Mr Yakubu Alhassan Fuseini, the Tamale Zonal Head of the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA), has called on actors within the informal sector to enrol on a pension scheme to ensure old-age income security during retirement.
According to Mr. Fuseini, the country’s informal sector which represents about 80 per cent of the country’s total workforce, has a small percentage of actors within the sector actively enrolled on a pension scheme.
“Our aim is to involve the informal sector. As we are all aware, the informal sector controls the employment situation in the country and, as a result, workers in the sector are our target for this awareness creation.
“The reason is that their participation in pension is very low. So, we want to rope them in to increase their pension contribution so that we are able to give them retirement income security.”
Mr Yakubu Alhassan Fuseini
NPRA’s Zonal Head for Temale made this call at a sensitization workshop for the informal sector actors on the new 3-Tier pension scheme and the need for them to enrol on it.
The workshop welcomed representatives from the Ghana Garages Association, Ghana Association of Barbers, Weavers Association, Dress Makers Association and Auto-mechanics, among others who participated in the sensitization programme.
These participants, reports disclosed, were taken through the needed requirements and processes of enrolling onto the new 3-Tier pension scheme and its benefits.
Touching on the level of awareness of pension schemes, Mr. Fuseini stated that, the informal sector does not have any appreciation of the pension scheme before the inception of the new 3-Tier pension scheme hence the need to educate actors within the informal sector on these schemes.
Innovative means of pension contribution
NPRA’s Zonal Head for Temale, highlighting prudent measures put in place by pension fund managers, stated that the trustees have made it easier for the informal sector to make their pension contributions through mobile short codes due to their busy schedules.
Speaking on the essence of contributing towards pensions, Mr. Fuseini stated that, “pension funds are nothing but an investment. When you contribute your money towards retirement, your money is invested towards that. All of these are done to reduce old-age poverty”.
By way of appreciating the education received from the National Pensions Regulatory Authority, the participants commended the NPRA for the information, which they said was an eye-opener for them to plan for a better future.
On his part, Mr Issah Suleman, the Upper West Regional Secretary of the Cattle Dealers Association, acknowledged that some of their members who had grown old without being on any pension scheme were dependent on their relatives for survival.
Mr. Suleman then iterated that saving for the future through pensions contribution is a laudable idea to enable them, especially actors within the informal sector to become self-reliant in their old age.
In the meantime, the national pension awareness week which commenced on Monday, 25th October 2021, is still in progress, as the NPRA continues to educate Ghanaians and create awareness of the benefits that can be derived from enrolling on pension schemes in Ghana.
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