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21.11.2008 General News

SSNIT, Others To Support Informal Sector Scheme

21.11.2008 LISTEN
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The social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) Informal Sector Fund, in collaboration with HFC Bank Ghana limited and Boafo Micro-finance Services Limited, last Wednesday in Accra signed a tri-partite agreement to administer a credit scheme for members of the informal sector.

This has been necessitated by the quest to administer social protection for the vast majority of Ghanaian who are working in the informal sector.

Mr Grant, stressed that the HFC-Boafo Micro-finance Services Credit Scheme, which is in line with the design of the Informal Sector Scheme of SSNIT, signifies the need to harness the efforts of complementary institutions in the promotion of the welfare of the elderly and the eradication of destitution from Ghana.

The Managing Director of SSNIT Informal Sector Fund, said the Informal sector Scheme is one of the major initiatives introduced by the current Management of SSNIT to expand Social Security coverage to the vast majority of working population in Ghana and thereby fulfilling the mandate of SSIT as enshrined in the Social Security Law PNDC Law 7 of 1991.

He noted that the SSNIT Informal Sector Scheme is a designed principally for workers in the informal sector, to provide members with the benefits that are based exclusively on their contributions.

Membership is opened to any self-employed who is aged between 15 and 59 years as well as that workers in formally established institutions including Ghanaian workers living abroad are also permitted to also join the scheme.

He expressed his belief that the SSNIT Informal sector Scheme shall become the become the obvious choice as a model for providing social protection to workers in the informal sector.

He said that the scheme will strengthen economic security of people in the informal sector through simultaneous growth of business and occupational pension funds which will go a long way in guaranteeing economically stable households.

It will also allow the informal sector entrepreneurs to access credit facilities to grow their businesses and increase family income, he noted.

Mr Osegge reiterated that members of the scheme can also use credit as collateral to access loans from other financial institutions to grow their businesses.

The Managing Director of HFC Bank, Mr. Asare Akuffo, stated that 'Ghana has a large informal sector and we know that no serious economy can be built on the back of an informal sector, it is our hope that through the joint effort of SSNIT and HFC, this large sector will eventually be formalized so that we can provide them with better services, help them to create wealth and also to provide adequately for their future'.

He also expressed his expectation that SSNIT and HFC will continue to work together to create wealth for the wider Ghanaian population.

The Chairman of the SSNIT Informal Sector Fund Executive Council, Nana Fredua Agymang Pambuo1, expressed his excitement about the HFC-Boafo Credit Scheme Fund and how it is going to improve the large informal sector in the country to boost Ghanaian economy.

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