He, therefore entreated the 1,600 active Ghanaian suppliers and other business partners to de­liver quality products and services crucial to its mining operations in the country.

“With such a large number of suppliers and enormous pro­curement budget, it is in order to gather all of our business partners, once in a while, to deliberate on is­sues of mutual concern,” Mr Wit­bool told participants at a two-day supply chain conference at Tarkwa Mine in the Western Region.

“It is to also share ideas and best practices to navigate global supply chain challenges that direct­ly impact our businesses, learn new trends to improve our business processes,” Mr Witbool added.

It was on the theme “The Envi­ronment, Social and Governance (ESG) culture change: An imper­ative to building a resilient supply chain through partnership”.

The suppliers will discuss supply chain challenges, procurement, energy and decarbonisation, the people factor, female empower­ment, gender framework to sup­port female owned businesses and an effective emergency evacuation drill.

He said that 2019 conference provided constructive feedback and ideas from our suppliers and had restructured and improved procurement, tender and payment procedures, to ease the process and eliminate bottlenecks over the few years, hence the theme for the 2023 one.

He said the supply chain strate­gy supported the development of local businesses through capac­ity-building strategic incubation including prompt and hassle-free payment for goods and services supplied.

Moreover, Mr Witbool said implemented preferential pay­ment terms for licensed small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) that had established offices in host communities.

This, he explained that host

community SMEs who supplied to the company would receive pay­ment within 10 to 15 days, once they submitted a valid invoice.

In line with ESG issues, Mr Witbool said the company was discussing how to deal with busi­nesses owned and led by women, particularly on gender diversity, “which charges us to increase women representation in our workforce to 30 per cent by 2030.”

This policy, he said, went be­yond employing more women to incubating and empowering female entrepreneurs, business owners and leaders.

“We do not intend to unduly prioritise female-owned and led businesses to the detriment of other companies. Once you meet the tender requirements for a job, we will ensure fairness in award­ing these contracts,” Mr Witbool stressed.

He said helping businesses to grow fell under Gold Fields ESG priority 6, which is stakeholder value creation, mandating the com­pany to create and share the value of gold with all our stakeholders, including business partners.

He added “As such, our goal is to carry you all along as we explore various opportunities to sustain our mining operations for the long-term benefit of all stakehold­ers.

“You must learn about our sup­ply chain procedures, understand the requirements for engaging in tender, be aware of our expecta­tions –be sure to follow them–to benefit from the various business opportunities available at Gold Fields,” he said.

Head of Supply Chain, Gold Fields, Theophilus Otchere, de­scribed the conference as import­ant because “globally, supply chain is what is getting us moving.”