Director General of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) says it is exploring new strategies to boost returns from its hotels.
Kofi Bosompem Osafo-Maafo indicated that the Trust remains committed to enhancing the profitability of its hotels.
He was speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the 2024 Breakfast Meeting organised by the scheme to meet employers and other stakeholders on Thursday, September 5, 2024.
According to him, SSNIT is going back to the drawing board and will consider private sector investments into the hotels for good returns.
“We are going back to the drawing board. We are looking at private sector investments into the hotels for a very good reason the returns were below par and when the returns are below par it is in a sector that requires a significant amount of investments which we cannot fund.
“We have to look at new ways of funding it or improving the portfolio and obviously there were disagreements on how we achieve that and so with the disagreement and taking into account the interest of our stakeholders, i.e., the unions and all the other stakeholders, we’ve gone back to the drawing board and in time we would look at the way we progress,” he stated.
SSNIT suspended its decision to sell a 60% stake in four of its hotels to Rock City.
The hotels are La Palm Beach Hotel, the Labadi Beach Hotel, the Royal Ridge Hotel, and Elmina Beach Hotel.
The suspension came after widespread unrest, with labour unions nationwide initiating an indefinite strike in protest of the sale, arguing that it was not in the public’s best interest.
In a statement on Friday (12 July), SSNIT said it is committed to managing the affairs of the Trust prudently for the sustainability of Ghana’s public sector pension scheme.
“The board and management of Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) wish to inform the public that the process to divest 60% of SSNIT’s stake in the hotels has been terminated.
“We wish to assure pensioners, contributors and the public of our commitment to managing the affairs of the Trust prudently for the sustainability of the pension scheme,” the statement said.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
