May 2023
08May

502,855 workers paid GH₵500 or less a month in Ghana

Data made available by the Social Security and National Trust (SSNIT), has demonstrated that most Ghanaian workers are paid low salaries and wages. Crux of the low pensions This is the crux of the low pensions paid to majority of the over 230,000 pensioners currently in the country. 1.9m active contributors The records show that the total number of contributors as at April 2023 amounts to over 1.9 million (1,930,780). The data reveals that only 27.7% of active contributors earn between GH₵2,000 and GH₵5,000...

May 8, 2023
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04May

Ghana. Govt urged to establish Financial Literacy Education Secretariat

The government has been urged to establish a Financial Literacy Education Secretariat to continuously educate the public on financial literacy issues. This proposal is contained in Ghana Financial Literacy Strategy (2021-2025), which was prepared by Asamoah and Williams Consulting and Trans-media Network as part of the Financial Literacy Education Project (FLEP) under the Ghana Financial Sector Development Project (GFSDP), funded by the World Bank. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Asamoah and Williams Consulting, Mr Mawuko Williams, who made the call...

May 4, 2023
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March 2023
28Mar

Ghana. Government rolls out pension scheme for cocoa farmers

Government, through Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), has rolled out the Cocoa Farmers Pension Scheme (CFPS) to ensure a decent pension for cocoa farmers, improve their welfare, and also make farming attractive to the youth. This comes after the Cocoa Management Systems (CMS) recorded some momentous strides after piloting the scheme for three weeks in August 2021 in New Edubiase and some other districts in the Ashanti Region. Just as government and private sector workers contribute during their working life, it has...

March 28, 2023
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15Mar

Ghana. ‘We don’t have time to go to court, we’ll picket MoF some more’ – Pension bondholders threaten

Pensioners who bought government bonds and have not been paid their coupons have threatened to picket the Ministry of Finance some more if they are not paid in 48 hours. "We have our options, plenty of them, including the picketing, so, when it comes that we have to repeat, we'll repeat", the group's convener, Dr. Adu Anane Antwi, told Valentina Ofori-Afriyie on Class91.3FM's mid-day news programme 12 Live. Asked if the options included going to court, Dr. Anane Antwi said: "No,...

March 15, 2023
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09Mar

Reverse SSNIT policy that disqualifies persons aged 60 from contributing to scheme – ACRR petitions NPRA

The Africa Centre for Retirement Research (ACRR) has petitioned the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA) to reverse the Social Security and National Insurance Scheme (SSNIT) policy that disqualifies members aged 60 and above from contributing to the scheme. The group in a statement dated March 7 noted that if the policy is not reversed, “it will adversely and significantly affect the retirement wellbeing of over 11,000 workers and even more in the future.” This comes after SSNIT issued a policy directive...

March 9, 2023
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February 2023
14Feb

Ghana. DDEP: We will abandon hospitals if you touch our pension funds – GMA warns

The Ghana Medical Association (GMA) has threatened it will abandon the hospitals if the government touches their pension funds for the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP).   Speaking on Starr Today with Joshua Kodjo Mensah, the General Secretary of GMA, Dr. Titus Beyuo said that the government dares not touch their independent pension funds adding any move by the government on their fund will be a complete betrayal of trust and action in bad faith.   “If you touch people’s pensions they are...

February 14, 2023
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09Feb

Ghana debt swap deal ‘good for you’, finance minister tells retirees

Ghana's finance minister told a group of protesting retiree bondholders on Monday they were being a offered a good deal, as the government of the struggling West African nation pushes to get a domestic debt exchange over the line by Tuesday. Ghana launched a debt swap plan in December as part of attempts to address a spiralling economic crisis, but it has struggled to convince bondholders to register, in part due to a lack of clarity over its terms and...

February 9, 2023
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07Feb

Ghana. Pensioners protest at finance ministry over debt exchange programme

A rather rare incident but it has come to that because of the introduction of government’s Domestic Debt Exchange Programme. A group of persons – over 60 years have gathered at the premises of the finance ministry Monday morning to register their displeasure about the suggested inclusion of pensioners in the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP). Read also Ghana debt swap deal ‘good for you’, finance minister tells retirees The group; Pensioner Bondholders Forum say their petition to the government on January...

February 7, 2023
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03Feb

Ghana. Employment Minister now in-charge of pensions

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has appointed Mr Ignatius Baffour Awuah, the Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, as the Minister in charge of Pensions. The appointment, which took effect from Monday, January 30, 2023, was in accordance with section 211 of the National Pensions Act 2008 (ACT 766). This mandates the Minister to steer the affairs of the National Pensions Regulatory Authority, and the Social Security and National Insurance Trust. Mr Baffour Awuah made this known when he appeared before the...

February 3, 2023
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January 2023
26Jan

Ghana. SSNIT to launch informal sector inclusive campaign

The Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) intends to launch a campaign to expand its coverage to include self-employed individuals. In an interview with KMJ on Prime Morning on Wednesday, the Public Affairs Manager of the institution, Charles Akwesi Garshong, revealed that every individual in the country is entitled to a pension. However, SSNIT is unable to capture everyone due to the low level of interest of people in the scheme. After negotiating with private sector stakeholders for the past years,...

January 26, 2023
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