Prospects for social security in English Speaking Africa

Prospects for social security in English speaking Africa Modern social security programmes were set up in English speaking Africa mainly after 1960 when most countries gained their independence and a majority of these schemes took the form of provident funds. In Africa, after over thirty years of operating these provident funds, the expected benefits have failed to meet the expectation of the members. This has been due to inflation and currency devaluation in some countries, poor investment returns and/or other adverse economic impacts on the programmes. The last decade has witnessed the introduction of major reforms, ranging from the transformation of provident funds into social insurance pension schemes, introduction of new programmes such as employment injury and maternity protection to restructuring of the social security organizations. However, amidst these achievements lie new emerging issues that must be taken into account to ensure the future of social security in the region. This volume contains reports of the meeting of Directors of Social Security Organizations in English-speaking Africa that was held in Dar-Es-Salaam from 5-7 July 2000. The meeting focused on recent social security developments in the region with emphasis on the need to extend coverage to those presently excluded, methods for improving management efficiency through human resource development and the demographic impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.