Accra: Mr Afriyie Oware, Chief Executive Officer of Axis Pension Trust, has called for a portable pension system to allow seamless transfer of benefits between Cap 30 and Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) scheme. He said the current arrangement restricted labour mobility because pension rights under Cap 30 could not be transferred to the SSNIT scheme.
According to Ghana News Agency, Mr Oware made the call in an interview at the 2026 Pension Strategy Conference in Accra on the theme: 'Renewing the Ghanaian Pension Promise: Promoting Confidence, Resilience and Sustainable Growth.' He highlighted that if someone works in an organisation covered by Cap 30 and decides to seek employment with a company under the SSNIT scheme, their benefits cannot be transferred, meaning they must join the SSNIT scheme afresh. Mr Oware suggested introducing a portability or convertibility criteria, which would involve a formula to assess how much credit an individual has accrued.
Mr Oware noted that Article 37 of the Constitution mandated the State to provide a pension scheme for all workers in Ghana, with both employers and employees contributing towards the scheme. However, he observed that the Cap 30 pension system remained unfunded by beneficiaries and depended largely on taxpayers through the Consolidated Fund. He warned that if the government faces financial constraints, it may choose to deprioritise pension benefits.
Furthermore, Mr Oware called for a review of the formula for calculating employee contributions to SSNIT to ensure that monthly deductions are based on gross salary instead of basic salary. He advocated for an increase in contribution rates to improve retirement benefits for workers, as the current contribution formula and rates reduce employee contributions and adversely affect future pension benefits.