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 COMPANY PROFILE
 1.0. WHAT IT IS
The Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) is a statutory public Trust charged with the administration of Ghana’s national pension scheme. The Trust is currently the biggest non-bank financial institution in the country.
The primary responsibility is to replace part of lost income due to Old age, Invalidity and payment of Survivors’ benefit to deceased dependants.
The Pension Scheme administered by SSNIT has a registered membership of over 700,000 and there are over 30,000 pensioners who collect their monthly pension from SSNIT.
2.0. OBJECTIVES
The Social Security Law enjoins the Trust to:
a. Be responsible for the general administration of the Social Security law and any regulations under it.
b. Provide income protection for the contributors under specified contingencies, e.g. old age, invalidity, death and such other contingencies as may be specified by Law.
c. Be responsible for the management of the fund and
d. Carry out any other activities incidental to the realisation of the objectives.
3.0. THE BOARD
The Trust has a fourteen member Board of Directors responsible for policy making.
The membership is as follows:
a. A chairman and three other persons nominated by Government.
b. Two representatives nominated by the Employers’ Association.
c. Two representatives nominated by the Trades Union Congress.
d. A person appointed The Director-General of SSNIT.
e. A representative of the Ministry of Finance.
f. A representative of the Bank of Ghana.
g. A representative of the Ministry responsible for Labour
h. A representative nominated by the Civil Servants Association and
I. A representative nominated by the Ghana National Association of Teachers.
Administration of the Trust
The day-to-day administration is vested in the Director-General who is the Chief Executive of the Trust. He is assisted by a Deputy Director General.
There are General Managers for Operations, Finance, Administration and Investment and Development Divisions.
The following offices report directly to the Director-General: Corporate Planning, Internal Audit and Public Relations.
The Deputy Director General has direct responsibility for the Benefits, Research, Actuarial, Records and Quality Control Departments.
The divisions are constituted as follows:
3.1. Administration
Human Resource Department
General Services Department
Estate/Maintenance Department
Legal Department
Training Department
3.2. Finance
Accounts Department
Benefits Department
Purchasing Department
3.3. Operations
Regional Operations
Government Operations
3.4. Investment and Development
Investment Department
Development Department
Students’ Loan Department
WHAT IT DOES
4.0. FUNCTIONS OF THE TRUST
In order to achieve its corporate objectives, the Trust performs these basic functions:
* collect contributions and data
* keep records of members
* manage the funds of the Scheme
* process benefits for payment
Quite clearly the Trust combines both the collection of contributions and payment of benefits to members of the scheme, which places a heavy burden on the Trust.
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HOW THE TRUST WORKS
5.0. OPERATIONAL SET UP
The Trust has a decentralised operational system. This is constituted by the District, Regional and Head Office Operations.
5.1. The District Operations
* Registration of employers/employees
* Inspection of establishments and collection of contributions
* Collection and maintenance of data on employers and employees
* Assembling, processing, vetting and payment of claims
* Distribution and retrieval of statement of accounts on contributors
* Assembling students’ loan applications for processing and payments
* Public Education on SSNIT operations
There are 46 Districts and 2 day Offices located all over the country.
5.2. Regional Operations
* Co-ordinate operational activities between the districts and Head Office
* Institution of legal action against defaulting employers
* Collection of all accounting returns and reports from the districts under them.
* Public education on SSNIT Operations
5.3. Head Office Operations
* Acts as the link between management and all the eleven (11) regional and forty-four (46) district offices of the Trust.
* It co-ordinates all the activities of the regions and districts and submit monthly report for management information.
* It formulates operational policies and strategies.
* It monitors and controls all the affairs of regional and district offices for efficient performance.
6.0. THE SCHEME
It is a Social Insurance scheme under which members contribute during their working life and receive benefits due to old age, invalidity or on death to their dependants.
Some highlights of the Pension Scheme are:
* It is financed through employer/employee contributions paying 12.5% and 5% of salaries respectively.
* It pays periodic benefits to qualified members.
* Pensions are reviewed annually based on the rise on the average age of contributing members.
7.0. FINANCING
The Scheme is self-financing through the contributions of employers and employees and investment thereof. The rates of contributions are as follows:
Employee: 5% of salary and Employer: 12.5% of employees salary.
8.0. INVESTMENT
The Trust has a diversified investment programme under which the funds of the pension scheme are managed to ensure that the obligation to members are met as and when they fall due.
9.0. BENEFITS
As stakeholders of the Scheme, contributors are catered for under three main contingencies where benefits are paid out to them as and when they occur. These benefits are:
a. Old Age
b. Invalidity
c. Survivors’
10.0 MEMBERSHIP
Membership is open to all workers. The military and police, however, have their own internal pension schemes and on account of that are exempted. The scheme is also optional for the self-employed.
11.0. CONTACT ADDRESS
SSNIT
PENSION HOUSE
P. O. BOX M. 149
ACCRA
GHANA
E-mail : snitrec@ncs.com gh
Tel : (233 21) 668664-7
Fax : (233 21) 668674
12.0 FOR FURTHER DETAILS PLEASE CONTACT
MR K. OSEI BIMPONG
HEAD, PUBLIC RELATIONS
Tel : (233 21) 667742 - (233 27) 553464
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© World INvestment NEws, 1999.
This is the electronic edition of the special country report on Ghana published in Forbes
December 13th 1999 Issue.
Developed by AgenciaE.Tv |
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GHANA
