEO, Samaila Zubairu, reaffirmed the Corporation’s commitment, noting that the partnership would go beyond financing to include a research programme assessing African pension regulations. He emphasized the need for developing policy frameworks that enable long-term savings to be effectively channeled into infrastructure projects.
The landmark agreement comes shortly after Mohamed Fuaad Daboh’s active role in the successful commissioning of the ultra-modern Sewa Grounds Market by His Excellency, President Dr. Julius Maada Bio in Freetown, further highlighting NASSIT’s expanding impact both locally and internationally.
Meanwhile, Mohamed Fuaad Daboh is set to represent Sierra Leone at the World Social Security Forum in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from September 29 to October 3, 2025. At the forum, organized by the International Social Security Association (ISSA), he will deliver an address on the role of social security in Sierra Leone’s socio-economic development. He is also expected to serve as a panelist on ISSA’s Guidelines on Good Governance and hold high-level discussions with global experts on social protection for the informal sector; an area in which he is actively pushing forward with plans for the establishment of the Salone Informal Sector Pension Scheme.
The MoU between ASSA and AFC has been widely hailed as a milestone that positions social security institutions not only as providers of retirement benefits but also as major players in driving sustainable infrastructure growth across Africa.
