2010 ISSA WEST AFRICAN SEMINAR

The Vice-President, Mr. John Mahama has advised the International Social Security Association (ISSA) West African Sub-Region and Managers of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) in particular, to strive to develop further initiatives to extend their coverage into the informal sector.  He gave this advice in a speech read on his behalf by the Deputy Minister of Finance, Mr Seth Terkper at a two-day conference of the International Social Security Association hosted by the Social Security and National Insurance Trust at the La-Palm Royal Beach Hotel in Accra on 27^th and 28^th  January, 2010.  The theme for the seminar was, “The Extension of Social Security Coverage”.

The out-going Director-General of SSNIT, Mr. Kwasi Boatin reiterated SSNIT’s commitment to the Informal Sector and the success the scheme has recorded within a few years of its operation in the country.  He acknowledged ISSA’s presence at the seminar and hoped that the seminar would serve its purpose as a platform for members to deliberate and share experiences initiatives and interventions that have been completed or underway to extend social security coverage.

The Managing Director of the SSNIT Informal Sector, Dr Francis Sapara Grant gave a detailed presentation of the Informal Sector road map – its challenges and successes.  The Social Security Informal Sector Scheme is a voluntary contributory pension scheme that provides members with benefits, which are based exclusively on their accumulated savings.  According to him, the operational performance recorded so far suggests that the SSNIT Informal Sector Scheme has the potential of becoming the panacea for achieving universal social security coverage in Ghana.

There were presentations from participants from various West African States who shared their experiences and views on the way forward in achieving the objective of extending social security coverage, especially to the Informal sector.

The Participating countries were Benin, Burkina Faso, Gambia, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Zambia.