Our Regulator for today is the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (“NPRA”). NPRA is governed by the National Pensions Act 2008 (Act 766) as amended (the “Act”) and it is responsible for regulating both private and public pension schemes in Ghana. The Act creates a three tier pension scheme; the first two are mandatory and the last tier is optional.
The entities that are required to register with NPRA are as follows:
- Public Pension Schemes (i.e. the Social Security and National Insurance Trust Scheme);
- Private Pension Schemes (which include Trustees of pension funds, Pension fund managers and Pension fund custodians).
The NPRA is mandated by the Act to register and issue a certificate to the above pension schemes and all employers are mandated to pay 13.5% of their employees’ salaries as a tier one pension contribution and 5.5% of their employees’ salaries as a tier two pension contribution on behalf of and for the benefit of their employees.
Also, a person cannot practice as a pension fund manager or custodian unless that person has registered with the NPRA. A trustee, pension fund manager or a custodian who fails to register with the NPRA commits an offence punishable by a fine of at least GHS24,000 or a term of imprisonment of not more than two years or to both.
It is important to note that employees are also required to register with the Pension Schemes in order for employers to make the mandatory deductions. The minimum age at which a person may join the pensions scheme is fifteen years and the maximum age is forty-five years.
