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SSNIT will launch an initiative called the Self-Employed Enrolment Drive (SEED) tomorrow. This initiative aims to increase the number of contributors from the informal sector.
SEED is motivated by several factors, including the lack of social security coverage for individuals in the informal sector.
During a pre-launch event with media members, Dr. Tinkorang, the Director General of SSNIT, who leads the project, appealed to journalists for their support in ensuring the initiative’s success.
SSNIT acknowledges that social security coverage in the country has primarily focused on the formal sector, which consists of public and private sector workers. As of 2017, the Trust had approximately 1.2 million active members.
However, through a comprehensive strategy implemented by SSNIT management to enhance coverage and expand the contributor base, positive results have been achieved. As of March 2023, the total active membership of the Scheme has increased from around 1.2 million to over 1.8 million.
Despite this improvement, SSNIT recognizes that this figure still needs to be improved compared to the estimated working population of 9.9 million. Within this population, 6.7 million are self-employed, with 3.1 million falling between the ages of 15 and 45, according to the Ghana Statistical Service 2021 Population Census.
The statistics indicate the need for improvement, particularly considering that less than two percent of the Trust’s active membership consists of self-employed individuals, as stated by SSNIT.
Additionally, National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA) statistics reveal that only 600,000 self-employed persons have social security coverage. SSNIT highlights that around 90 percent of self-employed workers lack social security coverage.
The SEED initiative aims to provide various benefits to eligible contributors, including a regular income source, monthly pensions from old age until death, and disability insurance in the event of invalidity, among others. It also includes a life policy that pays lump sums to the survivors of members who pass away.
Furthermore, SEED exempts its members from paying the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) premiums, ensuring every worker has social protection. The primary focus of SEED is to enroll self-employed individuals and workers in the informal sector in the SSNIT Scheme, encouraging regular contributions based on their total earnings.
It offers social protection through partial income during old age or retirement. To achieve social security and provide a monthly pension, among other benefits, to self-employed individuals and workers in the informal sector, SSNIT is implementing the Self-Employed Enrolment Drive (SEED).
This initiative aims to enroll 500,000 self-employed workers and reactivate 250,000 dormant contributors, thereby offering them social protection. The action aims to reduce poverty and dependence on benefactors such as family members, friends, or the state during old age and in cases of permanent invalidity. Nominated dependents of members are also guaranteed protection through a lump sum payment after the member’s death.
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Source: Omanghana.com
