AngloGold Ashanti Obuasi Mine has come forth with a 10-year Socio-Economic Development Plan (SEDP) to support skills development, community growth, and general upliftment of the two assemblies within which it operates – Obuasi East District and Obuasi Municipal Assembly.
According to the management of the mining firm, the ten-year development plan themed: ‘Contributing to Resilient and Socio-Economically Self-Sustaining Communities’, was developed by a joint committee with membership from both assemblies and AngloGold to ensure the developmental programmes and projects are well-targetted and true representation of what the people want.
Managing Director of AngloGold Ashanti, Eric Asubonteng, speaking at a development partnership symposium, stated that the SEDP is a social investment strategy to contribute to resilient and socio-economically self-sustaining communities.
“The SEDP represents the Social Investment Strategy for the Obuasi Mine for the period 2022-2031. It is in addition to the mine’s commitment to paying US$2 for every ounce of gold mined into the AngloGold Ashanti Obuasi Community Trust Fund.
“We held extensive consultations to ensure that this SEDP is not imposed on the people as development projects were done in the past through donations. Consultations with community, district, regional, and national level institutions to identify development priorities based on current and future plans were conducted.
I can assure you that these projects meet the needs and aspirations of persons with disabilty or physically challenged, children, women, and the youth,” he said.
He added that the continuous implementation of the SEDP is aligned with the business sustainability and performance of the mine, and will be built into the annual business plan of the mine for budgeting purposes.
The SEDP, by the time it ends in 2031, hopes to improve social development, improve access to health services, quality education, water, sanitation and infrastructure. It also comes with cross-cutting themes such as employment and job creation, gender and social inclusion, environment, ownership and sustainability, and technological & innovation.
Joseph Asibi Bashir, Planning Officer – Obuasi Municipality, and Jones Agyemang, Planning Officer – Obuasi East District Assembly, in a joint presentation, noted that the 10-year SEDP takes aspirations from the two assemblies’ medium-term development plan, adding that partnerships, including stakeholder engagement, play a critical role in the implementation of plans.
“We have in place monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) framework to track key performance indicators by collecting, managing, and analysing data at every stage of the SEDP roll-out. All these are to ensure coordination and harmonisation of interventions, reduce waste through the elimination of duplicated efforts, and ensure sustainability through ownership,” Mr. Bashir said.
