Ninety-six per cent of pensioners surveyed in Ghana have expressed the willingness to work beyond the mandatory retirement age, highlighting a significant gap between retirees’ desire to remain productive and the structures available to engage their expertise.

🇬🇭 Here's What Happened

The Centre for Retired Experts (CREX) conducted the study in February 2026 to examine how retirees across the country could continue to contribute to national productivity after leaving formal employment.

The study, which involved 559 pensioners, assessed their willingness, motivations and capacity to undertake productive activities after mandatory retirement.

At a high-level research dissemination seminar at the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA), Dr Adam Salifu, a Lecturer at UPSA and co-researcher, said nearly all the respondents were willing to mentor young professionals, while about 88 per cent were prepared to serve as advisers or board members.

📌 Key Details

He said about 98 per cent were willing to register on a structured platform for retirees, although approximately 93 per cent said they were unaware of any existing platform through which they could offer their expertise.

“The problem is about coordination and not willingness. Who is there to coordinate these people? They are willing to work, but we don’t have the mechanism there to coordinate them,” he said.

The study also found that about 86 per cent of respondents rejected the assertion that retirement had reduced their sense of usefulness to society, with approximately 87 per cent still considering themselves useful to national development.

Dr Salifu said about 97 per cent agreed that there was a gap between the potential of retirees and the systems available to engage them productively.

He said more than 50 per cent of the respondents preferred the retirement age to be extended to 65 years or beyond, suggesting that many considered the current mandatory retirement age of 60 too early.

On well-being, more than 95 per cent of respondents reported stable physical and mental conditions, although Dr Salifu cautioned that that did not necessarily mean they were financially better off.

📰 Source: Joy Online Ghana