The Director General of the National Social Security and Insurance Trust (NASSIT), Mohamed Fuaad Daboh, on Tuesday, 17th October 2023, received a team of officials from the World Bank at his Walpole Street Office in Freetown. Welcoming the team, Mr. Daboh expressed his gratitude to the World Bank for its immense contributions to the socio-economic development of Sierra Leone.
He disclosed that the Trust, which was established some twenty years ago, was working on designing a scheme for workers in the informal sector who consider the current NASSIT scheme unattractive because of its long-term benefits. Giving an overview of steps taken so far, the Deputy Director General of operations, who also doubles as Chairman for the Technical Committee, Edwin Mohamed Kamara, explained that in its desire to provide social protection for workers in the informal sector, NASSIT has made relentless efforts in establishing an Informal Sector Scheme, for which various steps had been taken. Mr Kamara told the visiting World Bank team that two committees, the Steering Committee and the Technical Committee, were set up to oversee the process, adding that multilateral institutions like the International Labour Organisation (ILO) were engaged for their expertise and a roadmap.
He went on to say that a two-day training was organised by the ILO for members of the Technical Committee, nationwide focus-group discussions were held and results validated, and then sub-committees were formed to look at the various areas of the proposed scheme. The next stage, Mr Kamara noted, is the inception actuarial valuation report for the inception of the scheme. He appealed to the World Bank for possible intervention in the areas of ICT infrastructure and capacity building. Responding, the leader of the World Bank team, Ms Camilla Holmemo thanked the Director General and NASSIT for the warm reception and expressed her delight in the hard work that had been done in the establishment of a social protection scheme for informal sector workers whom she described as vulnerable.
Ms. Holmemo stated that the World Bank had been working with the Government of Sierra Leone as a development partner, “as such, we stand ready to support Sierra Leone’s development programmes”. She requested NASSIT to provide her team with details of the steps taken so far for possible World Bank intervention. Other members of the World Bank team and NASSIT Management made meaningful contributions.
