Washington, February 8, 2007—
IFC, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, today signed a linkages cooperation agreement with Newmont Ghana Gold Limited to collaborate on supporting small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Brong-Ahafo region of Ghana, near Newmont’s Ahafo gold mine.
The SME linkages program is part of the IFC’s work with Newmont Ghana Gold, a subsidiary of Newmont Mining Corporation, on the Ahafo mine. In July 2006, IFC signed a loan of $125 million to the mine to support Ghana’s mining sector, working with Newmont to help raise environmental standards and ensure that local communities benefit from the project.
“IFC is very pleased to partner with Newmont in this joint endeavor to create and bring direct benefits for the local communities in and around the Ahafo mine area,” said Thierry Tanoh, IFC’s Director for Sub-Saharan Africa. “The mine is generating demand for a wide variety of goods and services and the linkages program will focus on creating opportunities for local businesses to respond to the demand.”
With funding from both IFC and Newmont, the thee-year linkages program will have three primary goals:
· To support the development of local businesses and to develop potential suppliers and providers of goods and services to the mine
· To improve the competitiveness of local non-mining businesses to help develop a diversified local economy outside of the mining sector
· To develop and improve the capacity of local business associations and institutions that can provide long-term sustainable business support, training and other services to the local business community.
The program will also place a special emphasis on supporting women entrepreneurs and will incorporate HIV/AIDS into its training activities through the IFC Gender Entrepreneurship Markets and the IFC Against AIDS programs.
“Newmont is pleased to be able to expand our partnership with IFC and to bring their expertise and experience to the important task of maximizing local economic opportunities for the Ahafo people” said David Baker, Newmont’s Vice President for Environmental Affairs and Sustainable Development. “One of our most basic objectives is to initiate the enhancement of the local economic opportunity process early in the mine life to allow for years of development in this area. This partnership is an important step in creating long-term value within the communities around our operations.”
IFC’s linkages programs are designed around selected IFC anchor investments to increase participation of local firms in the project and bring additional benefits to the surrounding communities. At the same time, these programs allow the Corporation to increase value added services to its clients in improving their business, and increase the developmental impact of its investment.
About Newmont Ghana Gold Limited
Newmont Ghana Gold Limited, a subsidiary of Newmont Mining Corporation, operates Newmont’s mining interests in Ghana. The Company’s first Ghanaian operation, the Ahafo mine is located in the Brong-Ahafo region of Ghana and commenced production in 2006. The mine is expected to continue operations for 20 years and will produce approximately 500,000 ounces of gold per year. The Ahafo operation has over 1,000 employees and approximately 1,700 contract employees.
About IFC
IFC, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, promotes open and competitive markets in developing countries. IFC supports sustainable private sector companies and other partners in generating productive jobs and delivering basic services, so that people have opportunities to escape poverty and improve their lives. Through FY06, IFC Financial Products has committed more than $56 billion in funding for private sector investments and mobilized an additional $25 billion in syndications for 3,531 companies in 140 developing countries. IFC Advisory Services and donor partners have provided more than $1 billion in program support to build small enterprises, to accelerate private participation in infrastructure, to improve the business enabling environment, to increase access to finance, and to strengthen environmental and social sustainability. For more information, please visit
www.ifc.org.
