81,000 informal sector workers get pension cover

About 81,000 members of the Union of Informal Workers Associations (UNIWA) will now be able to make regular contributions to secure their future under the ‘Pension for All’ scheme.

With over 84 percent of informal workers retiring into old age poverty, the scheme is expected to provide total financial inclusion to subscribers who are required to contribute a minimum of GHC1.00 on a regular basis through Vodafone cash.

Quite uniquely, contributors to the scheme could also access 50 percent of their investments to take care of personal demands after a period of time.

The Pension for All Scheme will be managed by People's Pension Trust, a trustee licensed by the National Pensions Regulatory Authority with Databank and Standard Chartered Bank as fund custodian and administrator respectively.

The scheme is designed to provide all Ghanaian workers the opportunity to save money towards a secured and more fulfilling future by making voluntary contributions through Vodafone Cash.

A total of 500,000 workers from the informal sector are expected to be registered onto the scheme over the next five years in addition to the existing 81,000 members of the Union of Informal Workers Associations (UNIWA).

Employment and Labour Relations Minister, Ignatius Baffour Awuah, in a speech read on his behalf said the scheme signifies the timely response from the private sector to cushion government’s efforts at formalising the informal economy and signifies the timely response from the informal public towards that course.

“Pensions are important components of social protection but sadly, coverage has been limited to the small minority

The informal sector employs about 86 percent of the country’s labour force comprised mostly of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises; and the growth of this sector will play a key role in reducing the country’s unemployment rate,” he noted.

General Secretary of UNIWA, Ms. Deborah Freeman, said the introduction of the scheme is a turning point for the informal Ghanaian worker as it will guarantee secured future for workers in the largest economic bracket.

“Through this scheme, we are hopeful that the future of the informal economy is secured; we will revolutionalise the informal sector in the country,” she said at the launch of the scheme.

Ms. Freeman called on the numerous workers in the large informal sector to leverage the scheme to invest to secure their future.

Resident Director of the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), Fritz Kopsieker, expressed enthusiasm about the introduction of the scheme in line with his outfit’s mission to strengthen social democracy and development and called on people in the informal sector to take advantage of scheme to secure their future.

“The success of this is two-way; the strength and sustainability of this scheme will depend on how the people in the sector will take advantage of it,” he noted.

The initiative is pioneered by Union of Informal Workers Associations (UNIWA) with support its mother union, Trades Union Congress (TUC), and Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES).