Mining companies operating in the country are delivering tangible community benefits that often go unnoticed in national discourse, President of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Michael Edem Akafia has stated.
Speaking at an engagement organised by Newswire Africa under the Africa Extractives Media Fellowship, Michael Edem Akafia highlighted a range of social investments undertaken by member companies.
According to him, beyond statutory payments to the state, companies are funding direct community development projects through foundations and ring-fenced mechanisms to avoid bureaucratic leakage.
Mr Akafia who is the Vice President for External Affairs at Gold Fields cited the construction of a 33-kilometre asphalt road from Tapa to Damang, as well as plans to execute what he described as the first state-of-the-art hospital in the area since colonial times, complete with an AI-equipped laboratory.
“We’ve been investing in these communities since 2002–2004. If you go there, you’ll see the manifestations roads, clinics, schools, police stations,” he said.
The Chamber has also backed enterprise development initiatives, including youth horticulture projects that have sustained thousands of livelihoods. In some cases, companies have demanded that their offtakers purchase produce from community-supported ventures, creating reliable markets.
Scholarship schemes, he added, have transformed lives, producing professionals who now give back through medical outreach programmes on World AIDS Day, cancer awareness campaigns and other health initiatives.
Under a proposed 1 per cent social responsibility investment on revenue, companies would enter agreements with host communities on how funds are utilised.
Mr. Akafia noted that the industry itself had previously adopted formulas such as contributing $1 per ounce of gold produced.
He, however, cautioned against mandatory CSR models that reduce social investment to a compliance exercise, referencing experiences in Burkina Faso where such measures reportedly led companies to treat community spending as a tick-box obligation.
“The social licence to operate is more important than mining rights, we’re committed to ESG — environmental, social and governance standards and to tracking community procurement and employment.”
He acknowledged that the industry struggles to communicate its impact effectively, noting that testimonials from community members often fail to resonate nationally.
“We need to tell our story better. When people come to Accra, they say the money hasn’t done anything. But on the ground, the impact is real.”
The Africa Extractives Media Fellowship (AEMF), established by NewsWire Africa in collaboration with the Australian High Commission in Ghana, aims to build a network of skilled journalists equipped to drive transparency, accountability, and informed public dialogue on the management of natural resources.
By: Christian K
