Mining giants, AngloGold Ashanti (AGA), has rolled out a deliberate policy to grow the Obuasi local economy through the promotion of made-in-Ghana goods, exhibiting same and creating jobs.

It is under the company’s Social Management Plan policy through an annual trade fair. This year’s trade fair, which is the third in the series, is on the theme: “Diversifying the economy of Obuasi through trade promotion.”

The six-day trade fair, being done in collaboration with the Obuasi East District Assembly, Obuasi Municipal Assembly and the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI).

This year’s edition is intended to focus more on other sectors rather than the mine as it pushes for diversifying the local Obuasi economy.

During the last two editions, the mine supported hundreds of small-scale industries and promoted partnership in areas where their competitive advantage was low. The annual event is also to create a common platform for small and medium enterprises to interact and build synergies.

Launch

At the launch of this year’s fair, the District Chief Executive for Obuasi East, Mrs Faustina Amissah, expressed optimism of scaling up the local economy by establishing a robust and resilient local system in the entire Adansi.

“This will eventually be the answer to sustaining the economy of Obuasi and Adansi and creating jobs for the youth,” she said. Mrs Amissah urged exhibitors to embrace the trade show and take full advantage of it.

Catalyst

The Senior Sustainability Manager of AGA, Mr Emmanuel Baidoo, expressed the hope that the fair would be the main catalyst to promote trade and speed up development projects in Obuasi.He said the idea of the trade fair was also to help Obuasi develop massively and not be dependent solely on the mine and to create a vibrant trading environment to boost their economy.

Mr Baidoo said beyond helping to revive the local economy, the idea was also to ensure that the relevance of the mine was increased and its participation enhanced.

The Obuasi Municipal Director of the NBSSI, Mr Kelvin Ofori Atta, said as part of rendering business development and referral services to its clients, there was the need to promote their activities and showcase them to the whole world.

He commended AGA for bringing all traders of Obuasi under one roof because it built a strong working relationship among exhibitors.

Appreciation

The Chief Executive Officer of AB Fashion, one of the exhibitors, Ms Theresa Boadi, commended AGA for the policy to promote the Obuasi local economy and expressed the hope that it would impact positively on her dream of going international.

She called on the government for financial support to help them expand their facilities and train the youth.

The Adansihemaa, Nana Amoanimaa Dede II, thanked AGA for the move and urged the indigenes to participate fully in the trade fair to promote local goods.