Mr. Kofi Osafo-Maafo, Director General of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), claims that the trust’s successful stories and achievements are often overlooked.
He noted that they have seen increased returns on investments in the various areas in which they have a stake.
He said that SSNIT is the best pension scheme in the country because it is very generous, offers unique benefits, and provides value that no other pension scheme offers, adding that there is no better pension fund than SSNIT.
He says the operational management of SSNIT has seen remarkable improvements, with a substantial increase in active membership and the successful rollout of the Self-employed Enrollment Drive (SEED).
Addressing a press conference on Monday, July 8, 2024, he said membership through the SEED initiative has increased from 14,000 in March 2023 to 101,028 in June 2024.
Deactivation of ‘ghost names’ from the pension payroll, he stated, has saved the trust GHC519 million.
He said that as part of efforts to prevent the depletion of their reserves, they have engaged with the government to ensure they are current with monthly contribution payments, whereas it has also invested in technology to reduce the cost of running the scheme and improve operational efficiency.
The trust, he stated, is implementing strategies to manage risks and improve returns.
Mr. Kofi Osafo-Maafo expressed concern about the negative perception about the trust, which is mainly due to the fact that it is a government organisation, but maintained that it is performing well and will improve in the next years compared to previous years.
“Usually, when people talk about SSNIT because it is a government institution, they assume we are making losses. That is not true. If you examine our performance, several of our investments are yielding good returns or profits. When you evaluate the banking sector or the major banks in the country, we are the largest shareholders. These banks are performing well, and their activities are giving us good returns, which is having a positive impact on SSNIT and pensioners. Fidelity Bank, for example, exceeded Ghc1 billion in profits. We are the largest local shareholder.
We are the largest shareholder in Societe Generale, formerly SSB. During the bank recapitalization programme, we gave them some money. We also invested in The Republic Bank, formerly HFC, the largest mortgage bank in the country. They are also performing so well. Aside from the government, we are the largest shareholders in Ghana Commercial Bank. We are also the largest local shareholder in MTN. So we are making good returns on our investments. However, like the popular adage says, bad news sells, so people don’t project these positive achievements.”
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
