By Paul Mamattah
The Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) says its assets nearly doubled over the past 18 months, describing the growth as a strong indication of the increasing strength and sustainability of Ghana’s national pension scheme.
According to the Trust, the pension scheme continues to record significant growth in its assets, membership and capacity to administer benefits.
The Director-General of SSNIT, Kwesi Afreh Biney, disclosed this in Accra during a stakeholder engagement with Organised Labour to assess the performance of the pension scheme, discuss employer compliance and explore ways to deepen collaboration.
The engagement forms part of SSNIT’s regular consultations with organised labour aimed at reviewing the scheme’s performance, addressing concerns raised by workers and employers, and building consensus on measures to secure the long-term sustainability of Ghana’s pension system.
Speaking at the event, Mr. Biney said innovation had become central to SSNIT’s strategy, particularly in improving accessibility, expanding coverage and making its services more convenient for contributors and pensioners.
“We’ve demonstrated that this is a scheme that is growing. We’ve demonstrated that over the last couple of years, our assets and our management, which becomes available for payment of benefits, have grown,” he said.
“In fact, in the last 18 months, our assets under management have almost doubled. And this is a clear testament to the fact that the scheme is growing and becoming sustainable.”
Mr. Biney identified expansion of pension coverage as one of the key strategies for ensuring the long-term sustainability of SSNIT.
He said the Trust had been recording membership growth of more than 300,000 annually, representing growth of more than 10% per year and exceeding the 5% annual membership growth assumption used in its actuarial projections.
He explained that SSNIT had also recorded stronger-than-anticipated growth in contribution collections over the past two years.
Mr. Biney said the current performance suggested that the actual position of the scheme was more favourable than some of the assumptions contained in previous actuarial projections.
The Director-General noted that the most recent actuarial evaluation, based on 2023 figures, projected that SSNIT could require support from investment returns by 2055 if membership growth remained at 5% annually.
He said the same analysis suggested that, under certain assumptions, the fund balance could eventually decline significantly, with changes to the scheme becoming necessary from 2067.
However, he stressed that improved membership growth and full compliance by employers could significantly alter the projections.
“At 100% collection of what we are supposed to collect per the analysis, the fund will go past the next 15 years without any major changes being required to the scheme,” he said.
“Our goal is to ensure that the growth that we have year-on-year is much better than the assumptions that we use for the analysis to ensure that we can have a sustainable scheme that goes way beyond 2073.”
Mr. Biney disclosed that SSNIT currently has more than 265,000 pensioners on its payroll, adding that the Trust had paid GH¢4.1 billion in benefits as of June this year, underscoring the scale of its financial responsibility to pensioners and beneficiaries.
According to him, SSNIT’s pension payments have increased steadily over the past few years, rising from GH¢4.6 billion in 2022 to GH¢4.8 billion in 2023 and GH¢4.88 billion in 2024.
Mr. Biney reiterated that payments increased sharply to GH¢6.7 billion in 2025, while payments as of June this year stood at GH¢3.83 billion, saying that SSNIT had significantly reduced the time required to process pension applications.
“Currently, once we get all documents right, within seven days, we can process our pension payments,” he stated.
Mr. Biney explained that the pensioner population included beneficiaries below the conventional retirement age because SSNIT also provides invalidity pensions to members who become permanently incapable of working, disclosing that the youngest pensioner currently receiving benefits from SSNIT is 32 years old.
The Director-General said SSNIT was also pursuing measures to make it easier for workers and employers to access its services.
He noted that Ghana has more than 200 districts, while SSNIT previously operated only 53 physical branches, making it difficult to establish branches across the country at the pace required.
According to Mr. Biney, in response, SSNIT introduced its virtual branch in December 2024, providing members with access to services around the clock.
He explained that the virtual platform was designed to reflect the increasing reliance of Ghanaians on mobile technology and allow members to interact with SSNIT regardless of their location.
Mr. Biney stated that to complement the virtual branch, SSNIT also entered into arrangements with Ecobank, Fidelity Bank, Ghana Commercial Bank and Consolidated Bank Ghana to co-locate SSNIT services within selected banking facilities.
According to Mr. Biney, 15 co-location points had been rolled out under the initiative so far this year.
He said the strategy was intended to improve accessibility while reducing the cost associated with opening and maintaining new SSNIT branches.
Mr. Biney said the Trust’s investments span listed and unlisted companies, the gold market, healthcare, real estate and the energy sector.
He noted that SSNIT had also played a role in supporting the National Health Insurance Scheme and recently launched a telehealth service for pensioners.
In the energy sector, he said SSNIT’s investments in thermal power generation had expanded, with a new facility in Kumasi scheduled for commissioning.
He said the Trust’s investments were intended not only to generate returns for pension payments but also to contribute to economic activity and development across the country.
The SSNIT Director-General appealed to organised labour and employers to continue supporting efforts to improve compliance with pension contributions.
He said the sustainability of the scheme depended significantly on expanding membership, ensuring consistent contributions and improving collection compliance.
Mr. Biney expressed appreciation to organised labour for its engagement with SSNIT and expressed confidence that continued dialogue would help address workers’ concerns and build consensus around reforms necessary to strengthen Ghana’s national pension system.