Best in Class Treasury Solution in Africa NSSF Uganda

HIGHLY COMMENDED WINNER Best in Class Treasury Solution in Africa

NSSF Uganda Uganda Bernadette Nassuna, Benefits Manager

Meg Coates with Geoffrey Gursel, Citi who accepts the award on behalf of NSSF Uganda

Customised FX solution is first of its kind in Uganda

Company profile The National Social Security Fund (NSSF Uganda) is a national saving scheme mandated by government through the National Social Security Fund Act, Cap 222 (Laws of Uganda) to provide social security services to employees in Uganda.

The challenge simplified reconciliation via WorldLink reporting that is delivered in multiple file formats directly to NSSF Uganda’s ERP system, The key challenge that NSSF Uganda faced was regarding the JD Edwards. payment of foreign currency benefits owed to expatriates returning to their home country from Uganda. This presented some unique The WorldLink solution also gives NSSF Uganda access to a wider challenges at the point of processing these benefits, due to the highly range of currencies for settlement including exotics as opposed to the manual cross-border payments process as well as limited foreign common G-10 currencies – this created payment and cost- currency capabilities to fund non-core currencies in particular. efficiencies by allowing for a single currency pair to be exchanged as opposed to having multiple legs of conversion. Furthermore, NSSF NSSF Uganda therefore required a fully automated foreign currency Uganda has now implemented a scalable FX solution that has the benefits solution that would enable it to minimise processing time, capacity to process and execute thousands of cross-border benefits rationalise foreign currency accounts, electronically book a foreign seamlessly which may become the norm moving forward in Uganda, exchange rate and ultimately ensure settlement of contributions to as the expatriate population continues to increase off the back of expatriates in a timely manner. continued economic growth in the country.

The solution NSSF Uganda utilised Citi’s WorldLink payment solution to Key benefits automatically process all foreign currency benefits to beneficiaries via a single Ugandan Shilling (UGX) account. NSSF Uganda funds its • Simplified cross-border payment process that has Worldlink account with the aggregated UGX equivalent for the FX transitioned from requiring three different platforms for transactions and uploads the file straight from its ERP (JD Edwards) processing to a single payment module. to CitiDirect BE®. • Potential reduction in human error. The bank’s Worldlink platform then books a spot exchange rate for • Streamlined integration of electronic banking platform to the required foreign currency pairs and executes the transactions as ERP for enhanced host-to-host connectivity between per client instructions. The end-to-end payment process is complete both parties. once NSSF receives access to WorldLink reports for enhanced reporting and reconciliation. • Improved client satisfaction for NSSF’s beneficiaries who have been able to receive their contributions within days of arriving back in their home country. Best practice and innovation • Access to over 130 currencies for settlement purposes NSSF Uganda is able to demonstrate foreign exchange best practice including exotic currencies. and payment innovation through multiple key aspects centred around automation, straight through processing, reconciliation, time • Over US$20m worth of cross-border benefits to date. efficiencies and scalability. • 20%-25% reduction in time spent processing these The eradication of a highly manual cross-border payment process foreign currency payments; this has significantly that was previously exposed to human error and time lags was improved the operational efficiency of the benefits replaced with an automated end-to-end foreign exchange solution via management team and enabled individuals to devote Citi’s WorldLink® product. This enables a fully electronic delivery time to other critical matters. channel that accommodates the FX process from payment initiation • Reduction in the turn-around time for executing cross- to exchange rate booking to payment execution. border payments by 72 hours from nearly four days previously down to 24 hours, which is market-leading NSSF can now completely eradicate the need for foreign currency in Uganda. accounts by utilising a single functional currency account to fund all cross-border obligations for expatriates. This further enabled