By Ghana News

Copyright ghananewss

AngloGold Ashanti’s Obuasi Mine has launched construction of what’s being billed as one of Ghana’s largest and most modern basic education facilities, a 24 unit classroom complex that signals the mining giant’s deepening investment in host community development.

The project at the Obuasi Cluster of Schools follows the company’s recent completion of a nine unit classroom block at Sanso, also in the Obuasi municipality. That earlier facility, which cost over GH₵4.8 million and includes nine fully furnished classrooms, a library, an ICT lab, a sick bay, toilet facilities, canteen and headteacher’s office, has already transformed educational infrastructure in that community.

Speaking at the sod cutting ceremony for the new complex, AngloGold Ashanti’s Community Relations Manager Edmund Oduro Agyei emphasized that the project forms part of the company’s 10 Year Socio Economic Development Plan (SEDP), aimed at improving access to quality education in host communities. “This initiative aligns with our purpose of mining to empower people and advance societies,” he said.

The scale of the new facility is impressive. The two storey structure will house 24 classrooms alongside four sick bays, two head teachers’ offices, an ICT lab, a library, a general assembly hall, and a cafeteria. Supporting infrastructure includes staff rooms, kitchenettes, and 24 water closet toilet facilities, all designed to create a comprehensive learning environment that matches international standards.

Obuasi Municipal Director of Education George Alfred Koomson praised the mining firm’s sustained commitment to local education. “We have witnessed a remarkable improvement in education in Obuasi thanks to AngloGold Ashanti’s contributions,” he acknowledged during the ceremony.

The construction contract has been awarded to two local firms, Kilon Company Ltd. and Erok Ghana Ltd., who have 16 months to complete the project. This decision to engage local contractors reflects the company’s broader strategy of ensuring that development initiatives benefit the surrounding economy, not just through the infrastructure itself but through the employment and business opportunities created during construction.

After a comprehensive stakeholder consultation process, AngloGold Ashanti’s Obuasi mine in 2022 launched a ten year socio economic development plan which encapsulates a clear strategy to ensure Obuasi mine and its host communities reap sustained benefits from the mining business. Education sits at the heart of that strategy, alongside agriculture, healthcare, and entrepreneurship development.

The timing is significant. Ghana’s mining communities have long grappled with the challenge of balancing immediate economic benefits from extraction with long term sustainable development. Critics have historically pointed to inadequate social infrastructure in mining towns despite decades of resource extraction. AngloGold Ashanti’s SEDP represents a more structured approach to addressing those concerns.

The company’s recent education investments extend beyond just building classrooms. Since its establishment in 1961, the AngloGold Ashanti School at Obuasi has produced three Presidential Independence Day Award winners since 2019 and currently has 3,354 students enrolled, with 82 percent from host communities, employing 220 people. That track record demonstrates that sustained investment in educational quality, not just infrastructure, yields measurable results.

What makes this latest project noteworthy isn’t just its size but what it represents about evolving corporate social responsibility in Ghana’s extractive sector. Mining companies increasingly recognize that their social license to operate depends on delivering tangible, lasting benefits to communities that bear the environmental and social costs of resource extraction.

For students who’ll eventually fill those 24 classrooms, the facility could mean the difference between crowded, under resourced learning environments and spaces that genuinely support academic achievement. Whether it translates into better educational outcomes will depend on factors beyond infrastructure, including teacher quality, learning materials, and ongoing maintenance. But having the right physical environment is undeniably where that journey begins.

As construction gets underway, the project joins a growing portfolio of SEDP initiatives transforming Obuasi’s social landscape. From soap factories supporting women’s entrepreneurship to aquaculture projects diversifying local livelihoods, AngloGold Ashanti appears to be betting that comprehensive community development isn’t just good corporate citizenship but essential business strategy in modern mining.