Tier 2 and the worker: The silent crisis we are not talking about: How AI can narrow the gap

By Elvis MENSAH

Ghana’s pension reforms were designed to secure the dignity of the worker. Under the three-tier pension system, 18.5percent of a worker’s basic salary is mandatorily contributed every month, with 5percent allocated to Tier 2 as a privately managed scheme.

Tier 2 is meant to deliver a lump sum at retirement and was conceived as a modern safeguard privately managed, investment-driven, and structured to deliver predictability at the end of a worker’s active years.

Beneath this promise, however, lies a quiet but troubling truth. Many Ghanaian workers have little visibility into their own pension savings, and the system built to protect them has not yet achieved the compliance discipline the law demands.

This challenge is not theoretical. It is deeply human and painfully practical.

The money leaves the salary but does it reach the trustee?

Month after month, contributions are deducted under the reassuring label ‘Tier 2 Pension’. Yet for countless workers, the trail goes cold right after the payslip. Many workers do not know who their trustee is, whether their employer is paying on time, or what their current pension value stands at. A compulsory system should not operate with voluntary transparency. But today, workers are effectively blind to the status of funds they are forced to contribute.

When employers default and even the state delays

The most uncomfortable reality is that pension arrears are not limited to small or struggling employers. Over the years, portions of the public sector have faced delayed remittances of Tier 2 contributions.

This single breach by the State the largest employer weakens the regulator’s moral authority. If government itself has struggled with full and timely compliance, the leverage available to a young worker in a private SME when deductions are not remitted becomes almost meaningless. The consequence is a deep erosion of trust in the entire system, not just in individual employers.

Broken pension records when workers change jobs

One of Tier 2’s most attractive features was portability. In practice, however, many workers discover that their contributions are scattered across multiple trustees, that months of contributions are missing, or that there is no clear trail when employers switch trustees without transferring historical records. A retirement benefit should not require a detective’s skill to reconstruct a worker’s career history.

Legacy fears and delays for public sector workers

Early disputes surrounding the management of public sector Tier 2 funds created long-lasting anxieties. Many early retirees encountered confusing processes, unclear fund locations, and prolonged administrative back-and-forth before accessing their benefits. Although the operational environment has improved over time, the psychological damage remains. Many workers still fear that they will have to fight for money they spent decades contributing.

Why enforcement still feels soft

Despite having strong legal authority, enforcement by the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA) often feels episodic. Occasional prosecutions, periodic warnings, and public reminders play a role, but they do not amount to a systemic, automated enforcement regime. Until enforcement becomes digital, data-driven, and proactive, compliance will continue to depend on luck and goodwill rather than certainty.

How artificial intelligence can transform NPRA’s compliance enforcement

If Ghana truly wants to protect workers, the next frontier is clear: artificial intelligence must become a central pillar of pension compliance and transparency.

• Through automated data matching across institutions such as the Ghana Revenue Authority, SSNIT, NPRA, and the Registrar-General’s Department, AI systems can instantly flag employers whose payroll declarations and pension remittances do not align. With current data capabilities, up to 68percent of non-remittance cases can be detected early. Where PAYE records indicate one workforce size and Tier 2 remittances reflect another, anomalies can be identified in real time, shifting NPRA from reactive investigations to continuous surveillance.
• AI can also support predictive compliance risk scoring by classifying employers into high-, medium-, and low-risk categories based on payment history, industry characteristics, staff turnover, prior sanctions, and payroll inconsistencies. This allows limited regulatory resources to be deployed where the risks are highest, something traditional audits struggle to achieve.
• For workers, an AI-driven contributor portal linked to the Ghana Card could consolidate pension records across all trustees, display real-time balances, and send automatic SMS or app alerts when contributions are delayed, missed, or reversed. Given Ghana’s mobile penetration, reaching up to 80percent of contributors via SMS alone is achievable and cost-effective, even for those without internet access.
• For regulators, AI-enabled enforcement dashboards could reveal non-compliance hotspots by sector or region, unusual trustee fund movements, and delays in custodial transfers. Pension supervision would become a real-time analytical ecosystem rather than a paper-based administrative function.

The Ghanaian Worker Wants One Thing: Certainty

What must change beyond AI

While artificial intelligence offers a powerful leap forward, technology alone will not fix Tier 2. Ghana needs a broader policy reset that strengthens accountability, transparency, and worker protection. Late remittances should trigger automatic penalties without waiting for workers to complain.

Corporate trustees must share accountability when failures go unreported. Penalties must be severe enough to deter abuse, and Tier 2 compliance certificates should become prerequisites for government contracts, licence renewals, and access to public sector opportunities.

There is also an urgent need for a pensions ombudsman function to resolve disputes independently. Pension statements should be a statutory right, and pension education must become mandatory in workplaces. Above all, the public sector must lead by example, and worker pension records must be consolidated nationally under a single lifetime pension identity.

Tier 2 is not a failed policy. It is a strong structure weakened by poor visibility, fragmented data, delayed remittances, and soft compliance. Artificial intelligence gives Ghana the opportunity to leapfrog decades of administrative weakness and build one of Africa’s most transparent pension systems.

But the choice is ultimately a leadership one.

If NPRA embraces AI, Ghanaian workers will finally enjoy real-time transparency, real-time protection, and real-time enforcement. Without it, the system will continue to rely on hope, luck, and scattered paper trails. The Ghanaian worker deserves better and the technology to deliver it already exists.

>>>the writer is an Organizational Developer Practitioner, CEO of Olive Growth Consult, and a Business & Data Analytics professional. He specializes in digital transformation, pension administration, effective AI Advocate, and strategic research, delivering data-driven solutions that enhance institutional performance across HR, Change Management and public-sector systems. He can be reached via 0204241086 and or [email protected]

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