- Pension Scheme Remains Strong Despite ILO Concerns — SSNIT Director-General
The Social Security and National Insurance Trust has assured contributors and pensioners that the national pension scheme remains sustainable and can continue paying benefits for the next 40 years, despite recent concerns over its long-term viability.
SSNIT Director-General, Kwesi Afreh Biney, said the assurance is based on the latest actuarial assessment conducted by the UK Government Actuary’s Department on the sustainability of the pension scheme.
Speaking on PM Express Business Edition with George Wiafe on June 4, 2026, Mr Biney said there was no reason for contributors to panic about the ability of the scheme to meet its future obligations.
The comments follow concerns raised in a recent report by the International Labour Organisation, which questioned the long-term sustainability of the SSNIT scheme and triggered renewed calls for reforms.
But Mr Biney said the latest independent assessment presents a more reassuring picture of the scheme’s future.
According to him, contributors’ funds remain safe, while steps taken by SSNIT to improve contributions and secure government payments have helped address immediate and future liquidity concerns.
“We are required to have an external actuarial assessment every three years and SSNIT is due for another in 2027, and I believe that will even move us into safe waters,” he said.
He added that recent measures to increase the number of contributors to the scheme, alongside government contributions, have strengthened the fund’s outlook.
“These developments have also gone a long way to deal with immediate and future liquidity concerns of the SSNIT pension scheme,” he noted.
The Director-General’s remarks come at a sensitive time for Ghana’s pension system, where concerns over demographics, informal employment, contribution compliance and investment returns continue to shape public debate.
For many workers, SSNIT remains the backbone of retirement income. Any suggestion that the scheme may face sustainability challenges therefore raises anxiety among contributors and pensioners who depend on it for long-term financial security.
Mr Biney, however, insisted that the scheme is not in distress.
He said SSNIT is exploring several options to attract more contributors, especially from the informal sector, where participation remains low despite the size of the workforce.
“Now these persons will come, when they see what is happening to the current contributors and that is why we are looking at offering more value proposition to the current contributors to the scheme,” he said.
The informal sector remains one of the biggest untapped areas for pension coverage in Ghana. Expanding participation among self-employed workers, traders, artisans, small business operators and gig workers could improve long-term inflows and reduce old-age income insecurity.
But attracting informal sector contributors will require more than public assurances. It will demand trust, flexible payment systems, better digital access, transparent communication and visible value for contributors.
Mr Biney also addressed the debate over whether Ghana should increase pension contribution rates or extend the retirement age as part of reforms to protect the scheme.
He said the question should not be reduced to a simple yes-or-no answer, but should be handled through careful stakeholder engagement.
His position suggests that while SSNIT is rejecting claims of imminent danger, it is not dismissing the need for future reforms.
That distinction is important.
A pension scheme may be able to meet obligations today and still require structural adjustments to remain resilient in the decades ahead. Contribution density, wage levels, life expectancy, investment performance and compliance by employers will all determine how strong the scheme remains over time.
For SSNIT, the task is therefore twofold: reassure contributors that their funds are safe, while also demonstrating that the institution is willing to confront long-term risks before they become a crisis.
The latest assurance from management may ease immediate concerns. But the broader debate over pension reform is unlikely to disappear.
As Ghana’s labour market changes and more workers operate outside formal employment, the sustainability of the national pension scheme will increasingly depend on whether SSNIT can expand coverage, improve compliance and convince younger workers that the system will still be there when they retire.
For now, the message from the Director-General is clear: SSNIT says it can pay benefits for the next 40 years.
The deeper test will be whether it can build the contributor base, public trust and reform discipline needed to make that assurance hold.
