Estrategias para organizar a trabajadores en la economìa informal Por Kwasi Adu-Amankwah Congreso Sindical de

Estrategias para organizar a trabajadores en la economìa informal Por Kwasi Adu-Amankwah Congreso Sindical de

Por Kwasi Adu-Amankwah Secretario general adjunto Congreso Sindical de Ghana

Organizar a los trabajadores del sector no estructurado requiere el estímulo y desarrollo conciente de los vinculos con las instituciones y autoridades públicas, tanto nacionales como internacionales, que pueden proporcionar el apoyo necesario. Kwasi Adu-Amankwah Secretario general adjunto Congreso Sindical de Ghana

1. El sector no estructurado en Ghana

1.1. Orígenes y reciente expansión

El origen del sector no estructurado (1) en la economía de Ghana se remonta a los comienzos del capitalismo colonialista en la entonces denominada Costa de Oro. Directamente desde el principio, surgió una economía dualista con dos tipos de economías sumergidas diferentes.

Los factores clave de la economía colonialista eran la producción de materia prima para la exportación, las inversiones mineras, los transportes y servicios relacionados, la infraestructura y trabajos públicos, y el desarrollo social.

Por una parte, un pequeño sector estructurado cubría principalmente la inversión de capital en minería, transporte, infraestructura, comercio, servicios sociales y administración, que contaba con un empleo remunerado característico de la existencia y actuación del trabajo en este sector. Por otra parte, la promoción de la producción de materia prima para la exportación y la importación de bienes de consumo para el comercio nacional dio lugar a grandes problemas para la mano de obra, tanto agrícola como de los pequeños comercios, los cuales eran trabajad o res por cuenta propia o estaban contratados en función de acuerdos tradicionales o no est ructurados. Incluso en una fase tan temprana un aspecto fundamental del trabajo en el sector no estructurado fue su carácter heterogéneo, que mantuvo a varios campesinos propietarios y trabajadores agrícolas, agentes de distribución, compradores, propietarios de transporte, portead o res, reparado res, etc. (Ninsin, 1991).(...)

Ghana: Three Financial Institutions to Develop Informal Sector

Accra — Three financial institutions have signed a tripartite agreement to help develop the informal sector by providing people with credit facilities in addition to helping informal sector workers to be part of a social security scheme.

The three institutions made up of the SSNIT Informal Sector Fund, HFC Bank Ghana Limited and Boafo Micro finance Services have a common goal of strengthening the economic security of people in the informal sector.

Under the agreement a credit scheme for members of the fund shall be operated under the name Occupational Pension Loan Scheme (OPEN) where persons aged between 15 and 59 and are self-employed would contribute any amount based on their preference and ability.

Dr Francis Sapara-Grant, Managing Director of the SSNIT Informal Sector Fund, an initiative by the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), explained that a member of the scheme could use his or her contributions as partial collateral to secure credit from other regular financial institutions.

He further explained that a member was permitted to make periodic withdrawals from the scheme while 50 per cent of a person's contribution would be used as a retirement account for individual members.

"Contributions by members are divided into two equal parts and credited to two individual sub-accounts, that is Occupational Scheme Account (50 per cent) and Retirement Account (50 per cent) after deduction of Life Insurance Premium," Mr Sapara-Grant added.

He mentioned the Old Age Pension, Disability Benefit and Survivor's Benefit as some of the entitlements members could have when they became part of the programme.

The signing of the agreement, he said, signified the need to harness the efforts of the complementary institutions in the promotion of the welfare of the elderly and the eradication of destitute from Ghana.

Mr Asare Akuffo, Managing Director of HFC Bank, said Ghana had a large informal sector that needed to be supported to enable Small and Medium Scale enterprises to grow into large firms to help contribute formally to the economy.

Mr Michael Osege, MD of Boafo Micro finance Services Limited, a subsidiary company of HFC, said his organization would design loan products and service loans through the Bank and the fund.

He said HFC would provide the banking networks for mobilization of contributions and facilitate the disbursement of loans and repayment and well as the collection of contributions from members through its branches.

