Of the 3,298,626 working age Sierra Leoneans in 2018 only 227,856 contributed to the National Social Security and Insurance Trust (NASSIT), which is the national retirement scheme, according to data published on NASSIT’s website. According to the 2018 Sierra Leone Integrated Household Survey (SLIHS), 2,129,972 working age Sierra Leoneans were employed, including those self-employed. This means that about 93% of the people would not have a safety net for their retirement age.
The working age population is defined as those aged 15 to 64, according to the Employers and Employed Act of 1965.
Self-employed workers make too little to afford to pay NASSIT 15%
In order to know the current number of Sierra Leoneans employed permanently and part-time, we submitted a Right to Access Information (RAI) request to the Ministry of Labor and Social Security (MLSS) on November 9, 2020, followed by an appeal on December 5. The MLSS failed to respond, in violation of the RAI Act, 2013.
Mohamed Sesay, a young man from Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, says that he has a labor card from the MLSS, a diploma, and work experience as a building engineer, but he still cannot find employment.
“I am a trained and qualified building engineer, but I do not have a job.” Sesay said he is not contributing to his retirement scheme, and that is a significant concern for him. “If this continues, I won’t be able to take care of myself. Not now, when I am strong, and not later, when I get old,” he said.
A total of 317,365 working age people were unemployed in 2018, an increase of 83.4% over the past seven years, according to the SLIHS. But even those who are employed to not make a decent earning, as underemployment characterizes the labor market.
Unemployment rate in Sierra Leone from 1999 to 2020. Data Source: World Bank published by Statista.com
Self-employed worker, Alie B. Koroma, designs acrylic nails. He loves his job, but it hardly pays enough to make a living. “I can’t make much from this skill, so I can’t pay for my National Social Security and Insurance Trust as a self-employed person, though I would like to do so,” he said.
Current average retirement benefit is 628,000 Leones
According to its website, NASSIT pays 13 billion Leones monthly to their 20,693 registered pensioners, averaging 628,000 Leones monthly per retirement beneficiary. Sierra Leone’s minimum wage is 600,000 Leone monthly.
Self-employed persons must pay 15% of their monthly income to NASSIT for at least 180 months, or 15 years, in order to qualify for retirement benefits. The retirement benefits are calculated as 30% of the monthly average. In other words, if Alie B. Koroma’s salary is 1,000,000 Leones, he must contribute 150,000 of that to NASSIT every month. If Alie B. Koroma were to make 1,000,000 monthly consistently for 15 years, his retirement benefit will be 300,000 Leones monthly for the rest of his life once he reaches retirement age.
Gershon Lewis Wyse, an Insurance expert, stated that if the majority of the working age population were employed and contributing to social security, it would help support the majority of the retirement age population when they can’t work anymore. Instead, he said, “[The] majority of people within the working age are not [paying] social security, neither do they have health insurance. This is not good for the working population.”
Antique labor laws do not keep up with realities
In order to encourage people to pay, he said that the government must raise the minimum wage, to also help low-income earners to receive better monthly benefits when they retire. “Some people who collect their monthly NASSIT benefits can hardly take care of themselves with what they get, because what they were originally contributing was very small because of their salaries,” Wyse said.
Ayouba Richard Sesay, a retired school Principal in Freetown, said that he has been receiving retirement benefits from NASSIT paid to his account monthly and he has been using it to support himself and his family.
“My challenge is still the same: small salary while teaching, and small benefits while on retirement. Most importantly for me is that I have no job after retirement, and my benefit is not enough to take care of my needs and my family,” Sesay confessed.
Edmond Abu, Director of Native Consortium and Research Centre, a civil society working on economic justice, said that Sierra Leone’s employment and job market must be treated seriously, as the government must take all necessary steps to ensuring people are employed.
“The labour laws must be reviewed,” he added. “They are too old to match with the current trend and job market.”
Figure 1Working age distribution. Data Source: SLIHS 2018
Despite official figures showing unemployment at just 4.4%, Edmond Abu said that the number of unemployment is alarming and worrying, and if the government does not take quick action to address it, it may lead to lawlessness. “Most of those who are in the working age are youth and some of them are involved in lawless activities like robbery.”
Abu also urged the government to raise the minimum wage, as most people can hardly take care of themselves and their families out of 600,000 Leones a month.
The SLIHS states that 21.4% of the economically active population is youth between 15 and 24 years old.
By Alimamy Jalloh
5/01/2021. ISSUE NO:7973