12 Ahafo youth receive GH¢101,739 scholarship

THE Underground Mining Alliance (UMA) and Newmont Ahafo Development Foundation (NADeF) have presented academic and apprenticeship scholarship packages worth GH¢101,739.60 to 12 needy people in the Ahafo Region. 

It was presented under the UMA/NADeF Community Excellence Scholarship and Apprenticeship programme established in 2021 to offer annual financial and logistical assistance to needy brilliant youth from the Newmont Ahafo Mine’s 10 host communities to either embark on academic or vocational pursuits.

At a ceremony last week Thursday to present the awards at Ntotroso in the Ahafo Region, the Board Chair of NADeF, Professor Yaw Fosu-Kusi, said the programme received GH¢161,429 this year, bringing the total amount received since the inception of the scheme to GH¢394,473.

Awardees 

The 2024 batch of awardees are made up of 10 apprentices and two undergraduate science and engineering students from the University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR) in Sunyani and the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT) in Tarkwa.

While the two students, a male and a female, received GH¢22,608.80 each, the 10 apprentices made up of nine females and a male, who are into hairdressing, dressmaking and welding and fabrication got GH¢5,652.20 each.

Part of the amount received by the 10 apprentices was used to procure packs of tools and equipment and pay their master crafts persons to train them.

The beneficiaries were selected from five farming communities, namely; Ntotroso, Wamahinso, Kenyasi No.1, Kenyasi No.2 and Gyedu.
NADeF said 287 young people applied for assistance, but only 12 of them were selected to benefit from the programme. 

The scholarship programme was instituted after the NADeF and UMA signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with an allocation of GH¢60,000 from UMA, as seed money.

Annual funds

Prof. Ofosu-Kusi explained that UMA provided scholarship funds, enabling the scheme to offer financial and logistical support to deserving applicants. 

He said the programme, which started with a seed fund of GH¢60,000, had increased to approximately GH¢161,000.
Prof. Ofosu-Kusi said since the establishment of NADeF in 2009, a total of 13,489 youth had benefited from its scholarship programmes, with a cumulative investment of GH¢35.4 million.

He said NADeF was investing in infrastructure, human resource development, social amenities, economic empowerment and the sports development of Newmont host communities.

Prof. Ofosu-Kusi said NADeF derived its funding from the commitment of $1 from every ounce of gold sold, and one per cent of annual pre-tax net profit from Newmont Ahafo Mine operations, to support community development initiatives.

He said per the agreement, UMA would provide the financial support annually as long as it had a contract with the Newmont Ahafo Mine site, and NADeF would provide the technical support and implement the programme.

Sustainable development

Prof. Ofosu-Kusi said the aim of the NADeF partnership with UMA was to empower communities to achieve sustainable development.

He said the programme was designed to support the education of motivated, highly driven, and brilliant youth from Newmont's host communities.

He said the academic scholarship was available to continuing tertiary undergraduate students studying Engineering, Mining, or Health Sciences to cover the payment of academic fees, examination fees, books, laptops, and accommodation to awardees.

The apprenticeship programme focuses on local youth, between the ages of 17 to 30, who have admissions into technical or vocational trainings with accredited institutions or licensed master crafts persons.

Sponsorship 

The Project Manager of UMA, a Newmont contractor, Keith Riees, said since the inception of the programme, it had sponsored 44 youth in the area.

He urged parents of the beneficiaries to guide and support them to complete their trade.

Mr Riees advised the beneficiaries to give their best during their training to enable them to acquire the needed skills for their future.

Some of the beneficiaries, who spoke to the Daily Graphic, thanked NADeF and UMA for creating the foundation to support the youth in the host communities of Newmont Ahafo Mines.

They said their parents could not have procured the logistics and paid their fees for their masters to train them, considering the huge cost of the items and fees.