Afrimex is a company that prides itself in providing unparalleled service in the gold mining industry. The company offers an array of specialist mining tools, heavy-duty equipment, and spare parts, in addition to a comprehensive selection of gold buying and selling services, with its founders recently attending the LBMA/LPPM Global Precious Metals Conference in Koyoto, Japan.
This article will take a closer look at gold mining in Ghana, the world’s leading gold-producing nation, and measures implemented by the Ghanaian government designed to inspire future players in the country’s gold mining sector.
Initiated in 2005, the Gold Fields Ghana Foundation has granted bursaries and scholarships to 2,448 students to date, giving financial aid to young people residing in host communities of the Damang and Tarkwa mines.
Until 2019, the scheme covered the cost of vocational training in addition to senior high school and tertiary education. However, after the Ghanaian government implemented its Free Senior High School initiative, this was no longer necessary. The scholarship scheme now focuses on supporting students who are pursuing university degrees and other tertiary learning programs.
All students residing in the host communities of the Damang and Tarkwa mines are eligible to apply once they gain admission to an accredited tertiary school or public university in Ghana.
Initiated in 2018, the Gold Fields Ghana Foundation graduate trainee program is designed to build talent pipelines for the country’s gold fields and mining industry. Again supporting young people from the Damang and Tarkwa mining communities, the initiative is open to students who have completed national service, with the initiative enabling eligible graduates to participate in a two-year, on-the-job training scheme.
Forming an integral part of the Gold Fields community skills development strategy, which was devised to enhance the quality of human capital in host communities, the graduate trainee program has supported 171 university graduates to date, with a new batch of trainees enrolling every two years.
In April 2021, a groundbreaking ceremony was staged at the University of Mines and Technology in Tarkwa, marking the start of construction of a cutting-edge, multi-purpose facility created to support research and teaching at the university. With an estimated construction cost of some $1.21 million, the project was sponsored by the Ghana Chamber of Mines and the Tertiary Education Fund.
Established in 2019, the Tertiary Education Fund pledged to yield $440,000 annually for the project to support learning and teaching provisions, funding everything from bursaries and scholarships to research programs, internships, and other support. The ambitious project also included the creation of a Smart Classroom, as well as facilities for the University’s Mining and Minerals Engineering Department.
Sulemanu Koney, the renowned Ghanaian engineer, business leader, and Chamber of Mines executive director, attended the groundbreaking ceremony at the University of Mines and Technology, Tarkwa.
He highlighted the university’s role as an essential institution in the training of the human capital required for Ghana’s mining industry and other relevant sectors of the country’s economy, underscoring the need for the Ghanaian government, industry, and other donors to support the facility.
Mr. Koney praised the university for its role in the training of professionals and conducting research in the minerals sector, pointing out that, in doing so, it continues to attract more young people to engineering and other learning programs as springboards for their career paths.
Acknowledging that the academic institution had been stretched to its limits, Sulemanu Koney thanked the member companies of the Chamber for their benevolence, which had made it possible for the Tertiary Education Fund to realize its objectives.
A pioneer of Ghana’s gold mining industry, Afrimex is helping to sculpt a better future for the sector, ensuring its constant innovation and long-term sustainability. Constantly researching and innovating, Afrimex is poised for rapid growth and expansion, helping to fuel economic growth both within the communities it operates in and at a national level.