Mr Osege said the organization would develop implement plans but was currently testing in Accra and Koforidua and would later roll out the scheme in Kumasi and Takoradi.

Nana Fredua Agyemang Pambuo I, Chairman of Executive Council of the SSNIT Informal Sector Fund, who also chaired the function lauded the initiative to implement a social protective scheme for informal sector workers.

He cited a study that indicated that most informal workers wanted an opportunity to contribute to a social security scheme and said about 80 per cent of Ghanaian workers were in the informal sector.

He urged the parties to form a joint committee made up of members from all three sides to see to the successful implementation of the fund. GNA

24 November 2008

Ghana: Informal Sector Pension Scheme Takes Off

More than 40,000 people have subscribed to the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) Informal Sector Fund, a subsidiary of SSNIT that operates on a blend of the usual pension scheme and "Susu" contributions.

The Fund, which is yet to be launched formally, began on a pilot basis in 2005.

It is estimated that 600,000 people would subscribe to the fund by 2013, based on the enthusiasm members of the public are showing in the scheme.

Mr Joseph Gordon-Mensah, Public Relations Officer of the SSNIT Informal Sector, told the Ghana News Agency on Tuesday that even those in the informal sector who are contributors to the SSNIT pension scheme are also registering with the informal scheme.

The head of the Informal Sector Fund, Mr Francis Sapara-Grant, who was responsible for the preparation of the profile, said the 50 per cent reserved as pension could be used as a collateral for the contributor to access loans from the fund.

A corporate profile of SSNIT on the Informal Sector Fund indicates that contributors are given a pass book in which 50 per cent of their contributions is held as pension and the other 50 per cent is used as deposit from which the contributor can make a withdrawal.

"A member can use his/her contributions as partial collateral to secure credit from other regular financial institutions, and a member can withdraw from the retirement account only at old-age, invalidity or death."

According to the profile, the SSNIT Informal Sector Pension Scheme is a voluntary contributory pension scheme designed principally for workers in the informal sector, which provides members with benefits that are based exclusively on their contributions.

It states that the scheme offers old-age pension/lump sum, disability benefit which is optional, and survivors' lump sum benefit just like the regular SSNIT pension scheme, adding that Ghanaians resident abroad can also contribute to the scheme.

The fund currently has four branches and 10 contact offices in five regions. In Greater Accra there are the Makola branch and six other contact offices, namely Accra Industrial Area, Achimota, Madina, Tema Harbour, Tema East and Kokomlemle.

In Ashanti, there are the Adum branch and two other contact offices at Asafo and Suame; and for Western Region, Takoradi branch and Tarkwa contact office. In the Central Region, there is the Cape Coast contact, and in the Eastern Region the Koforidua branch, with one soon to be opened in Hohoe in the Volta Region. GNA

Advertising’s role in an informal economy

A significant portion of Ghana’s economy is informal, or off the grid. On the ground, this translates into kiosks and stands selling everything from phone minutes to bananas to water to rice.

Many of these stands seem to be completely independent, without any affiliation to larger companies or corporations. But, this isn’t really the case with all of them.

The cell phone providers are probably the most connected to the small stands. The stands sell minutes and sim cards, and sometimes phones, too. The minutes are a necessary part of the cell phone system here, since almost everything is pay as you go. All the stands translate into there being minutes available not far off.

I haven’t figured out exactly what the process of setting up these stands is, but it intrigues me. The stands, advertised with painted or sticker signs, can be found in far-flung villages. So someone is making sure the advertising, like the Vodaphone signs found on the shed above, which is about 3 hours outside of Accra, is getting around.

I’m not sure if the signs are spray-painted on with a stencil, but the advertising ends up everywhere. MTN, another cellphone provider, usually has more uniform advertising, but then again, MTN sponsors everything. (For an idea of how much MTN sponsors, consider: It sponsored not one, but both teams in the President’s Cup soccer match, and also the stadium.)

Other forms of interesting advertising include plastic signs on a swivel, which spin in the wind, alternately displaying a logo and some information or a catchphrase. Zain, yet another cellphone provider, utilizes these quite a bit.

I hope to have some more pictures and more concrete info on advertising, including more on the informal economy, soon.