Asubonteng speaks on Obuasi Mine restructuring

AngloGold Ashanti Limited has said its Obuasi Mine is currently undergoing restructuring, with the aim of making it more sustainable in future.

 

The company, which has not been in production for close to two years running, has not reneged on its social commitments to the communities it operates in during the challenging period.

Mr. Eric Asubonteng, Managing Director of AngloGold Ashanti Obuasi Mine, said this at the 6^th Business in Africa public lecture organised by AngloGold Ashanti (AGA) in collaboration with the Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana in Accra, aimed at crystallising Africa’s future.

The 6^th lecture, under the topic ‘Africa Rising: Wheel of fortune or Genuine Social Transformation’ which has been held in October each year, has been a major event on the university’s academic calendar as it offers the mining giant an opportunity to contribute to the knowledge of enhancement, not only at the Institute of African Studies but the whole university community and beyond.

The AGA has been funding the Institute of African studies’ Kwame Nkrumah Chair since its launch in 2007.

Mr. Asubonteng, explained that the company has implemented a number of social interventions which are ultimately geared toward improving livelihoods, especially in its operational communities.

“We continue to run health and educational facilities in our host communities. We run the AGA Malaria Control Programme, not only in our immediate host communities of Obuasi and Tarkwa, but also in areas like the Upper West and Upper East Regions of Ghana - resulting in an unprecedented reduction in the incidence of malaria in those areas.”

He stated that the institution’s core value is to promote transformational leadership and governance, and he believes such lectures will stimulate and raise the national consciousness about the need to carry out business in a way that will address peculiar needs. 

“As a society, we are confronted by challenges of unequal opportunities, perceived or real corruption, poor state of our health and educational sectors among others.”      

He explained that for AGA, any discussion around Africa Rising will be incomplete without touching on the contribution of mining to national development, and that sustainable development remains integral to operating the mine and falls in line with one of AGA’s most cherished values, “To make the communities in which we operate better off for our being there”.

“Although these are not core to the mining business, we believe that they are a necessary complement to improving the livelihoods of the ordinary Ghanaian and strengthening relationships with our host communities, the government, and Ghana as a whole. 

“We strive to do more in future, and we encourage all businesses in Ghana to act similarly. Together, we can build a better society and Ghana,” he said.

 Mr. Kweku Bedu-Addo, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of South and Southern Africa Region, Standard Charted Bank, said a well-functioning economy relies on domestic investment.

He said it looks like everything has been done to undermine the very framework that promotes domestic investment. 

Mr. Bedu-Addo indicated that agriculture, housing, transportation and health care ae the major areas that affect the wellbeing of citizens.

He explained that African agriculture is still subsistence, largely underpinned by very inefficient market arrangements that depress farm gate prices to rural producers but inflate retail prices to urban consumers - with scant attention to packaging, processing and extension of shelf-life. 

Food security and inflation, he said, are suboptimal across African, and stressed that agriculture is the “least-resistance path” to growth and job-creation for the teeming youth - adding that it has to be productivity-driven as the entire value chain develops, so as to absorb excess labour. 

“We don't apply science, we act as self-agriculture extension officers. We talk a lot; long on talking short on execution,” he said. 

In Zambia, for instance, before every farming season a soil-scientist is employed to analyse the soil fertility, and based on that they recommend the type of fertiliser and appropriate dosage to apply.

Commenting on housing, Mr. Bedu-Addo stated that there is large population growth with little or no provision for low-income segments of the population - adding this has given rise to rapid growth of unplanned urban settlement with predictable collapse of sanitation standards.

He added that state-owned health facilities are overburdened and under-resourced, while health personnel are overworked and poorly remunerated. 

Having worked in the banking industry for seven years, Mr. Bedu-Addo said there is no balance sheet committed to agriculture, housing and health, because the value chain is so disjointed that they don't know when to put loans in and when to get them out. 

He indicated that investors may direct their funds in mining, oil and gas, but it's difficult to invest such money into agriculture, and called on government to sit up and work with other stakeholders to organise the value chain.