Experts delibrate on pensions tomorrow at Graphic Business/ Stanbic Bank Breakfast Meeting
The country’s pensions regulator, the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA), will join players in the pensions industry as well as business leaders for an executive business meeting over breakfast tomorrow (Tuesday) at the Labadi Beach Hotel.
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The meeting, which is expected to draw business leaders from the various sectors of the economy, will be held under the theme; “Role of pensions in national economic development and sustainability”.
Tomorrow’s edition is meant to provide policy makers and stakeholders a common platform to deliberate on happenings in the budding pensions industry.
The views, recommendations and conclusions to be reached are expected to set the stage for reforms in the pensions sector, which is now enjoying tremendous growth following an amendment to the Pension Act that brought into being the three tier pensions scheme in 2010.
Reforms in the industry, which were concluded in 2008, opened up pension fund managements to the private sector after mandating workers and their employees to lodge their tier two and three contributions with trustees.
The pensions industry, according to the NPRA, has a total of 131 service providers, including trustees, pension fund managers and custodians, with 243 registered pension schemes operating.
As of July this year, contributions made under the two tiers totalled GH¢8.3 billion, of which GH¢2.7 billion was still lodged at the Temporary Pensions Account (TPA) at the Bank of Ghana.
The GH¢8.3 billion comprises funds accrued in the Temporary Pension Fund Act (TPFA) (contributions and returns on investments, mostly government securities) and total assets under management (AUM) by licensed trustees.
Speakers
The event, under the auspices of GRAPHIC BUSINESS, the leading financial newspaper in the country, and Stanbic Bank, a lead financial institution in the country, have drawn renowned speakers to discuss the theme. They are Mr Hayford Atta Krufi, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), National Pensions Regulatory Authority, Peter Osei-Dua, Pensions expert and CEO, ALLStar Brokers, Angela Gyasi, Partner pensions, investments and immigration at Benttsi-Enchil, Lesta and Ankomah, a law firm and Charles Osie Akoto, CEO, Stallion Company Limited.
History of pension reforms
The reform in the industry, which has contributed immensely to the growth of the country’s economy, was the government’s response to public agitations for restructuring in the industry. When the government recognised the need for such reforms, it initiated a pension reform with the following objectives: to ensure the creation of a sustainable unified pension structure for all public sector workers in the country; to introduce a scheme that will ensure retirement income security for Ghanaian workers, with special reference to the public sector; and to further address concerns of workers.
The government set up the Presidential Commission on Pensions (PCP) which examined the existing pension schemes and submitted recommendations for sustainable pension scheme(s) that would ensure retirement income security for Ghanaian workers.
The government accepted most of PCP’s recommendations and issued a white paper for their implementation.
Further to that, the Pension Reform Implementation Committee (PRIC) and a project consultant were appointed by the government to oversee and coordinate the establishment of the necessary structures that would facilitate the speedy implementation of the recommendations by the PCP approved by the government. The PRIC’s work culminated in proposals for a National Pension Reform Bill to government which was passed into law as the new National Pension Act, (Act 766) in December 2008.
National Pension Act, Act 766
It was this Act that led to the creation of a new contributory three-tier pension system comprising two mandatory schemes and a voluntary one; Tier 1: a mandatory basic national social security scheme to be managed by SSNIT; Tier 2: a mandatory fully funded occupational pension scheme – to be privately managed; Tier 3: a voluntary, fully funded provident fund and personal pension schemes - to be privately managed.
The NPRA was then established to regulate both public and private pension schemes in the country.
However, in March 2011, two regulations accompanying the National Pensions Act 2008, (Act 766) were passed; the Basic National Social Security Regulations, 2011; and Occupational and Personal Pension Schemes Regulations, 2011.
