Most Kenyans don't have a pension, and the reason is structural. Pension contributions are typically deducted from a salary — an employer registers a worker, and money flows into a retirement account each month. But approximately 83% of Kenya's workforce is informally employed (KNBS, 2023): traders, artisans, transport operators, smallholder farmers. They earn income, but without a formal employer or payroll, there is no deduction, no account, no accumulation. In Uganda, the informal share exceeds 90%. This is why pension coverage in Kenya reaches only about a quarter of the working-age population — the system, as designed, simply cannot see most workers.

Closing that gap means moving workers into formal employment, and this is where investment plays a direct role. When private equity or venture capital funds a growing small business, that business registers, hires formally, runs a payroll, and begins remitting pension contributions for its staff. Jobs that were informal become jobs that build retirement savings. Pension funds that invest in these businesses are therefore doing two things at once: earning returns for today's members, and creating tomorrow's.