The Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) is set to enhance its initiative targeting the inclusion of more individuals from the informal sector and self-employed category in Ghana into the state-administered Tier One pension scheme.
Building on the accomplishments of the previous year’s launch of the Self Employed Enrolment Drive (SEED), SSNIT aims to employ a more assertive strategy to attract a greater number of individuals in this segment, ensuring a more secure future upon retirement.
Dr. John Ofori-Tenkorang, the Director-General of SSNIT, announced the Trust’s commitment last Thursday, stating, “We have developed a promising initiative that will assist numerous individuals in securing a better future in retirement, and we must sustain the campaign this year and beyond.”
Expansion:
The count of self-employed individuals under SSNIT surged more than fourfold in the last two quarters of the preceding year.
Starting at approximately 14,200 in May, the figure skyrocketed to over 57,000 last month, with more individuals poised to join the initiative.
This accomplishment is attributed to an assertive campaign by the management of the state-run pension scheme, and this momentum is anticipated to intensify throughout the current year and beyond.
The campaign primarily aims to integrate a substantial number of workers from the informal sector into the pension scheme.
Dr. Ofori-Tenkorang acknowledged the challenge ahead, emphasizing that although SSNIT has rapidly enrolled tens of thousands of self-employed persons, the objective is to persistently strive towards increasing the numbers into the hundreds of thousands and ultimately millions, according to their strategic plan.
The National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA) estimates that only about 600,000 out of the 6.7 million self-employed individuals in the country have some form of pension coverage. This underscores the significance of the ongoing campaign to address the substantial 6.1 million self-employed individuals without any pension coverage.
Sustainability:
Addressing concerns about the sustainability of the pension scheme, Dr. Ofori-Tenkorang reassured stakeholders about the diligent efforts by the scheme’s managers to maintain its solvency and viability.
He emphasized the responsibility of SSNIT to ensure the sustained success of the pension scheme, pointing out the scheme’s pivotal role for both formal and informal workers.
Dr. Ofori-Tenkorang highlighted the SEED initiative as a step towards further improvement, asserting that the scheme could be enhanced even further with increased participation, hence the ongoing campaign.
Regarding investments, he assured stakeholders that while some may not be performing as expected, the impact on the scheme is minimal. He further emphasized ongoing efforts to determine the appropriate actions to safeguard the scheme’s interests.
In conclusion, Dr. Ofori-Tenkorang encouraged those who have not yet joined the scheme to do so, dismissing negative speculations and emphasizing the scheme’s commitment to meeting its obligations to pensioners.
