............ . . Rwanda's social security fund makes a difference   By George Kalisa   THE Social Security Fund of Rwanda (SSFR) has rallied behind President Paul Kagame to ensure that his pledge to improve the welfare of Rwandans is achieved. In 2003, Kagame won the Rwandan presidential elections and promised to empower public institutions, enable financial autonomy and implement the social security scheme.   Six years down the road, Kagame has made good his promise by improving the social and economic welfare of Rwandans through the social security fund. SSFR is said to be the best social security service provider in the East African region. It manages funds for its members and provides high quality services to beneficiaries and other stakeholders. Under Kagame’s leadership, the fund has successfully managed to evaluate and collect social security contributions of employers and employees and also paid benefits to pensioners. The surplus is invested in profitable ventures that increase benefits.   Changing the skyline of the city. The first real skyscraper in Kigali is a social security project   The Social Security Fund of Rwanda (SSFR) has rallied behind President Paul Kagame to ensure that his pledge to improve the welfare of Rwandans is achieved. In 2003, Kagame won the Rwandan presidential elections and promised to empower public institutions, enable financial autonomy and implement the social security scheme.   It has also invested funds in rational ways to contribute to the economic growth of the country, mobilise long term saving and to collect statistics necessary to facilitate planning and the implementation of agendas. SSFR’s investment returns amounted to over 1.7b Rwandan francs (113%) in the first quarter of 2009, yet the revenue targeted was 1.5b Rwandan francs. The fund has registered over 6,000 new employers and over 240,000 employees this year. It has invested in treasury bonds, government debts, corporate loans, mortgage loans, bank term deposits, government bonds, foreign equity, real estate, land development and local equity. Besides the different branches the fund has opened in all the districts of the country, it has also upgraded its website.