The National Social Security and Welfare Corporation of Liberia (NASSCORP) has come a long way. It has grown from one floor office in a small old building on Broad Street to its own modern multi-storey building on 24^th Street today. We have established 8 regional offices to extend coverage to the regional offices to extend coverage to the entire country. NASSCORP has a mandate to provide social protection for insured workers and their dependents to maintain a minimum quality of life against shocks arising from loss of income caused by job related injuries, disability, old age and death.

NASSCORP has become the largest domestic institutional investor in the country. The corporation is well positional to mobilize domestic savings to spur broader Liberian participation in the economy by investing in major infrastructural projects such as power, communications and healthcare delivery.

NASSCORP had a modest investment portfolio of an estimated $4.7 millions in 2006. Today, its investment portfolio stands at about US$50 million and total assets of over US$81 million. Our investment policy has had its focus on four categories including Real Estate, Equity, Loans and Guarantees, and Commercial Enterprises. Returns on these investments exceeded $1 million in 2017 which bodes well for the financial sustainability and viability of NASSCORP.

The new NASSCORP Act adopted in December 2016 extends coverage to formerly excluded officials of government. A 1% increase in contribution of employers and employees has also been approved based on actuarial advice. The Board has approved 50% increment twice in 2010 and 2014, respectively, in the remuneration of corporate employees as incentive for higher productivity and motivation. A minimum of $360 benefit payment per annum has been put into effect to beneficiaries based on the government’s cost of living and poverty indexes. The transfer of the government’s pension scheme has added an essential component to our role in developing the social protection. We shall endeavor to expend coverage as the economy expands and to include the informal sector.

NASSCORP takes seriously its corporate responsibility. It partnered with the National Housing Authority under the Own Your Home Program with a grant of $2.5 million for the construction of 250 low-cost housing units in Jah Tondo Town, Brewerville in Montserrado County.

The construction of the modern Jahmale Diagnostics Center in Paynesville which is fully furnished with state of the art equipment will help solve some of the age problems of inadequate diagnostic analyses in the country and contribute to medical tourism. Liberians often must take expensive trips abroad for medical diagnosis and specialized treatment. NASSCOPR has in its plan to add a well-equipped clinic that would attract top class Liberian medical practitioners as well as other world class medical doctors and specialists.

NASSCORP is an active member of the International Social Security Association (ISSA). ISSA, with offices at ILO Headquarters in Geneva, is the world’s leading organization for social security institutions, government departments and agencies. Founded in 1927 under the auspices of the international Labor Organization, ISSA strives for excellence in social security administration through professional guidelines, expert knowledge, services and support to enable its members to develop dynamic social security systems and policy throughout the world.

We were honored in 2019 by visit to our new Head Officer of an ECOWAS Parliamentary Delegation led by its Speaker. We shall continue to expand our international cooperation and exchanges.

I wish to express our deepest appreciation and gratitude to His Excellency, Dr. George Manneh Weah, President of the Republic of Liberia, under whose leadership we began effective implementation of the Amended NASSCORP Act of 2016. His magnanimous support to this process and his unreserved confidence in our leadership have made all the difference.

I must also extend my profound gratitude to former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf who first gave me the opportunity, privilege and honor to serve the Corporation as Deputy Director General and Director General respectively. I thank her for the immense confidence reposed in me for the post conflict herculean task of rebuilding the corporation.

As we observe the 45^th Anniversary this year of the founding of the National Social Security and Welfare Corporation of Liberia, I seize this opportunity to pay deserved tribute to all the former Directors General and trailblazers who have all contributed to milestones in the progress of this entity. I pay special homage to Dr. Francis Carbah whom I started out with as Deputy Director General for the great latitude he gave me in the administration of NASSCORP and in sharing in the execution of all its programs.

My gratitude goes to the Chairman and members of the Board for their diligence and support. I also want to thank and commend members of the staff and the entire NASSCORP family for their support, loyalty and dedication to duty.

Finally, we give thanks and praises to the Great Arbiter of Human Events who has vouchsafed our leadership and guided us on our sojourn in the administration of the National Social Security and Welfare Corporation which is so vital in the lives of those in the workforce.