In Ghana, where people die in infernos (fire), flood, road traffic accidents, or murdered, they leave behind investments and savings at the Banks, Insurance, and Pension firms. People equally die at homes or hospitals and could be having funds with the regulated financial institutions. Crucially, more than 50 percent adult Ghanaians own personal bank accounts and have at least a financial investment asset with the banks, fund managers, insurance and pension firms.
This may include, savings, bonds, shares, treasury bills, insurance, pension policies, Mobile Money Account or subscribed to products of the financial institutions.
Accessing the funds or property (estate) of a deceased relative who died interstate as a beneficiary or next of kin for economic prosperity have been a challenge over the years. This affects the economic prosperity of victims due to their inability to access the financial estates. The cause and effect cannot be disassociated from the unclear documentation and procedures for next of kin, beneficiaries, and nominees to access the locked-up funds of investment and savings of a deceased family member. This in the long run has crippled families, spouses and children, and with poverty enveloping them all.
Funds of the death are kept by regulators, corporations and business firms like the Bank of Ghana, financial institutions, insurance companies, fund managers, and pension entities. The cost and web of information required to unlock the funds could take months and years.
This is because the regulators, and other entities fail to disclose the complete information needed to accessing deceased funds when completing the onboarding or subscription forms of financial account openings and investments.
It is almost impossible to unlock the funds of the deceased with the financial institutions, insurance and pension firms.
Our recent Ending Family Poverty report evidently expresses that for every death of middle income earner occurring in a family, at least 6 of its members become dependants and subsequently pushed into poverty. This is consistent with Ghana’s dependency ratio of 68.05 percent among all ages in 2022. This is a 5.38 percent decrease in the dependency ratio in 12 years.
However, the potential support ratio was a 0.4 percent increment in 7 years; 16.7 percent and 17.1 percent in 2013 and 2020 respectively.
The truth is that the long administrative processes to access the locked-up funds of the dead add to the dependency ratio and decrease in supporting ratio as well.
State-sponsored anti-poverty programs including the LEAP, and School Feeding Programs create a culture of entitlement, aggravating the very problem the government must cure – remove barriers to prosperity. These government programs exist not because they help to alleviate poverty and other social problems but because they are vote buying in nature to enable politicians retain power.
ILAPI 2024
In each budget cycle, the central and local governments spend more than GH500 Million ($72 million) on state-sponsored anti-poverty programs. With this, 12% of the sum are spent on “other” expenditures aside the cash grant.
Preserving human dignity is a pre-condition for a prosperous society. This is an essential ingredient by removing legal and social barriers, and economic deprivation preventing us from productively engaging with our fellow man.
Families in Ghana are poor and their inability to access investment of their dead relatives is identified to usher more Ghanaians into poverty. The poor can be offered greater opportunities by becoming self-sufficient through the removal of administrative barriers and red tape that undermine and disempower them.
This could significantly reduce Ghana’s dependency ratio by 2 percent and increase the support ratio by 0.7 percent annually.
Most importantly, reforms that would lead to pragmatic steps to lift individuals and families out of poverty should be prioritized for inclusivity. By reducing taxes and removing pricking regulations are the succinct poverty alleviation programs. The cumbersome and costly administrative procedures to access the funds of the dead are genuine recipes for having more poverty individuals.
In a comfortable, convenient, transparent and no administrative burdens, families can access the funds of the dead in time, use the money to start a business, educate the younger ones, expand existing family businesses, and reduce the poverty. This suggests the new approach to fighting poverty and reducing the number of individuals subscribing onto state-sponsored anti-poverty programs like the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP). That new approach is development in dignity. An important way of removing barriers to enable citizens to access locked funds of their deceased loved ones to take them out of poverty.
Peter Bismark Kwofie
Executive Director
ILAPI, Tema
In Ghana, where people die in infernos (fire), flood, road traffic accidents, or murdered, they leave behind investments and savings at the Banks, Insurance, and Pension firms. People equally die at homes or hospitals and could be having funds with the regulated financial institutions. Crucially, more than 50 percent adult Ghanaians own personal bank accounts and have at least a financial investment asset with the banks, fund managers, insurance and pension firms.
This may include, savings, bonds, shares, treasury bills, insurance, pension policies, Mobile Money Account or subscribed to products of the financial institutions.
Accessing the funds or property (estate) of a deceased relative who died interstate as a beneficiary or next of kin for economic prosperity have been a challenge over the years. This affects the economic prosperity of victims due to their inability to access the financial estates. The cause and effect cannot be disassociated from the unclear documentation and procedures for next of kin, beneficiaries, and nominees to access the locked-up funds of investment and savings of a deceased family member. This in the long run has crippled families, spouses and children, and with poverty enveloping them all.
Funds of the death are kept by regulators, corporations and business firms like the Bank of Ghana, financial institutions, insurance companies, fund managers, and pension entities. The cost and web of information required to unlock the funds could take months and years.
This is because the regulators, and other entities fail to disclose the complete information needed to accessing deceased funds when completing the onboarding or subscription forms of financial account openings and investments.
It is almost impossible to unlock the funds of the deceased with the financial institutions, insurance and pension firms.
Our recent Ending Family Poverty report evidently expresses that for every death of middle income earner occurring in a family, at least 6 of its members become dependants and subsequently pushed into poverty. This is consistent with Ghana’s dependency ratio of 68.05 percent among all ages in 2022. This is a 5.38 percent decrease in the dependency ratio in 12 years.
However, the potential support ratio was a 0.4 percent increment in 7 years; 16.7 percent and 17.1 percent in 2013 and 2020 respectively.
The truth is that the long administrative processes to access the locked-up funds of the dead add to the dependency ratio and decrease in supporting ratio as well.
State-sponsored anti-poverty programs including the LEAP, and School Feeding Programs create a culture of entitlement, aggravating the very problem the government must cure – remove barriers to prosperity. These government programs exist not because they help to alleviate poverty and other social problems but because they are vote buying in nature to enable politicians retain power.
ILAPI 2024
In each budget cycle, the central and local governments spend more than GH500 Million ($72 million) on state-sponsored anti-poverty programs. With this, 12% of the sum are spent on “other” expenditures aside the cash grant.
Preserving human dignity is a pre-condition for a prosperous society. This is an essential ingredient by removing legal and social barriers, and economic deprivation preventing us from productively engaging with our fellow man.
Families in Ghana are poor and their inability to access investment of their dead relatives is identified to usher more Ghanaians into poverty. The poor can be offered greater opportunities by becoming self-sufficient through the removal of administrative barriers and red tape that undermine and disempower them.
This could significantly reduce Ghana’s dependency ratio by 2 percent and increase the support ratio by 0.7 percent annually.
Most importantly, reforms that would lead to pragmatic steps to lift individuals and families out of poverty should be prioritized for inclusivity. By reducing taxes and removing pricking regulations are the succinct poverty alleviation programs. The cumbersome and costly administrative procedures to access the funds of the dead are genuine recipes for having more poverty individuals.
In a comfortable, convenient, transparent and no administrative burdens, families can access the funds of the dead in time, use the money to start a business, educate the younger ones, expand existing family businesses, and reduce the poverty. This suggests the new approach to fighting poverty and reducing the number of individuals subscribing onto state-sponsored anti-poverty programs like the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP). That new approach is development in dignity. An important way of removing barriers to enable citizens to access locked funds of their deceased loved ones to take them out of poverty.
Peter Bismark Kwofie
Executive Director
ILAPI, Tema
