On July 23rd, 2024 the Executive Members of the Social Security and Housing Finance Corporation (SSHFC) Pensioners Committee, led by Chairman Mr. Alieu Faal, made a courtesy visit to the Corporation’s Management. The purpose of this visit was to convey their heartfelt gratitude for the significant achievements and milestones that the Social Security and Housing Finance Corporation has recently attained.
The Pensioners Committee thank Management for the strong financial performance that culminated to payment of financial incentive bonus to staff following the meeting of performance targets inline the Governmentperformance contract. It was indicated that members’ funds grew from D7.8 billion in 2022 to D8.3 billion in 2023 as per the Audited Financial Statements 2023, representing a commendable percentage growth of 6.4%.
Mr. Faal extended his gratitude to the Corporation for successfully hosting the Annual General Meeting in April 2024. This noteworthy event gathered representatives from both public and private sectors, including members of the Federated Pension Scheme and the National Provident Fund. He commended the Corporation for recognizing twenty distinguished institutions with awards for exemplary compliance in employee contribution payments throughout 2023. Mr. Faal also emphasized the importance of timely employee contribution payments and urged all institutions to maintain this standard of compliance.
Mr. Faal commended the Corporation for its exemplary commitment to ensuring timely pension payments, particularly during festive seasons, which significantly eases the process for pensioners. As the official representative of Social Security and Housing Finance Corporation pensioners, he highlighted the consistent positive feedback he receives from pensioners nationwide, praising the Corporation’s outstanding service and dedication to their well-being.
The pensioners’ delegation has noted significant improvements in claim processing times, reducing the duration from over a month to approximately ten days—a remarkable milestone achieved to date. They also expressed gratitude to the Corporation for implementing an efficient workflow system that ensures claim processing is meticulously tracked and managed.
The Pensioners Committee expressed their gratitude to the Corporation for its support to bedridden pensioners through food provisions, a commendable effort under the Corporation’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative.
The Chairman of the Pensioners extended his heartfelt congratulations to MD Malang on his appointment to the International Social Security Association (ISSA) Bureau, the governing council of the ISSA. He also commended Malang for his role on the working group responsible for reviewing the ISSA constitution. The Chairman encouraged the Corporation to maintain its commitment to excellence, striving to enhance service quality and achieve superior results in line with the performance contract established with the Government.
The Managing Director of the Corporation, Mr. Saloum Malang, extended his gratitude to the pensioners’ delegation and reassured them of the Corporation’s ongoing commitment to addressing their needs. He emphasized that the welfare of pensioners is a central component of the Corporation’s Corporate Strategy and confirmed that its implementation is progressing as planned.
The MD also updated the pensioners on the Corporation drive to offer social protection for the informal sector. He indicated that the Corporation is committed to extending social protection to the informal sector. To advance this strategic initiative, a delegation from theundertook a benchmarking study tour to Lusaka, Zambia, where they engaged with the National Pension Scheme Authority to gain insights from the Zambian experience.
Following this valuable learning experience, they established a task force with the mandate to evaluate the feasibility and framework for extending social protection to the informal sector. He added that the task force has proactively engaged with various segments of The Gambia informal sector, including women gardeners, taxi drivers, and tailors, among others. The qualitative data gathered from these consultations will be instrumental in shaping informed decisions and tailoring our service offerings to meet the unique needs of this diverse and vital segment.
He also updated the delegates on the successful impact of the SSHFC Family concept, designed to foster collaboration and resource-sharing among SSHFC subsidiaries for mutual benefit. This initiative encourages these entities to support and engage with one another. To further advance this objective, the leaders of all involved organizations were invited to actively participate, contributing to the continued success and positive outcomes of this collaborative effort.
The meeting provided a valuable platform for productive engagement between the Corporation and this key stakeholder, which is highly encouraging.