Pathways to Pension Reform in Africa: Trade Unions and Historical Legacies

• In Event: The Changing Landscape of Social Protection in Africa

Abstract

The provision of old-age pensions is seen as a key development in the expansion of state-provided welfare in developing countries and new democracies. Yet, in comparative perspective much less is known about the process of pension reform in sub-Saharan Africa. While studies have focused on the growing use of social assistance to support vulnerable populations, there have been equally important changes in the structure and coverage of contributory forms of social insurance. This paper uses the tool of a structured case comparison to contrast the divergent experiences of pension reform in Ghana and Malawi. The paper argues that while the transition to democracy has opened up new political space for bargaining, struggles over pension reform occur within case-specific historical legacies. This is primarily evident in terms of the size and relative bargaining power of organized labor and the past importance of social security contributions to fund patronage-based coalitions. Contrary to other perspectives, pension reform is not mainly determined by the demands of international organizations, but by the imperatives of competing domestic incentives. Commitments to expand pensions to cover more citizens - particularly the informal employment sector - are shaped by these constraints. The paper is supplemented with original cross-national data on the structure and coverage of pensions in Africa from 1960 to 2019.

Author

• Yonatan L. Morse, University of Connecticut