Vice-President’s Office To Help NPRA Digitalise Operations

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The Office of the Vice-President will assist the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA) to digitalise its operations.
That, according to Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia, was to reposition the NPRA well to roll out attractive and credible pension schemes, particularly for people in the informal sector.

The Vice-President gave the assurance when the Board Chairman of the NPRA, Simon Koranteng, led the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Hayford Attah Krufi, the management and senior staff of the authority to pay a courtesy call on him at his office at the Jubilee House in Accra yesterday.

The delegation included the Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, Ignatius Baffour-Awuah.

Background

Established by the National Pensions Act 2008, (Act 766) to regulate and monitor the operations of the three-tier pension scheme and ensure effective administration of all pensions in the country, the NPRA is mandated to, among others, register occupational pension schemes, provident funds and personal pension schemes.

It is also to approve, regulate and monitor trustees, pension fund managers, custodians and other institutions that deal with pensions as it may determine.

It also regulates and monitors the implementation of the basic national social security scheme, carries out research and ensures the maintenance of a national databank on pension matters.

“A well-regulated and functioning pension system is a major driver for investment and development,” Dr Bawumia said.

Therefore, he said, “I am keenly interested in the growth of the pensions industry and we are ready to help you work on the appropriate technology, software and designs to help achieve your
objectives, especially in reaching people in the very large informal sector”.

The Vice-President gave an assurance that his office would help the NPRA digitalise its operations.

Technology

Mr Baffour-Awuah said the NPRA was looking to leverage appropriate technology, including mobile money interoperability, to help make pension contributions and payments less cumbersome and work with stakeholders to design the necessary software to make pensions administration easier.

“Ghana has a working population of about 12 million, but only about two million are in the formal sector and actively making pension contributions. We need to work harder to bring in those from the informal sector,” he added.

Mr Krufi, for his part, said with offices in Kumasi, Sunyani, Takoradi, Tamale and Tema, the NPRA was poised to expand its operations in order to get closer to its clients.

He appealed to employers to pay their employees’ pension contributions promptly to avoid prosecution.

By: graphiconline.com