The Gold Fields Ghana Foundation (GGF) has appointed Abdel-Razak Yakubu its Executive Secretary.
Razak is a Master’s Degree holder from the University of Cape Coast, and until his appointment, was the Community Relations Manager and Regional Stakeholder Engagement Manager of Damang mine.
As Executive Secretary, Razak will oversee the activities of the Foundation, ensuring the delivery of socio-economic development programmes and shared value projects for its host communities in line with the mandate of the Foundation.
In 2002, Gold Fields Ghana established the Community Development Fund to help finance development initiatives, projects, and programmes in the host communities of Tarkwa and Damang mines.
In 2004, the fund was officially registered as Gold Fields Ghana Foundation.
It is the first foundation to be set up by a mining company in Ghana and the Foundation focuses on five key areas: education, health, water and sanitation, agriculture and infrastructure.
The Foundation has a seven-member Board of Trustees made up of the General Managers of the Tarkwa and Damang mines, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, a representative of the Gold Fields Board, Members of Parliament for the Tarkwa Nsuaem and Prestea Hunni-Valley constituencies, and the Executive Vice President and Head of Gold Fields West Africa who is also the Chairman of the Foundation’s Board.
The Board meets every quarter to review projects and programmes as well as approve the Foundations budget and expenditure. Funding for the foundation is primarily through contributions from the Tarkwa and Damang mines base on their production profitability.
For every ounce of gold produced by the mines, one US dollar is donated to the foundation, in addition to 1.5% of the mines profits before tax. This is the agreed funding formula which ensures that the developmental needs of host communities were directly tied to those of the mines. The Foundation has invested over $90.8 million in development projects and programmes since 2004.
