Newmont Ghana offers apprenticeship training for youth

In line with Newmont Ghana’s commitment to fulfilling its social responsibility obligations, the Akyem Mines has offered a three-year intensive apprenticeship training for 10 youth.

The training, under the company's Apprenticeship Training programme, is to help develop local talents and provide employable skills to young people.

The 10 youth were trained in fixed plant and mobile mechanical Maintenance at the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT) in Tarkwa.

Speaking on the theme: “Creating Value Through Partnership” Mr Joshuah Motorti, the General Manager, Newmont Ghana-Akyem Mines, said the batch was the fourth among 80 locals to have graduated since the inception of the Akyem Apprenticeship Training Programme in 2011.

He said the programme was established as a technical pipeline to enable the youth to have access to skilled mechanical and electrical training.

He said more than 1,500 beneficiaries were enrolled in electrical, mechanical, welding, and fabrication.

He said the programme was restructured in 2017 into a three-year training programme dubbed the Scalable Apprenticeship Programme.

This saw the enrollment of the 10 youth, who had undergone training and graduated successfully.

Mr Motorti said Newmont invested US$22,500, comprising the cost of training material, meals, transportation, medical coverage, detergent, a Christmas hamper, monthly allowance, and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in each of the trainees.

He said Newmont Ghana would continue to prioritize capacity building in the host communities in fulfilment of its purpose of creating value and improving lives through its operations.

Mr Motorti, therefore, encouraged more females to enrol in the apprenticeship programme to help foster a more diverse talent pipeline for the country’s industries.

Obrempong Kwesi Amoh Kyeretwie 1, the Chief of Abirem and the Acting Gyaasehene of Kotoku Traditional Area, lauded Newmont for the support and urged the company to employ the trainees.

He called on the Birim North District Assembly to speed up processes to ensure the establishment of the satellite campus of the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT) Tarkwa in the district.