World
Geodrill Wants More Women in Mining, Exploration
Traditionally, mining has always been considered a male-dominated field. The Global Mining Standards and Guidelines Group (2014) says 5 to 10 percent of people working in mining are women. At the director level, it is seven percent; the lowest of any major industry.
This is consistent on a country level in most mining regions. For example, in 2014, of the 10,949 members of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, there were only 659 women; thus, about six percent of the total membership.
In sub-Saharan Africa where South Africa and Ghana are leaders in the mining industry, there have been many calls to improve these disappointing figures.
An article published by Review of African Political Economy (ROAPE) in 2016 says, South Africa, a country known for world class mining, women constitute 11 percent of the workforce in the mining industry even after more than 20 years of democracy.
In Ghana, for instance, women comprise 15 percent of the legal and 50 percent of the illegal artisanal mining workforce. The case is not as encouraging in the well-established large scale mining firms.
Be that as it may, as the world observed the International Women’s Day last Sunday, March 8, 2020 Geodrill Ghana, a leading exploration drilling company in the West African sub-region strengthens its resolve to invest more towards increasing women involvement in mining. This they hope will create a good case for many other companies in the mining industry to emulate.
What Geodrill Is Doing
Geodrill, which was established in 1998 with one rig in Ghana, now has 67 rigs across Africa.
The Head of Human Resources, Iddi Baah-Kurey revealed that per the firm’s model, they do not look for ready-made skills in the job market. Instead “Geodrill prides itself in hiring people with minimal or zero skills and then put the individual through mentorship and on the job training.
The model helps them to make a conscious effort towards attracting women into the mining industry, an area which is traditionally a male dominated field.
Another strategy to increase employment of females is; reserving specific roles in key departments for women. This has seen the recruitment of women into the Finance, Health and Safety, Stores and Warehouse, Human Resources and Maintenance Planning Units.
Recruitment from University
To further improve and sustain women participation, Geodrill also selects candidates freshly from the university through an aptitude test. The final candidates, particularly those selected for positions reserved for women only, are trained over time to become well equipped and globally competitive.
The training and gender sensitive support provided by Geodrill has proven successful with high retention rate. It has also increased the company’s female employee from just handful in 2015 when the staff strength was about 600 to 65 females out of 900 employees across the group. The Ghana operations leads with 44 females out of the 65.
More Women Shy Away from Technical Roles
Iddi Baah-Kurey indicated despite these interventions it is unfortunate that not many women are interested in the technical roles as they are in the other roles.
He recounted that a couple of years ago, Geodrill conducted an aptitude test for graduating students of the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT) in Tarkwa, with the hope of recruiting 15 gender-balanced graduates from the drilling class.
Try as they may, only two women made the final list. Despite the persuasion applied and benefits, the two women were unwilling to work on the drill rigs.
“Today, some of those who joined Geodrill from that year group have been trained to become deep directional drillers, engaged in world class drilling for our clients who are scattered in all our operational countries; Ghana, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Niger, Guinea, Togo and Mali. The company is now entering the African Copper belt.
Had the two women joined Geodrill they might be multipurpose or directional drillers today, Iddi Baah-Kurey recounted. He stressed that “as a world class drilling company, I am looking for to the day when we will have our first Ghanaian Female Driller in Geodrill”.
Success Story
Nonetheless there have been a lot of success in the other departments which are also male dominated. The Health and Safety Co-ordinator for Ghana operations, Bernice Adzo Gbadam is an example.
Having worked at Geodrill since 2014 Adzo Gbadam is the first full time female employee to work at the main workshop covering all Ghana drill sites.
She admits that despite the rewarding nature of the role, “my male colleagues initially struggled accepting a female HSE officer.” She commended top management for their role in transforming the company’s culture which now makes her respected in her position by all.
She was excited about her experience which has seen her work on projects in Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire alongside her male counterparts. She described her experience saying “it is as good as gold.”
Geodrill Welcomes More Women Into Mining
Using herself as an example, Adzo Gbadam who is in charge of Health and Safety stressed that “We would really like to assure women that they can do this work, because Geodrill provides all the necessary training on the job. Something I benefited from to become who I am today.”
Iddi Baah-Kurey, Head of Human Resources urged women to consider drilling as it is safe; saying, “We work in conjunction with Mine Site Health and Safety teams to ensure the safety of all, including our female workforce.”
