In a move aimed at strengthening Sierra Leone’s social protection landscape, the Director General of the National Social Security and Insurance Trust (NASSIT), Mohamed Fuaad Daboh, on Tuesday, 11th June 2025, appealed for support and collaboration from the People’s Republic of China to operationalise the proposed Informal Sector Pension Scheme. The appeal was made during a high-level engagement with senior officials of the Chinese Embassy in Freetown.
Speaking at the meeting, Mr. Daboh expressed profound appreciation for China’s ongoing support to Sierra Leone across key sectors, including education, infrastructure, energy, agriculture, health, and diplomacy, contributions, he said, that have played a critical role in the country’s national development.
Updating Economic and Commercial Counsellor Peng Wang, who represented the Chinese Ambassador, Mr. Daboh described NASSIT as a statutory Public Trust with a mandate to provide retirement and other social protection benefits for workers. He highlighted the Scheme’s success in covering over 87% of formal sector workers over the past two decades. However, he acknowledged that reaching the informal sector has been a significant challenge. Since his appointment in 2018, Mr. Daboh noted that NASSIT has made substantial progress toward creating a pension scheme tailored to the needs of the informal workforce. In collaboration with the International Labour Organisation (ILO), NASSIT established internal structures such as a Steering Committee, Technical Committee, and an Informal Sector Secretariat. These efforts culminated in the development of a draft policy, supported by a diagnostic study and an actuarial valuation that explored various benefit and contribution models. He explained that the proposed Scheme has undergone technical review and validation by both the ILO and the Ministry of Employment, Labour and Social Security, and has received endorsement from the Steering Committee.
Looking ahead, the Director General outlined several priority actions for the next phase of implementation. These include a nationwide stakeholder engagement campaign, final validation of the policy framework, submission of the draft policy to Cabinet, legislative approval, and ultimately, the rollout of the Scheme. Mr. Daboh called on the Chinese Embassy to support the initiative in critical areas such as training, ICT infrastructure, and capacity building.
In response, Counsellor Peng Wang commended Mr. Daboh and his team for their vision and progress. He reaffirmed the enduring relationship between China and Sierra Leone, noting that China has long supported the country’s development through infrastructure investments, economic aid, and debt relief. He pledged China’s continued commitment to strengthening bilateral cooperation and expressed support for the successful launch of the Informal Sector Pension Scheme.
The meeting concluded with the presentation of the draft policy document and an update on the milestones achieved to date.
NASSIT—We Care!
