Over 57,000 self-employed individuals have registered with Social Security and National Insurance Trust, SSNIT within just one year.
According to the Director General of SSNIT, Dr John Ofori Tenkorang, this figure represents a remarkable growth since the rollout of the Self-Employed Enrolment Drive (SEED) which initially saw 14,000 registrations.
“So, the growth is tremendous albeit from a low base but if you look at the trajectory that we are on, I think that the future is very bright”, Tenkorang told newsmen on the sidelines of a stakeholder meeting organized by SSNIT in collaboration with the Trade Union Congress (TUC) in Kumasi.
Available figures show that only 6.7 million of Ghana’s labour force are self-employed. At least 600,000 of this number are on a pension scheme.
Dr Tenkorang reaffirmed SSNIT’s commitment to aggressive marketing efforts to attract the informal sector, leveraging technology, and ensuring seamless contribution payments. He also emphasized the integration of SSNIT Cards with the Ghana Card for simplified registration.
“Today we don’t hear the story about somebody chasing their pension payments for so long that they need a middleman. Technology is allowing us to do things that we couldn’t do before; Today we have the Ghana Card which many workers in this country do have. So, we’ve gone ahead and retooled our systems and merged the SSNIT Cards with the Ghana Card so all you have to do to join SSNIT is your Ghana Card”.
The SEED program has garnered support from various informal sector workers, including driver’s unions and traders. Similar initiatives have taken place in other regions of the country.
SOURCE: DAILY MAIL GH
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