President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has re-appointed John Ofori-Tenkorang as the Director-General of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT).
Since his first appointment in March 2017, Dr Ofori-Tenkorang has transformed the operator of the national basic pension scheme into a transparent, accountable and client-focused public institution comparable to any well-managed private institution with a largely positive media coverage.
He has over the past four years ensured the efficient and effective deployment and utilisation of resources to achieve the strategic objectives and goals of the Trust, and under his leadership, SSNIT has made significant strides.
Operational efficiency
Under his watch, the number of workers actively contributing to the SSNIT scheme grew by 28.35 per cent, from about 1.3 million in December, 2016 to 1.6 million, as of December 2020.
Also, the net assets of the Trust increased from GHC8.405billion, as of December 2016, to GHC11.35 billion, as of December 2020, a growth of 35.05 per cent.
In 2019, the Trust introduced the annual issuance of electronic statements to all contributors as part of measures to cut down cost of printing statements, improve transparency and boost confidence of Members in the Scheme.
This comes on the back of feedback from members and the quest to keep them updated. The electronic statement of accounts are now issued to members quarterly.
Additionally, he introduced measures to reduce the cost burden on the Trust. As of December 2020, the measures put in place had yielded a total savings of over GHC512 million on legacy investment transactions, ICT support fees and the deletion of names of “ghost pensioners” from the pensioners’ payroll.
Effective engagement
One of the major challenges that confronted the Trust before his appointment was the delay in pension processing.
With the adoption of appropriate strategies, first pensions are now paid within 10 working days, after submitting pension applications, compared to the 47 days it took before his tenure.
Also, the Trust now provides multiple service delivery points, carries out periodic engagement with Organized Labour through leadership of TUC, and has rolled out innovative and informative stakeholder engagement programmes such as regular media briefings, focal persons training, Employers Breakfast Meetings to boost voluntary compliance. His first term also saw the introduction of ‘SSNIT Infoshop’ with students and ‘SSNIT Minute’ on radio.
His unique and exceptional management skills have earned him and the Trust several awards, including 2019 Company of the Year (Public Sector) – Ghana Business Awards, among others.
Already, he has committed to building on the successes chalked in his first term to expand coverage to the self-employed and further boost confidence of stakeholders in the Trust.
Profile
Dr Ofori-Tenkorang is an investment banker, an engineer and an academic. He attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he was awarded Bachelor of Science, Master of Science, Engineer, and Doctor of Science Degrees in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science.
He began his career as an instructor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He developed propulsion systems and novel electric motors for electric vehicles for Ford Motor Company.
He also worked for Quantum Corporation, Milpitas and Lutron Electronics Company in Coopersburg, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, and St. Kitts.
Dr Ofori-Tenkorang later joined the American International Group (AIG), where he worked with its financial subsidiary, AIG Trading Group. He became assistant vice-president and later vice-president of the group. He later joined AIG Financial Products Corporation (AIFP) and Banque AIG serving as its executive director.
He was transferred to South Africa, where he was responsible for the company’s investment activities in Africa. In 2006, he left AIG to join Gödel Commodities Management, United States of America, and Dubai Natural Resources World, United Arab Emirates.
He was assigned the United States Patent 4,987,372 in 1991 for inventing the Potentiometer State Sensing Circuit.
He later returned to Ghana in 2016 to work at the office of the Vice-President as a technical adviser until his appointment in 2017 as the Director-General of SSNIT.
