Fidelity Bank Ghana has called for bold reforms to expand pension coverage to Ghana’s informal sector and diaspora communities, saying greater financial inclusion is key to strengthening retirement security and mobilising long-term capital for national development.
The call was made by Mr Atta Yeboah Gyan, Deputy Managing Director for Operations and Support Functions, during the 2026 Africa Pension Supervisors Association (APSA) Annual Conference held in Accra.
The conference, on the theme: “Unlocking Informal Sector and Diaspora Pensions: From Financial Inclusion to Sustainable Retirement Security,” brought together policymakers, regulators, pension professionals and industry leaders from across Africa to discuss strategies for expanding pension coverage.
Addressing participants, Mr Gyan described Ghana’s pension landscape as presenting a “pension coverage paradox,” noting that although more than 80 percent of the country’s workforce was employed in the informal sector, less than one per cent actively contributed to the Tier One pension scheme.
He said the low participation rate was not due to a lack of concern about retirement but because the pension system had not been designed to reflect the realities and income patterns of informal sector workers.
“For every 100 Ghanaians working outside the formal sector, whether as market traders, artisans, smallholder farmers, kayayei or commercial drivers, only one is contributing to a formal pension,” he said.
Mr Gyan observed that pension assets across Ghana’s three-tier pension system had reached an estimated GHS114 billion, but participation had not kept pace with the country’s growing workforce.
He stressed that the country’s priority should not only be increasing pension assets but also extending retirement security to millions of workers who remained outside the formal pension system.
“The work before us is no longer simply about growing pension assets. It is about ensuring that millions of hardworking Ghanaians who currently remain outside the system have access to retirement security through solutions designed around the way they earn, save and live,” he said.
Mr Gyan also highlighted the potential of diaspora pensions, noting that remittance inflows to Ghana reached US$7.79 billion in 2025, making them one of the country’s most stable sources of foreign exchange.
He said directing just 10 per cent of annual remittance inflows into a structured diaspora pension scheme could generate nearly US$780 million annually, equivalent to almost US$4 billion over five years, for long-term national investment.
According to him, digital remittance platforms already provide the infrastructure needed to facilitate seamless and efficient pension contributions by Ghanaians living abroad.
Mr Gyan said increasing pension participation among informal sector workers would require flexible contribution arrangements that allow individuals to contribute daily, weekly, seasonally or through lump-sum payments without penalties for missed contributions.
He added that sustained public education and confidence-building measures would also be essential to increasing participation.
Drawing lessons from other African countries, Mr Gyan cited Rwanda’s Ejo Heza voluntary savings programme and Kenya’s mobile-enabled pension solutions as successful examples of flexible pension models that had significantly improved coverage.
He proposed the introduction of a dedicated diaspora pension product supported by regulators, pilot flexible contribution models using existing mobile money infrastructure and the integration of pension enrolment into the Ghana Card registration process to make retirement planning more accessible.
Mr Gyan emphasised that financial institutions had a critical role to play in advancing pension inclusion through their customer reach, digital infrastructure and trusted relationships.
He said Fidelity Bank is prepared to support pension mobilisation among informal sector workers and facilitate diaspora pension contributions through its extensive customer network, digital banking platforms and international payment partnerships.
