To build capacity of indigenous mining companies in the local content space of the industry, the Chamber of Mines has put in place some specific and well thought through interventions to deepen participation of local companies in the mining value chain.
In Anglogold Ashanti Obuasi for instance, the Chamber has initiated steps by encouraging a joint venture partnership between an experienced foreign mining company to partner with a local company to undertake mechanized underground mining.
What the Chamber seeks to achieve through this partnership is that going into the future that indigenous mining firm will build capability and be able to stand on its own and look for opportunities in the entire mining sector.
Aside this measure, the steps taken by the Chamber has also resulted in local companies undertaking their own contracts at Goldfields Ghana limited.
In the last few years, there has been tremendous progress in the local content space as most of this are initiatives of the mining companies themselves.
Speaking with the Goldstreet Business during the formal inauguration of the Chamber’s new office complex in Accra, President of the Chamber of Mines, Eric Asubonteng noted that in the coming year, his outfit will commit to deepening local content participation in the industry through constructive engagements with government and all stakeholders.
“It is important to deepen all engagements. We will ensure that those engagements are proactive so that the positive contributions we bring as we formulate new policies and charter new ways cover the inputs that we bring to the table”, he stressed.
New office complex
Construction of the Chamber’s new office complex located at South Legon in Accra began being used in July 2017.
The structure comprises of three conference rooms beside the boardroom that can host executive-level meetings as well as medium-sized workshops and seminars. Giving that Ghana is repositioning itself as the hub of mining in the West Africa sub-region, the facility holds the secretariat of ECOWAS Federation of Chambers of Mines (EFEDCOM).
Importantly, the complex also houses a mining library for research purposes as well as a miniature museum that showcases the history of Ghana’s mining industry.