He noted that since the Health and Safety Coordinator for the firm’s Ghana operations was a woman; It goes without saying that she is in the best position to device Health and Safety practices to prevent harm and injuries to staff (Both men and women) at the work place.
Baah-Kurey acknowledged that although women some years back showed little interest in mining firms in general, the situation has improved. “Geodrill Ghana, West Africa’s leading exploration drilling company only wishes we had more women candidates applying for technical roles just as they do for other roles.”
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Accessing the US Dollar in the East Africa region has now been made easier with the expansion of the stablecoin settlement infrastructure of SCRYPT.
This development enables banks, payment providers and corporate treasury teams to move value into and out of the continent in real time.
Businesses paying international suppliers frequently have to convert local currency into USD before purchasing stablecoins for settlement, incurring FX conversions and spreads before any payment is made.
But SCRYPT is eliminating this intermediate conversion by enabling direct settlement corridors for local African currencies into stablecoins.
This development allows businesses to move from local currency to stablecoin settlement in a single licensed transaction, without first sourcing rationed bank dollars, as stablecoins are increasingly becoming settlement infrastructure rather than an investment product.
The expansion adds settlement support across four African currencies: the Kenyan shilling (KES), Tanzanian shilling (TZS), Rwandan franc (RWF) and Ugandan shilling (UGX). Each corridor is delivered through the same full-stack infrastructure our clients already use for trading, custody and treasury operations.
Speaking on this, the chief executive of SCRYPT, Norman Wooding, said, “Across Africa, stablecoin adoption is driven by economic need, not speculation.
“Businesses here are not chasing yield; they are trying to pay suppliers and manage treasury without losing margin to a banking system that rations dollars. Licensed, fair-rate dollar access is the clearest proof of what this infrastructure is for.”
Also commenting, the Managing Director of Markets & Trading at SCRYPT, Mr Gabriel Titopoulos, said, “Until now, reaching stablecoins from local African currencies meant buying scarce dollars and incurring several layers of conversion costs.
“SCRYPT removes this friction. Firms and payment providers can now settle straight from local currencies through live corridors, with local partners.”
World
African Graduates Association Promoting Multifaceted Initiatives With Russian Educational Institutions
By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh
In preparations for the third Russia-Africa Summit, scheduled for late October 2026, Dr Francois Ngan, deputy chairman of the Union of Associations of African Graduates of Soviet and Russian Universities, during an official working visit, has held a consultative meeting with Professor Vladimir Filippov, the President of the Russian University of Peoples’ Friendship (RUDN), and former Minister of Higher Education of Russia, Chairman of the National Commission for Accreditation of Higher Education.
RUDN is an educational institution established in 1960, primarily to provide higher education to Third World students. It has now become a popular multidisciplinary spot for many students, especially from developing countries. The university offers various academic programmes and has research infrastructure that comprises laboratories and interdisciplinary centres. The university is named after the former Congolese leader, Patrice Lumumba.
Dr Francois Ngan and Professor Filippov discussed the importance of the Graduates Association as a continental platform dedicated to strengthening unity, cooperation, and promoting shared progress among African graduates who studied in the former Soviet Union and in the Russian Federation. They also reviewed multifaceted initiatives that could bring together alumni associations from across Africa, whose members obtained education and professional training, and cultural experiences in Soviet and Russian institutions of higher learning.
Professor Filippov expressed optimism in addressing emerging challenges as a result of shifting geopolitical changes, emphasised strategic cooperation in the educational sphere with Africa, in general, and with the Republic of Cameroon, in particular, and further about the integration of African students during their studies in the Russian Federation.
The meeting also touched on academic and scientific work, the possibility of rewriting a scientific thesis, and the official organisation of transferring versions translated into six languages for the library of RUDN. Significant questions relating to Russia’s educational opportunities, collaborations and partnerships involving African countries were thoroughly discussed.
The Union of Associations of African Graduates of Soviet and Russian Universities was created under one continental umbrella to promote friendship, for professional networking, to engage in cultural exchange, and with particular emphasis on forging strategic cooperation between Africa and Russia.
