RSSB announced on August 27, 2026 that it had acquired the remaining shares in Inyange Industries Ltd, one of Rwanda's leading food and beverage processors, and Ruliba Clays Ltd, a manufacturer of clay-based construction materials.
The transactions brought RSSB's ownership in both companies to 100 percent, after it previously held 40 percent of Inyange and 50 percent of Ruliba.
Five days later, on September 1, RSSB announced that it had completed the acquisition of the entire shareholding in BK General Insurance Ltd (BKGI) for Rwf31.7 billion. BKGI will now be integrated with RSSB's existing insurance businesses, SONARWA General Insurance and SONARWA Life Assurance.
In an exclusive interview with IGIHE, RSSB Chief Executive Officer Regis Rugemanshuro said the acquisitions reflect a broader shift in how the pension fund intends to manage its growing investment portfolio.
'The short answer is that RSSB is entering its next phase as an investor, and these businesses are entering theirs,' Rugemanshuro said.
RSSB's assets under management reached Rwf3.9 trillion at the end of June 2026, having doubled over the previous five years. The institution generated investment returns of 15.06 percent, equivalent to about Rwf401 billion, in 2024–2025 and 12.8 percent, or approximately Rwf438 billion, in 2025–2026.
Rugemanshuro said the growth has given RSSB greater capacity to invest, but also places greater responsibility on the institution to ensure members' money is deployed prudently.
Under its new five-year strategy, RSSB is seeking to get more value from businesses it already owns while identifying investments capable of generating sustainable, long-term, risk-adjusted returns.
Why take full ownership?
For Inyange and Ruliba, RSSB was already familiar with the businesses and had participated in financing their productive capacity.
Inyange's revenues increased from Rwf28 billion in 2021 to Rwf68.9 billion in 2025, while its profit after tax reached Rwf1.35 billion last year.
Its milk powder plant can process up to 650,000 litres of fresh milk per day into products including milk powder, butter, ghee and UHT milk. RSSB sees significant room to increase utilisation, develop new products, improve distribution and expand exports.
Ruliba, meanwhile, has more than doubled its annual production capacity following the construction of a second plant, from roughly 62,000 tonnes to more than 126,000 tonnes.
Rugemanshuro said the timing of the acquisitions is important because the companies are moving from investing heavily in production capacity to generating greater commercial value from those investments.
'That is why the timing matters. We are acquiring greater control just as these businesses move from building capacity to realising its full commercial value,' he said.
Full ownership, he added, will allow RSSB to make decisions faster, align capital allocation with strategy and establish clearer accountability for performance.
But RSSB does not necessarily intend to remain the sole owner forever.
Once the companies become stronger, the institution could bring in strategic or institutional investors or consider public listings.
'Full ownership is not a trophy. It is a platform for value creation and gives us the freedom to choose the future ownership structure that best serves members,' Rugemanshuro said.
Building a larger insurance business
BKGI presents a different opportunity. The insurer's profit after tax increased from Rwf2.7 billion in 2021 to Rwf4.7 billion in 2025. RSSB valued the company at approximately Rwf32 billion and subjected the transaction to independent valuation and scrutiny.
Rugemanshuro said the objective is not simply to combine insurance companies to reduce costs, but to build a stronger Rwandan insurer capable of handling larger risks.
'The ambition goes well beyond combining businesses to reduce costs. We want to build a Rwandan insurance champion with the scale, capital, expertise and technology to compete at a much higher level,' he said.
The larger group could participate more meaningfully in risks linked to infrastructure, energy, aviation, manufacturing and construction, while also developing new products and improving customer service.
RSSB ultimately wants the insurance platform to compete regionally, potentially with the involvement of a strategic partner.
What does this mean for members?
Rugemanshuro says the central test for all three acquisitions remains whether they protect and grow members' savings.
'A pension fund does not protect your savings by putting them in a vault. It protects them by investing them prudently so that they grow and are available when benefits fall due,' he said.
Diversifying across sectors also reduces RSSB's dependence on a single industry or source of returns.
The fund expects the businesses to improve their performance over time, but Rugemanshuro cautioned against judging every investment by the headline return of the entire RSSB portfolio.
A manufacturing company, insurer and government bond have different risk and cash-flow characteristics, he explained. What matters is whether each investment produces an appropriate return relative to its risk.
Over the next 12 to 24 months, Rugemanshuro said, members should look for higher capacity utilisation and broader product availability at Inyange, increased production and market reach at Ruliba, and a disciplined execution of the insurance consolidation.
From Rwanda to regional markets
RSSB's ambitions extend beyond strengthening the companies' positions in Rwanda.
For Inyange, the immediate focus is on increasing production, strengthening the agricultural supply chain and expanding exports. Greater utilisation of the milk powder plant is expected to create additional demand for quality milk, potentially giving farmers more predictable markets.
At Ruliba, the new production capacity is expected to serve Rwanda's construction industry while opening greater opportunities for exports.
The same regional ambition applies to insurance, although through a different model involving regional corporate clients, partnerships and potentially direct market entry.
'Regional expansion must improve returns, diversify earnings and strengthen the business,' Rugemanshuro said.
A more active RSSB
The acquisitions point to a broader ambition for RSSB to become a more sophisticated institutional investor while remaining focused on its core social-security mandate.
Rugemanshuro said RSSB will become more active as an owner where intervention can genuinely improve performance, but it will not seek control simply for the sake of control.
As its asset base grows, RSSB also expects to gradually increase investment outside Rwanda to reduce concentration risk and strengthen portfolio resilience.
'We will be active where active ownership can genuinely change the outcome. We will not seek control where it adds complexity without adding value,' he said.
Ultimately, Rugemanshuro says the success of the latest acquisitions will be judged not by the number of companies RSSB owns, but by whether those businesses become more profitable, more competitive and more valuable while generating sustainable returns for members.
'Ultimately, the test is simple: did we protect members' capital, grow it meaningfully and build businesses that are more valuable because RSSB owned them?'
Five years from now, he wants to see Inyange supporting a stronger agricultural value chain and expanding into regional markets, Ruliba contributing to Rwanda's industrial and construction capacity, and the insurance group becoming financially stronger, more innovative and capable of underwriting larger risks.
For RSSB, the wider objective is to build an institution capable of protecting today's members while ensuring it has the financial strength to meet the obligations of future generations.
