Standard Chartered Bank Ghana PLC has paid GH¢97.8 million in dividends to the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), providing the pension manager with additional funds to support its obligations to retirees.
The payment represents SSNIT’s return from its investment in the bank for the 2025 financial year and forms part of Standard Chartered Ghana’s total dividend payout of GH¢673.95 million approved by shareholders at the bank’s 56th Annual General Meeting in Accra.
Standard Chartered declared a final dividend of GH¢4.98 per ordinary share, totalling GH¢672.35 million, in addition to GH¢1.13 million paid to preference shareholders.
For SSNIT, the dividend provides immediate liquidity that can be channelled towards pension payments, while also generating returns from one of the Trust’s listed equity investments.
The Director-General of SSNIT, Kwesi Afreh Biney, said improving returns from the Trust’s investment portfolio remained a key priority as the institution seeks to strengthen its capacity to meet pension obligations.
He said Standard Chartered’s performance had benefited SSNIT through both capital appreciation and cash dividends.
“You have not only given us enhanced returns on our investments in the SSNIT portfolio, but you have also introduced an improvement that provides us with greater liquidity to support the payment of pensions which is the core of our job and mandate,” he said.
Mr Biney described Standard Chartered as one of SSNIT’s significant investments and one of the stronger dividend-paying companies listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange.
The Chief Executive Officer of Standard Chartered Bank Ghana, Mr Xorse Godzi, said the bank’s relationship with SSNIT was particularly significant because Ghanaian workers have an indirect stake in the bank through their pension fund.
“We recognise that SSNIT plays a vital role in Ghana’s economy, representing financial security for the future of the average worker,” he said.
“Through SSNIT, the average Ghanaian worker has a stake in our Bank. Our success, therefore, directly contributes to the future of Ghanaian workers.”
The latest dividend payment comes as Standard Chartered marks 130 years of continuous operations in Ghana, having established its local presence in 1896 as the Bank of British West Africa.
The bank continues to focus on areas including cross-border banking, wealth management, trade and infrastructure financing.
For SSNIT, the investment return underscores the importance of maintaining a diversified portfolio capable of generating both long-term value and regular cash flows to support the payment of pensions.
