A recent report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has shown that global pension fund assets grew by over 10% to $38.5 trillion in 2021.

The report focused specifically on pension fund assets in 68 countries or reporting jurisdictions, consisting of 38 OECD countries and 30 non-OECD countries in Eastern Europe, Asia and Africa. The report said in parts:

“Overall, pension fund assets amounted to USD 38.5 trillion in a total of 68 reporting jurisdictions at end-2021. Most of these assets were held by pension funds in the OECD area, totalling USD 37.7 trillion. The United States recorded the largest amount of assets in pension funds (USD 22.6 trillion), followed by the United Kingdom (USD 3.6 trillion), Australia (USD 2.3 trillion), the Netherlands (USD 2.0 trillion), Canada (USD 1.7 trillion), Japan (USD 1.5 trillion) and Switzerland (USD 1.2 trillion). These seven countries altogether held 92.4% of pension fund assets in the OECD area.”

As always, our focus here at Business Insider Africa is on the seven African countries that made it to the top list. We shall unveil them shortly. But first, let’s briefly discuss what a pension fund is.

What are pension funds?

According to The Balance, pension funds are investment pools that accumulate wealth for the purpose of paying for workers’ retirement. Typically, pension funds are contributed by both workers and their employers, especially so in African countries where compulsory pension schemes exist.

Pension fund managers invest in different asset classes such as equities, fixed income assets such as bonds, treasury bills and corporate bonds, Collective Investment Schemes (CIS0, etc.

Below are the seven African countries with the highest pension fund asset growths, according to the OECD. The list is presented in no particular order of priority.

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