The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Axis Pensions Trust, Mr. Afriyie Oware, has called for urgent and radical actions to bring more informal sector workers on board pension schemes.
According to him, pension issues have become more of a social and economic challenge than before, thus a lot must be done to sensitize the working population not only to encourage them, but also to provide the assistance and support for them to enroll on pension schemes so they can enjoy a comfortable and stress-free retirement.
Speaking at a sensitization workshop on pension issues and financial literacy in Accra, Mr. Afriyie Oware, also noted that people approach retirement with fear, anxiety and desperation, and it is because they did not plan toward retirement.
“We planned this because we have to equip participants to plan a befitting retirement,” he said.
He noted that Axis, in the last three years, has led a drive for financial inclusion in the informal sector, and embarked on retirement-planning education in the public sector, thus the need for more to be done.
“Truly speaking, Axis is an exception. In the last two years, we have spearheaded a drive for financial inclusion in the informal sector, we have also aggressively embarked upon retirement planning education in the public sector and there are advanced plans to do more in the coming year,”he noted.
On the pension forum
The Axis pensions forum seeks to equip Axis Pension’s scheme members who are due for retirement in 2020 with pertinent and vital information to life after retirement. There were presentations by the SSNIT; industry regulator National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA); and executives from Axis Pensions.
Director of Research & Planning at the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA), Ernest Amartey Vondee, in his speech commended Axis Pensions for its contribution to the development of the pension industry.
“The purpose of this seminar is most appropriate; more so because, first, every current employee today is a potential retiree tomorrow; and secondly, economic security in old age is an integral part of every individual’s well-being; and pensions are intended to offer people this security once the worker/employee can no longer earn a living themselves.”