124 Benefit from Gold Fields training programme
One hundred and twenty-four youth have graduated as the second batch of the Gold Fields Ghana Foundation (GFGF) Graduate Training programme.
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Made up of 88 males and 36 females, the beneficiaries are from the mining company’s host communities - Tarkwa, Abosso and Damang.
The beneficiaries, who are graduates from tertiary institutions, completed their national service and were enrolled on the programme for two years to acquire the right skills and competencies to make them employable in their chosen professions.
The training programme allows beneficiaries to acquire hands-on experience that improve their employment prospects in the mining, construction and other industries related to the extractive sector.
Modules of the training include a holistic understanding of the extractive industry from the actual mining, marketing and governance issue relating to mining.
The graduates also benefited from the Value-Addition Project which is a solution-based initiative where the trainees identified challenges or potential challenges in mine operations and proffered solutions to enhance the total mining business.
Investment
The Executive Vice-President and Head of Gold Fields West Africa, Joshua Mortoti, speaking at the graduation ceremony at Tarkwa, explained that since the inception of the programme in 2018, the foundation had invested $2.3 million.
He said so far, the programme had provided experience and skills on-the-job training for 171 graduates.
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“There were 47 graduate trainees in the first batch of the programme with 31 of them securing employment in the mining and construction industries, across Ghana.
Five others are furthering their education in the United States and Europe,” he said.
Mr Mortoti said out of the current batch of 124, seven had been employed at the mines with others being engaged by other business partners on site even before the completion of the programme.
Another five, he added, took up opportunities to further their studies abroad after receiving scholarships while still under training at Gold Fields.
He said the GFGF was confident of the competence and readiness of the trainees to transition into the wider professional world of work, and that their achievements would be a testament to the success of the programme.
He announced that the foundation would increase the percentage of females in the next programme.
The Executive Secretary of GFGF, Abdel-Razak Yakubu, explained that the graduate trainee programme was designed to build a talent pipeline for Gold Fields and the mining industry in the country.
Beneficiaries
The programme, he said had brought relief to most of the beneficiaries in terms of employment opportunities.
A trustee of GFGF, Mawuli Ababio, said the programme would enhance human development which was crucial in economic development.
He advised the graduates to take advantage of the opportunities given to them as a result of the training.
“Take advantage of what you have studied and excel out there; we will continue to support the development of host communities”, he added.
For his part, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Mines and Technology, Prof. Richard Amankwah, encouraged the graduates to become game changers in their communities.
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