The Managing Director of Tesah Capital Limited, Eugenia Basheer, has revealed that approximately GH₵30bn 30 billion of pension funds are currently tied up in government investments.
Contributing to an Investment Forum on Citi TV on Thursday, February 15, 2024, under the theme “Clarity in the Chaos: What Lies Ahead for the Ghanaian Economy?” Eugenia Basheer emphasized the potential for these pension funds to contribute significantly to the country’s economic growth if diversified across various sectors.
She pointed out that many foreign countries invest in Ghana’s pension funds because they have successfully grown their funds to a level allowing external investments. She stressed that utilizing pension funds has been instrumental in the development of numerous nations.
Highlighting the prevalence of investments in government instruments over corporate ones, she called on relevant stakeholders to explore diversifying the funds into different sectors, thereby stimulating growth and aiding in the economic revival of the country.
She said, “The first time I saw the Pension Act before it was passed into law, I thought yes, this is going to drive growth in Ghana because when you look at other economies, that is what has happened. We see pension funds from other economies and even in Africa coming to Ghana to invest here because they’ve grown the pension to the extent that they can invest outside their country.
“Today we have pension funds of over 30 billion, where is it sitting? Unfortunately, I’m sure 70 to 80% is sitting on government paper. There are different sizes to this. Do you blame the investors or the pension fund holders for investing in these instruments?”
