Director-General of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), Kwasi Afreh Biney, has cautioned against any rushed decision to increase Ghana’s retirement age.
He warned that such a move could delay employment opportunities for young people by up to seven years.
Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express Business Edition recently, Mr Biney acknowledged that changing demographic trends have strengthened arguments for people to remain in active employment beyond the current retirement age.
“I agree that the demographic numbers have shifted rapidly. A lot more people today in Ghana are living longer, are much stronger even after 60, I agree,” he said.
However, he stressed that the question of extending retirement goes far beyond improvements in life expectancy and health outcomes.
“But a decision to extend retirement goes beyond just that. You need to consider factors like your employment rate, unemployment numbers, and availability of jobs,” he stated.
His comments come amid growing discussions about whether Ghanaians should be allowed to work longer before accessing pension benefits, especially as many retirees continue to seek employment in the private sector after leaving public service.
Mr Biney argued that any change to the retirement age must be based on broad national consultation rather than the position of a single institution.
“So we all need to go and sit together as stakeholders, brainstorm, deliberate, and ultimately come to the point where we all make a decision, rather than an individual institution like SSNIT deciding, guys, let’s run,” he said.
The SSNIT Director-General also highlighted the pension implications of extending the retirement age. According to him, such a move would naturally reduce immediate pension payouts while increasing contribution inflows into the pension scheme.
“Of course, if you extend the pension years from, let’s say, 60 now to 65 or 67, what it practically means is that my payout now will reduce whilst more contributions will come in,” he explained.
But he warned that the financial benefits to the pension system must be weighed against the potential impact on employment opportunities for younger Ghanaians seeking to enter the workforce.
“How do we just oppose that against probably creating another backlog of five to seven years on unemployed youth who could have come into the employment bracket?” he asked.
Mr Biney maintained that the issue requires a careful assessment of competing national priorities, including pension sustainability, labour market conditions and youth employment.
“So we need all of us to sit down, look at the numbers, look at the various alternatives, the opportunity cost of taking a particular decision against the other, and then we take a much more comprehensive decision,” he said.
