SSNIT launches Membership Value Programme to enhance pension services
The Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), has launched the Membership Value Programme (MVP) to provide contributors and pensioners with bespoke and enhanced pension services.
The initiative in partnership with Ecobank Ghana PLC, forms part of efforts to strengthen Ghana’s pension system through improved value-added services, expand pension coverage and promote financial inclusion by offering members access to discounts, secure digital payment solutions.
Speaking at the launch of the MVP in Accra yesterday, the Minister of Finance, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, in a speech read on his behalf said the government remained committed to strengthening Ghana’s pension system through reforms aimed at improving benefits, expanding coverage and ensuring its long-term sustainability.
He said President John Dramani Mahama had directed a comprehensive review of the country’s pension system to improve adequacy, sustainability, coverage and value, particularly for workers in the informal sector.
The Minister said Ghana’s improving macroeconomic indicators, including declining inflation, renewed investor confidence and steady economic growth, had created a favourable environment for strengthening the pension system and protecting contributors’ savings.
He noted that a strong pension system was essential for mobilising domestic savings, financing investment and promoting national development, stressing that economic stability and pension sustainability were closely linked.
Dr Forson commended SSNIT and Ecobank Ghana PLC for introducing the Membership Value Programme, describing it as an innovative initiative that would enable contributors and pensioners to enjoy benefits beyond retirement through discounts and other services.
Dr Forson urged more businesses to partner with the programme to expand its benefits and encouraged contributors and pensioners to take advantage of the initiative.
The Director-General of SSNIT, Mr Kwesi Biney, urged workers, particularly those in the informal sector, to enroll on the pension scheme, saying the Trust was introducing innovative initiatives to make membership more rewarding.
He said the MVP would provide contributors and pensioners with practical everyday benefits while complementing SSNIT’s core mandate of providing income security in retirement.
Mr Biney said the programme would offer members co-branded prepaid Visa cards free of charge and improve access to a range of services.
He noted that with about 80 per cent of Ghana’s workforce employed in the informal sector, the initiative would make social security more attractive, accessible and relevant, reaffirming SSNIT’s commitment to innovation, improved service delivery and expanding pension coverage across the country.
The Managing Director of Ecobank, Mrs Abena Osei-Poku, said the partnership underscored the bank’s commitment to financial inclusion by providing contributors with greater convenience, access to secure financial services and digital payment solutions.
She said the collaboration reflected the shared commitment of Ecobank Ghana PLC and SSNIT to empower workers and pensioners, and urged all workers, including entrepreneurs in the informal sector to enrol on the SSNIT pension scheme to secure their future.
Mrs Osei-Poku, said the partnership with SSNIT was a demonstration of how institutions could leverage innovation and collaboration to improve the financial well-being of Ghanaians.
She noted that the MVP would provide contributors with access to a range of benefits while promoting digital financial inclusion and encouraging more workers, particularly those in the informal sector, to participate in the social security system. She added that Ecobank remained committed to developing solutions that responded to the changing needs of customers and supported economic empowerment across the country
BY KINGSLEY ASARE
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