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Newmont Ghana Gold Limited (NGGL) has over the years demonstrated commitment to establishing and growing a harmonious relationship with its host communities. The company has built health facilities, educational institutions and provided employment to numerous youth as an investment in the socio economic development of the surrounding communities. According to a study conducted by Professor Ethan B Kapstein,of the INSEAD Business School ,For each job within NGGL, 2.8 jobs are created elsewhere in the direct value chain, implying a job multiplier of 3.8. Thus Newmont Ghana directly and indirectly produces nearly 50,000 jobs in Ghana.f nearly 50,000 jobs or multiplier of nearly 10 times. In keeping with its stated commitment to employ a target 35 percent of its workforce from host communities, , 883 30 percent of the employees are local hires, 1,960 67 percent are non-localwhile the remainder, 68 (2%) are expatriates. Local hires are engaged in both skilled and unskilled positions and are the most tangible expression of benefit the local populace has received from mining activity. Of the 2,911 contract employees, 883 (30%) are local, 1,960 (67%) non-local and 68 (2%) are expatriates. As at 2010,Newmont Ghana has awarded contracts worth more than US$ 10.5 million to local vendors and suppliers that live in its Ahafo operational area. The nature of equipment operation, maintenance, or infrastructure development support services contracted by a world class mining operation like Newmont requires a degree of skill that is generally lacking in the Ahafo host communities. The surrounding population consists almost entirely of subsistence farmers, most of whom have not acquired any other skills besides farming. NGGL has therefore had to establish programmes to equip potential local hires with the appropriate skills to enable them qualify for jobs with the company. Apprenticeship Programme Notable among these programmes is the Unskilled Construction Labour Pool program under which about 722 men and women were trained to meet the operational demands of Newmont during the construction phase of the Ahafo mines in 2004. The Unskilled Construction Labour Pool programwaslaterupgraded to the Semi-Skilled Metals Construction Labour Pool Program. This new programme was designed totrainpeoplein basic metal workand safety in working on plants. Since then the apprenticeship programme has evolved and other people have been selected from the Ahafo communities and trained as Fixed Plant Mechanical Apprentices and Fixed Plant Electrical Apprentices. These programmes have created shared value for local communities by equipping apprentices with employable specialized skills and producing qualified human resource to meet Newmont�s Mine & Plant Maintenance needs. More than 145 apprentices have benefitted from the Fixed Plant Mechanical and Electrical Apprenticesprogrammes. The apprentices are rostered to work in all the shops during their practicaltraining. The first batch graduated in 2008 and was hired in the Process Maintenance Development.Each trainee was awarded a City and Guilds of London Institute and Newmont Certificates. Newmont spends at least $25,000 on each apprentice for the four year training period. The amount covers candidates� stipends, teaching and learning materials, transportation costs, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and equipment for practical experience. Newmont has spent approximately $3millon on each stream of the program since its inception 2005. Some tertiary institutions have expressed interest in pursuing linkage opportunities with Newmont. At a recent ceremony in Kenyasitoenrolsome youth in Newmont�s Maintenance Apprenticeship Programme, Minister for Employment and Social Welfare, Enoch Teye Mensah, Minister commended NGGL for its effort in creating jobs, developing communities and employing such significant numbers of their workforce from their host communities in the Brong Ahafo Region. He held up Newmont�s initiative as worthy model for other extractive industry multinationals to emulate, pointing out that their example will go a long way to positively impact the lives of Ahafo indigenes and the whole country. The Ahafo Linkages Program (ALP) The Ahafo Linkages Program (ALP) is a partnership between the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Newmont Ghana Gold Limited (NGGL). It is designed to support the development of local businesses in communities near the Ahafo mine, which began operations in July 2006. This programmehascreated local business opportunities in communities where subsistence farming was oncedominant. The three key areas of the linkages programme are local supplier development, local economy development and strengthening of local business association in Ahafo The Linkages Program has witnessed some significant successes in its first years of implementation. The local supplier development project is a programme designed to impart to contractors and suppliers the needed expertise, orientation and financial means to grow into reliable and competitive suppliers/contractors to NGGL. Prior to Newmont�s establishment of the Local Suppliers and Contractors Development Unit and the Ahafo Linkages Programme in 2007, the company procured a total of US$ 1.7 million in services from about twenty-five local MSMEs in 2006. By the end of the first year of intervention (2007), Newmont had contracted US$ 4.2 million worth of business from fifty-two local MSMEs. The number of local MSMEs doubled to one hundred and twenty-five in 2008, doing a total of US$ 4.7 million worth of business. It was was implemented by Technoserve, an international NGO focused on development. The program began field activities in October 2007 by supporting selected local businesses with managerial and technical skills to help themtoefficiently work with Newmont�s supply chain, as well asdiversify their existing customer base. Participating suppliers were drawn from a database of 140 local businesses registered with the company. They also worked with an advisory services program in developing business improvement plans. By the end of June 2010 a significant number of local businesses, including seven owned by women, had benefitted from the programme. This resulted in total sales for those businesses of approximately $28.2 million USD between 2007 and 2010. Many of the companies which participated in the training are flourishing and continue to provide services to Newmont. The second focal area, Local Economy Development, LED,is dedicated to supporting selected non-mining related businesses such as hospitality, catering, brick production, and vegetables growers. By the end of June 2010, 44 businesses had received technical assistance and successfully completed training and business improvement plans. Their participation in the training programmeenabledthem access significant credit from some financial institutions. About 250 people including 67 women have benefited from a short-term local economic development technical assistance program in 2009. They were trained in entrepreneurial skills such as business management, customer care in hospitality, good agricultural practices in vegetable and fruit production, and pottery and brick production. Almost 100 new jobs were created out of this program andmost of the businesses which participated are doing very well.