Joe Winful (in smock), George Addison (3rd from right), Interim CEO of Old Mutual Ghana, Emmanuel Awuku Dagbanu (2nd from left) and other officials of NPRA
Old Mutual Ghana launched the Old Mutual Pensions Trust Ghana Limited at a short ceremony in Accra yesterday.
Joe Winful, Board Chairman of Old Mutual Ghana, who officially launched the company, said Old Mutual Pensions Trust Company was a master provider of pension management and administrative services to third-party defined contribution (2nd and 3rd tier) pension schemes.
“As an iconic business with a rich African heritage, Old Mutual is constantly expanding its operations to adequately cater for the needs of the markets in which we operate. Originating in South Africa in 1845, Old Mutual provides investment, savings, insurance and banking services to 18.9 million customers in Africa, the Americas, Asia and Europe. Listed on the London and Johannesburg Stock Exchanges, among others, since 1999, Old Mutual’s operations in Ghana began in 2013, providing life insurance, trust pensions and administration and corporate solutions. We have a pan-African footprint with operations in 14 countries on the continent.”
George Addison, Interim CEO of Old Mutual Ghana, in a speech, said: “Old Mutual is ready to partner Corporate Ghana and the regulator to ensure pensioners enjoy positive futures when they go on retirement. It is my firm conviction that with the launch of Old Mutual Pensions Trust Company Limited, customers and the general public are assured of reliable, trustworthy and excellent services at all times.”
Emmanuel Awuku Dagbanu, Head of Corporate Affairs at the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA), in a speech read on behalf of his CEO, said in the past, pension schemes in Ghana under the SSNIT system “failed to consider the plight of workers in the informal sector, who constitute over 85 percent of the working population of Ghana.”
He said the new contributory three-tier pension scheme comprised two mandatory schemes and a voluntary scheme.
These included a 1st tier basic national social security scheme which incorporated an improved system of SSNIT benefits, mandatory for all employees in both the private and public sectors and optional for self employed, which pays only monthly pensions and related benefits.
“The 2nd tier is an occupational pension scheme mandatory for all employees but privately managed, and designed to give contributors higher lump sum benefits than previously available under SSNIT and a 3rd tier voluntary provident fund, as well as personal pension schemes, supported by tax incentives to provide additional funds for workers who want to make voluntary contributions to enhance their pension benefits. The 3rd tier is also for workers in the informal sector, who are not catered for by the first two mandatory schemes.”
A business desk report