AngloGold Ashanti Obuasi Mine has organised a 2-day capacity-building workshop, dubbed Business Supply Chain Development (BSD) for 60 contractors in Obuasi.
The participants were schooled on banking culture, tax compliance, digitalisation – Absa payment platform, procurement processes for goods and materials, procurement processes for services and MINCOM regulations and registration processes.
The initiative is targeted at readying local contractors to compete favourably with their foreign counterparts.
It follows the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) by AngloGold Ashanti in September 2023 with Absa Bank to support SMEs. Under this MoU the two will be collaborating to undertake four projects to jointly assist SMEs within the Obuasi Mine’s operational area to improve their business capability and create non-direct mining jobs in Obuasi, with the goal to diversify and sustain the local economy.
The project is a key component of AngloGold Ashanti’s 10-year socio-economic development plan rolled out in collaboration with the Absa Bank Ghana and the Mineral Commission.
Mr. Edmond Oduro Agyei, the Community Relations Manager of AngloGold Ashanti Obuasi, explained that the programme feeds into the overarching goal of AngloGold Ashanti to empower local businesses to create more jobs in a bid to diversify the economy of Obuasi.
He disclosed that the mining company’s commitment towards sustainability implies making the lives of the people within their operational areas better.
According to him, they implemented their 10-year SEDP ostensibly to diversify the local economy and make the lives of the people better.
Mr. Oduro Agyei said the company, taking cognisance of the impact of its 2014 care and maintenance phase on the economy of Obuasi, decided to support the local economy by empowering business owners to create more jobs and reduce the overreliance on the Obuasi mine for jobs.
He noted that the decision to arrive at the various training modules was informed by the gaps detected by the company in its interaction with local contractors as key elements hampering their chances of securing contracts with the company.
The Community Relations Manager said AGA believes the training will help fill the gaps and boost their capacities to get more contracts.
Mr. Aboagye Ohene Adu, the chairman of the Obuasi Local Contractors Association, commended AngloGold Ashanti for the workshop, stressing that it is a demonstration of the resolve by the company to empower local businesses to be more competitive.
He said the association has had a healthy relationship with AngloGold Ashanti over the years and indicated that their relationship has created a lot of opportunities for its members, adding that the capacity-building workshop lends credence to the unwavering commitment towards diversifying the economy of Obuasi.
According to him, most of their members are a bit handicapped regarding what it takes to win contracts with multinational companies like AngloGold Ashanti and that the workshop has empowered them on certain issues.
