Browsing: Ghana elderly poverty

Of the over 2 million Ghanaians aged 60 and above, fewer than 300,000 receive SSNIT pensions—a coverage rate of just 5%. According to pension expert Paul Kofi Mante, 96% of those pensioners live on GH¢5,000 or less monthly. SSNIT coverage ranges from 0.2% in the Northern Region to 14% in Greater Accra. The minimum monthly pension of GH¢409.56 is dismissed by the Concerned SSNIT Pensioners Forum as “grossly inadequate” to even cover medication. This investigative feature follows the lives of former workers who contributed for decades but now face retirement in poverty, documenting the systemic failures of Ghana’s three-tier pension scheme. It analyses the GH¢3 billion government debt to SSNIT, the exclusion of the 80% informal sector workforce, and comparative pension models from South Africa, Kenya, Rwanda, Mauritius, and Namibia. As the UN drafts a new treaty on the rights of older persons, this investigation reveals what is at stake for Ghana’s retirees.