October 2025

Ghana. Gov’t intensifying pension reforms to cover informal sector workers – Minister

Government is intensifying efforts to integrate informal sector workers into voluntary pension schemes as part of broader reforms to secure dignified retirement for all Ghanaians. Dr Abdul-Rashid Hassan Pelpuo, Minister of Labour, Jobs and Employment, said this at the Third Health Sector Occupational Pension Scheme Annual General Meeting in Accra. The meeting was held on the theme: “Strengthening Ghana’s Pension Ecosystem for Development and Retirement Security.” While there are more than 200,000 potential beneficiaries, only about 8,000 have been integrated into the...

Tier 2 pension crisis threatens retirement security for millions of Ghanaian workers

When Ghana’s stakeholders describe their Tier 2 pension situation as a “ticking time bomb,” they’re identifying something far more serious than routine performance disappointment. Over 70 percent of pension contributions sitting idle in low-yielding government instruments signals a systemic failure in the institutional architecture designed specifically to prevent this outcome. Workers across Ghana are losing millions in potential retirement savings not because markets performed poorly, but because fund managers are refusing to invest contributions where returns could actually accumulate. The...

How ChatGPT Could Transform Your Retirement Planning for the Better

ChatGPT is ready for your retirement planning questions. It can provide answers on subjects such as deciding when to collect Social Security, estimating medical costs, and choosing which retirement accounts to tap first to minimize taxes. But should you trust artificial intelligence (AI) with your retirement planning? Here's what financial experts say. ChatGPT Can Lack Critical Thinking First off, ChatGPT doesn’t use critical thinking.1 For that, you’ll need a human financial advisor. “Remember that AI doesn’t currently think critically or form new ideas. It finds existing ideas...

Ghana ban on foreign investments for pension funds is counterproductive, funds say

Ghana's ban on its pension funds from offshore investments is curtailing their ability to hedge risks, executives said, as authorities seek to jumpstart the domestic bond market in the wake of its sovereign debt restructuring. The government in Accra blocked funds from putting workers' cash into offshore investments last year after concluding a restructuring of its local and foreign debts which decimated its local debt market - once a destination for major international asset managers like Franklin Templeton. The ban was designed to reduce pressure on...

September 2025

Ghana. NPRA to roll out basic pensions education in schools

The National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA) has announced plans to introduce basic pensions education at tertiary, secondary, and vocational institutions as part of efforts to enhance financial literacy and expand pension coverage in Ghana. During a courtesy call on the Minister of Education, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NPRA, Chris Boadi-Mensah, acknowledged the minister’s personal contributions to the growth of NPRA and the pensions industry during his tenure as Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, especially establishing NPRA’s Tamale...

Leveraging pension funds as an alternative source for climate funding in Ghana

Ghana can unlock a transformative source of climate finance by strategically channelling part of its growing pension fund assets into climate-aligned investments. With pension assets reaching GH¢86.23 billion as of 2024, the country has significant untapped potential to bridge climate financing gaps. Directed deployment of this capital into renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, and resilient infrastructure, enabled under existing NPRA and SEC guidelines, offers a scalable pathway to accelerate progress toward national climate commitments, deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),...

Ghana Unlocks Pension Assets for Economic Transformation

Ghana’s ambitious 24-Hour Economy initiative has secured a groundbreaking partnership with the country’s largest pension fund to channel retirement savings into infrastructure development and small business financing, addressing the program’s estimated $4 billion funding gap through domestic capital mobilization. With domestic pension assets projected to reach GHC 100 billion (≈$8.3 billion) by 2025, the government signed a memorandum of understanding with Petra Trust Company Limited, Ghana’s leading corporate pension trustee, to invest retirement funds through Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF)...

Ghana. Retired Officials Face Scrutiny Over Dual Salary Entitlements

Ghana grapples with constitutional questions as debate intensifies over whether retired public officers should receive full compensation when appointed to new positions, potentially earning combined monthly payments exceeding ₵115,000. The controversy centers on retired Chief Justices who collect ₵65,000 monthly pensions while earning ₵50,000 as Council of State members, creating what critics call an unsustainable fiscal burden during economic uncertainty. U.S.-based legal scholar Professor Stephen Kwaku Asare has emerged as a prominent voice challenging the practice. The academic has questioned why...

August 2025

The Causal Influence of Pension on the Participation of Older Workers in the Ghanaian Labour Market

By George Domfe, Kwadwo Opoku & Antoinette Tsiboe-Darko Population ageing has stirred up policy discourse on pension coverage in developing economies. While in most of these countries, a smaller proportion of older persons receive pensions in the form of regular payments from the state, a considerable proportion of them engage in active work to maintain their livelihood. These descriptions are typically true of Ghana. However, it remains unclear in the Ghanaian literature whether the absence of a pension is a...

Ghana’s pension fund assets grow by 39.5% in 2024

The 2024 Financial Sector Report on pension activities has revealed that Ghana’s pension fund assets increased by 39.5% in 2024 compared to the previous year. This growth brought the total value of pension fund assets to a record GH¢86.23 billion in 2024, up from GH¢61.8 billion in 2023. The report attributed the increase to stricter enforcement against employers defaulting on mandatory contributions, higher enrolment, partial government repayment of arrears, and favourable investment returns. Private pension schemes, comprising Tier 2 and Tier 3,...