Nana Osei Bonsu, the boss over at the Private Sector Federation, is not thrilled about how Ghana’s Tier-Three pension scheme is being handled. According to him, folks have completely missed the point. That money? It was never supposed to be a piggy bank for the government to dip into whenever they felt like borrowing. Nope. That cash was meant to fuel business, spark private sector growth, help people build something real.
He was on JoyNews’ PM Express (July 10th, if you’re keeping track), and he went off about how the Federation was right there at the start, helping dream up this three-tier system. Big plans. But now? The actual capital just isn’t stacking up like it should.
Here’s the real kicker: businesses are struggling to get their hands on credit either it’s too expensive, or they just can’t find it. “Cost of credit is high, access to adequate capital formation is very low,” he said. I mean, not exactly shocking if you’ve tried to get a business loan in Ghana lately. It’s brutal out there.
What’s their solution? Basically, get more people into the third tier, make it bigger so there’s a bigger pile of money to work with. Simple, right? Well, in theory.
But here’s where Bonsu gets fired up: the way the money’s actually being used is just...wrong. Instead of flowing into businesses, most of it is chilling in government treasury bills and bonds. Not exactly what you’d call “private sector development.” He literally said, “That is not the private sector.” Hard to argue with that.
It’s like, why even bother with these reforms if you’re just going to toss the money back at the government? The whole idea was to help businesses grow, not just give the government another pot to borrow from.
If there was real capital for the private sector, Bonsu reckons, businesses wouldn’t be groveling for loans, and rates would finally come down. Imagine that banks actually competing to invest in businesses instead of the other way around.
Bottom line, he’s calling out the government: stop treating pension funds like an ATM for quick cash and actually invest in stuff that creates jobs, pays taxes, and builds the economy for the long haul. Makes sense, right? Too bad common sense is in such short supply some days.