The Director-General of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), Kofi Bosompem Osafo-Maafo, has emphasized the unmatched value of SSNIT’s pension scheme, describing it as the best option for retirement planning in Ghana.
Speaking at the 2024 Employers Breakfast Meeting on Thursday, September 5, he underscored the scheme’s numerous benefits, including life insurance and invalidity coverage, as reasons SSNIT stands out from other investment options.
“SSNIT provides peace of mind during retirement and before that, should something untoward happen to a contributor,” he stated.
Osafo-Maafo also compared SSNIT’s offering to other investment avenues, explaining that the benefits paid during retirement far exceed the contributions, adding that treasury bills or other investments cannot match the lifelong pension SSNIT offers.
He underscored that SSNIT’s ongoing digital transformation to make services more accessible through websites, portals, USSD, and mobile apps.
“We want to make life much easier for you and us by offering a seamless service and modernizing service delivery,” he said.
Osafo-Maafo assured stakeholders that SSNIT is managing its investments prudently, with a focus on growing assets and diversifying into key sectors such as banking and telecommunications.
He disclosed that SSNIT is the largest investor in the banking sector and one of the largest in telecoms, with a surplus of GH¢230 million in 2022, up from a deficit in 2021.
SSNIT is projecting a surplus of about GH¢864 million for 2023, with similarly strong performance expected in 2024.
This financial turnaround, he said, is due to improvements in contributions collection, net investment income, cost control, and operational efficiency.
In her welcome address, Deputy Director-General for Operations and Benefits, Ms. Juliana Kpedekpo, stressed the critical role that employers play in securing workers’ futures.
She also introduced the SSNIT digital bouquet, aimed at simplifying contribution payments and reducing congestion at SSNIT offices.
Ms. Kpedekpo noted that the Self-employed Enrolment Drive (SEED), launched in 2023, has been fully integrated, increasing new memberships from 13,000 in May 2023 to over 100,000 by mid-2024.
In a presentation on maximizing the use of digital platforms to improve contribution, collection, and payment, Mr. Richard Manu revealed that SSNIT’s active membership had grown to over two million, including 1,298,713 private sector workers, 702,863 public sector employees, and 114,983 self-employed individuals.
He stressed SSNIT’s pension benefits, which pay up to 60% of a member’s three-year average salary and offer superior value through secure long-term investments like treasury bills.
SSNIT, he said, is also the only pension scheme in Ghana that provides both invalidity pension coverage and a built-in life policy, offering a survivors’ lump sum.
He explained new guidelines to assist employers in streamlining the registration and contribution processes for their employees, which are designed to enhance efficiency and ensure accurate and timely contributions to the Trust.
He urged employers to assist new employees with their registration, ensuring they are enrolled in SSNIT’s pension scheme promptly using the digital platforms, including the self-service portal and mobile app, which offer a user-friendly experience for both employers and employees.
