Assisting pension contributors acquire homes -2 Entities sign pact

Ecobank Ghana and Enterprise Trustees have signed a partnership agreement to introduce a pension-backed mortgage loans which will help pension contributors acquire affordable homes.

Under the agreement, Enterprise Trustees will make available to workers whose pension funds are with Enterprise, a package that enables them to attract mortgages from Ecobank with zero down payments.

The bank will then disburse the mortgage loan to the beneficiaries who will pay monthly instalments over a 15-year period.

The initiative comes as a relief to workers as they are now assured of securing decent custom-built homes which will be fully paid for ahead of their retirement.

No deposit

The Managing Director of Ecobank, Mr Dan Sackey, said the innovative partnership was a novelty for the Ghanaian financial services market and should be embraced by workers.

Usually, he said a regular mortgage would require the borrower to make available at least a 20 per cent down payment while the new initiative offered a product that would not require the borrower to make any deposit.

Mr Sackey said all that the borrower needed to do was to identify the house and Ecobank would provide the funding.

“As we play our fiduciary role as trustees, clients of Enterprise Trustees pension schemes should be rest assured we have their full interest at heart and this is another addition to the exciting value we create for you in reaching your desired advantage,” he said.

Pension reform

He explained that pension reforms, which led to the introduction of the 3 Tier Pension Scheme under the National Pensions Act, introduced private sector to manage pensions.

Under the new reform, he said trustees were mandated to administer Occupational Pension Schemes, Provident Fund and Personal Pensions under Tiers 2 and 3.

Mr Sackey highlighted that those schemes were to be under defined contribution conditions which were 5 per cent to fund Tier 2 and up to 16.5 per cent to fund Tier 3.

He said the objective of the reform was to ensure retirement income security by unlocking the various opportunities that existed in the new 3- Tier model to the benefit of retirees.

Home ownership

“Our presence here today is simply to unlock one of such potentials which is home ownership in the lifetime of a working woman or man. It’s been 10 years of running schemes enabling contributors to build up funds towards their future retirement.

“This is a collaboration between two industry giants Ecobank Ghana and Enterprise Trustees. We are optimistic our shared value of excellence will be our guiding principle as we work together for the betterment of Ghanaian workers to own homes through a unique mortgage solution,” Mr Sackey said.

He, therefore, encouraged both formal and informal workers to fully subscribe to the provident and personal pension schemes to realise a more positive retirement outcome.