Keyword

corporate social responsibility, gold mining companies, gold production, Ghana

Abstract

There has been large scale gold mining in Ghana for at least the last one hundred years. The mining companies with the passage of time have moved from being concerned only with profit making to ‘doing well by doing good’. For some years now the gold mining companies have made some contributions to the communities in which they work. This study focused on the corporate social responsibility activities of these companies with respect to the governance structure put in place and the funds allocated for such activities. The study found that the Ghana Chamber of Mines in reporting the expenditure its members made on corporate social responsibility activities added cost elements which do not qualify to be referred to as corporate social responsibility. The funds set aside for social corporate responsibility were very small and could not bring about a meaningful change in the communities. Also, the companies operated various governance modules with different levels of community participation. The study recommends among others that the Ghana Chamber of Mines establishes a CSR Index to encourage its members to do more in that area. There is also the need for more transparency in the accounting of CSR expenditures. The companies are also to allocate more funds for social corporate responsibility.


Full Text : PDF
References
  1. Adamus Resources Ltd. (2010) Community Social Responsibility Update, Perth,     Western Australia, Friday, 5 November 2010.
  2. Boon, E.K., Ababio, F. (n.d) Corporate Social Responsibility in Ghana: Lessons from the Mining Sector, not dated.
  3. Rionda, Z.L., Baird V., Kramer, Christina, Wofford, D. (2002) What Is Corporate Social Responsibility? 8 Questions & Answers, Catalyst Consortium, July 2002.
  4. Commission of the European Communities, (2001) Promoting a European Framework for Corporate Social Responsibilities, COM 366 final, Brussels.
  5. Asian-Oceanian Computing Industry Organization, (2004) Corporate Social Responsibility, ASOCIO Policy Paper, June 2004,
  6. Draft National Mining Policy of Ghana, 2010
  7. Ghana National Commission for UNESCO, not dated.
  8. Hilson, G. (2001) A Contextual Review of the Ghanaian Small-scale Mining Industry, Imperial College Centre for Environmental Technology, London, UK, September 2001, No. 76
  9. Hill, G., Potter, C. (2005) Structural Adjustment and Subsistence Industry: Artisanal Gold Mining in Ghana, Development and Change, Institute of Social Studies, 2005
  10. http:// www.citifmonline.com/index.php?id=1.386972 assessed 6th May, 2013
  11. http://goldprice.org/ assessed on 23rd October, 2011
  12. http://www.adamusresources.com.au, assessed on 20th October, 2011
  13. http://www.goldfields.co.za/, assessed on 22nd October, 2011
  14. http://www.gsr.com/, assessed on 22nd October, 2011
  15. http://www.kinross.com/operations/operation-chirano-ghana.aspx, assessed on 22nd October, 2011
  16. http://www.newmont.com, assessed on 20th October, 2011
  17. http://www.wealthdaily.com/articles/gold-mining-production-costs/2201, assessed on 23rd October, 2011
  18. Idowu, S.O. and Papasolomou, I. (2007) Are the corporate social responsibility matters based on good intentions or false pretences? An empirical study of the motivations behind the issuing of CSR reports by UK companies, Corporate Governance, Vol. 7 No. 2 2007, pp. 136-147 
  19. Mining Journal Special Publication – Ghana   March 2010
  20. Newmont Mining Corporation, (2009) Community Relationship Review, Global Summary Report, March 2009
  21. Porter, M.E. and Kramer, M.R. (2006) Strategy and Society; The link between Competitive Advantage and Corporate Social Responsibility, Harvard Business Review, Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation
  22. The Ghana Chamber of Mines, Factoid 2008
  23. The Ghana Chamber of Mines, Factoid 2011
  24. The Ghana Chamber of Mines, Performance of the Mining Industry in 2009
  25. The Ghana Chamber of Mines, Publish what you Pay – 2008
  26. State Lands Act, Act 125
  27. Zhang, F. (2008) Corporate Social Responsibility in Emerging Markets: The Role of Multinational Corporations, The Foreign Policy Centre, 2008.