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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16Jan

Ghana. Private pension funds control 71% of industry’s assets

Private pension funds hace maintained their strong growth over the years, reaching a record hig of GH28Billion in 2021 from the previus year´s GH28Billion. the increse represents 27 èrcent, with private pension funds - the mandatory 2nd Tier and voluntary 3rd Tier schemes - now controlling a 71 percent share of the industry´s total assets under managment (AUM) in the year under reviw, latest data from the National Pension Regulatory (NPRA) show. A Breakdown of private schemes shows that 2nd Tier...

January 16, 2023
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12Jan

Ghana says debt exchange talks with local pension funds continuing

Ghana's finance ministry on Wednesday said negotiations on the terms of a domestic debt exchange agreement with local pension funds were continuing and that they would be made public once an agreement on the details is reached. Ghana's government, in a bid to mitigate an ongoing economic crisis, has negotiated a staff-level agreement for a $3 billion loan package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The deal will only be approved by the IMF board if Ghana undergoes comprehensive debt restructuring,...

January 12, 2023
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December 2022
23Dec

Government Exempt Worker’s Pensions From Domestic Debt Exchange Program After Given A 7- Day Ultimatum

Government has succumbed to pressure from Organised Labour by exempting workers’ pensions from the recently launched Domestic Debt Exchange Programme. After a crunch meeting with Organised Labour on Thursday, December 22, the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, gave utmost assurances that pensions of all workers will be exempt from the Programme. The Programme, launched on Monday, December 5 and expected to take off next month, was announced as part of austerity measures to save the economy from collapse. By the Programme, government...

December 23, 2022
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22Dec

Ghana. Conduct stress test on pension funds -Think tank to government

The government has been urged to conduct a comprehensive stress test on the decision to include pension funds in the proposed domestic debt exchange programme (DEP). The test should be conducted by the Ministry of Finance (MoF), in collaboration with all stakeholders and debtors, as part of best practices required to reveal the possible implications of including pension funds in the programme. Contributing to the debate on the proposed involvement of pension funds in the DEP, the Executive Director, Africa Centre...

December 22, 2022
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20Dec

Ghana labour unions call for strike over local debt swap

Ghana's main unions on Monday called for a nationwide strike from next week in protest against the inclusion of workers' pensions in a local debt swap programme as part of the terms for an IMF credit. A top cocoa and gold producer, Ghana has oil and gas reserves but its debt payments are high and its revenues weak. Like the rest of Africa, it has been hit by economic fallout from the global pandemic and the Ukraine war. Two weeks ago, the...

December 20, 2022
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