(FINACTU) - The FINACTU Group is very honored to have provided technical support during the seminar, organized from 10 to 11 July, involving the key players in social security/welfare in Côte d'Ivoire: the Caisse Générale de Retraite des Agents de l'Etat (IPS-CGRAE) and the Caisse Nationale de Prévoyance Sociale (IPS-CNPS), under the auspices of the Ministry of Social Welfare of Côte d'Ivoire, with the active participation of the Inter-African Conference on Social Welfare (CIPRES).

The opening ceremony was led by the Deputy Cabinet Director of the Ministry of Social Welfare in the presence of the Executive Secretary of CIPRES, and of General Directions of CGRAE and CNPS. After the ceremony, institutional experts, the line ministry and FINACTU carried out the work of drafting a bill on financial, accounting and prudential regulation of Côte d'Ivoire’s funded benefit schemes.

This seminar resulted in the finalization of the organization of the legal framework governing Côte d'Ivoire’s funded benefit schemes.

As Mr. ANGOULVANT, an expert at the FINACTU firm, reminds us: "Through this seminar, Côte d'Ivoire has distinguished itself as a pioneer in social security by opening the way to supplementary pension through funding. Given the quality of the work in which FINACTU has actively participated and the remarkable expertise mobilized by the two IPS, I am absolutely convinced that the Ivorian retirement has a very bright future ahead of it ".

Mr. Innocent MAKOUMBOU, Executive Secretary of CIPRES, fully associated with this seminar, added: "The initiative taken by Côte d'Ivoire today cannot leave CIPRES indifferent: the leaders and social security officials of Côte d'Ivoire are writing the story, but we know it is a regional story. What Côte d'Ivoire is doing, through the courageous reform of its basic system, its plans to extend social security and the creation of supplementary funded schemes, is being scrutinized by the 16 countries in our institution. And CIPRES is very supportive of these initiatives, whether it be the IPS of Côte d'Ivoire or all the other IPSs we provide regional guardianship, which lead to such innovations."

The Director of Supplementary Pensions with the CGRAE, Mr Idriss TRAORE, also emphasized that "this seminar allowed us to advance a project we hold in common - CGRAE, CNPS - highlighting the sharing of expertise and allowing our institutions to more significantly improve the level of social protection of our target populations in order to reduce this form of precariousness, unfortunately still noticeable in some people of the 3rd age. " Priscilla TAVARES, Deputy Project Director at the CNPS, concluded, "We still have a lot of work to do, and we will do our utmost to meet the needs of the populations of insured persons with the valuable help of our parent ministry."

The FINACTU group supports both CGRAE and CNPS in the strategic definition and operational implementation of these funded schemes for those in the working in the private sector, the self-employed as well as civil servants and state employees. It was with a view to factoring skills and ideas that this seminar welcomed the representatives of the two institutions, with the support of the Director of Social Security and Mutuality, Mr Yaya DIOMANDE, and experts from the FINACTU Group, Karim DOSSO, Jean-Claude ANGOULVANT, Thibault GAUTHIER and Benjamin ROGER. The aim going forward is to create a comprehensive legal framework for these new regimes, ensuring their safety, transparency and efficiency in order to improve the level of social protection in Côte d'Ivoire.