Less than 1% of the over 6 million workers in the informal sector are currently covered by the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), a stark contrast to the 60% enrollment rate among the over 3 million workers in the formal sector.
SSNIT’s Director-General, John Ofori Tenkorang, revealed the introduction of the Self-Employed Enrollment Drive (SEED) in an effort to boost enrollments in the informal sector.
In a media interview, he stated, “When we started last year, we only had about 14,000 people enrolled on the SSNIT scheme as self-employed but today, we have about 71,000 people enrolled on the scheme as self-employed persons.”
Despite the progress, Tenkorang emphasized the challenge, noting that out of the 245,000 pensioners paid in the February payroll, only 630, constituting 0.3%, were retired self-employed individuals.
He acknowledged there is still a significant distance to cover in expanding coverage within the informal sector.