World
Russia to Support Industrial Growth, Technological Advancement and Supply Chain Resilience across Africa
By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh
With the heightening of geopolitical rivalry and competition, a new Russia-Africa working group has emerged as a significant institutional mechanism and plans to focus on facilitating and monitoring strategic investments, industrialisation, and infrastructural development—the Strategic Action Plan 2023-2026—that was outlined during the second Russia-Africa summit, in St.Petersburg, the second largest city in the Russian Federation.
While substantial progress has, largely, lagged on the multidimensional economic front with Africa primarily due to its internal difficulties and the complexity of relations with its former Soviet neighbours, Russian officials believe there still remains huge untapped potential in strengthening bilateral cooperation. As planned, President Vladimir Putin has already signed an executive order that directs Moscow to host the forthcoming third Russia-Africa summit in October 2026.
On June 30, a regular meeting of the Business Council on Africa was held under the chairmanship of the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry. It was dedicated to issues of trade, economic and investment cooperation with Africa. The group discussed the current state and prospects for the implementation of policy initiatives with an emphasis on assisting the countries of the continent, strengthening their economic, energy, technological and food sovereignty, as well as training specialists for Africa.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has reiterated that Russia-Africa relations primarily depend on an understanding of the importance of collective action based on the principles of equality, mutual respect and resolving common tasks. In the past few years, Russia-Africa cooperation has been noticeably strengthening. “We are deepening political dialogues, developing bilateral contacts with African countries, promoting cordial cooperation between ministries and departments, and expanding humanitarian exchanges. We are also continuing the structural diversification of trade partnerships and economic dimensions.”
“Next on the agenda is the launch of diplomatic missions in The Gambia, Liberia, Togo, and the Union of the Comoros,” Lavrov said at a meeting of the Business Council under the Russian foreign minister. Lavrov noted that Russian embassies began operating in three other African countries in 2025: Niger, Sierra Leone, and South Sudan. A new Department for Partnership with Africa was also established. According to the top diplomat, “expanding Russia’s diplomatic presence on the continent contributes to developing relations.”
There are already 45 Russian embassies operating in Africa. The Russian foreign minister noted that Moscow is quickly rebuilding its presence in African countries, which sharply declined during the collapse of the Soviet Union. “There will be literally four or five countries left where we still need to establish full-fledged embassies, and then, we will have 100 per cent coverage of the entire African continent with our diplomatic presence,” Lavrov emphasised.
After the first summit in October 2019, the Foreign Ministry also created the Secretariat of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum. Its main tasks include controlling the roadmap to Africa’s multidimensional cooperation and guiding potential Russian investors to the continent. This also underscored the priority and post-Soviet solidarity Russia currently attaches to its policy towards Africa, within the growing framework of the emerging new architecture of multipolarity in the Global South.
In an interview in June 2026, the director of the Department of Partnership with Africa at the Foreign Ministry, Tatyana Dovgalenko, shared a few insights in the lead-up to the third summit. Furthermore, Dovgalenko explained that Russia would move away from security to concentrate more on economic issues, especially to team up with African colleagues to streamline mechanisms for implementing projects that will ensure food security and agriculture, and help Africa in installing processing facilities to support its self-sufficiency. She also emphasised energy and vital infrastructures, and the third direction was to simultaneously work more coherently with sub-regional organisations.
Over the past few years, bilateral relations have been increasing. There are positive dynamics in trade turnover, estimated at $30 billion. Steps are being taken to build payment systems, preferably in national currencies, while Russia looks to open four more diplomatic offices, bringing the total to 48 across Africa. Russia is currently training 37,000 African students, but only approximately 1/3 on state scholarships in Russia’s educational institutions. “We are ready to share valuable experiences of building a sovereign development model with African partners to achieve self-reliant economic growth based on their own resources and capabilities. Russia aims at creating processing capabilities and localising production, and provides access to advanced technological solutions,” underlined Dovgalenko in her interview with New Eastern Outlook.
For African countries that have endured difficult decades on the path to political independence, it is now important to take full control over the untapped resources, direct income and revenue toward stimulating the national economic sector, rather than paying for the well-being of the Western “golden billion” during this changing geopolitical era, according to Dovgalenko.
According to reports, the forthcoming Russia-Africa summit will have an economic agenda, including the digital economy, technology, artificial intelligence, healthcare, investment, and settlements in global trade. Of course, the agenda will also cover Africa’s political aspects. But if African friends bring along any specific ideas, Russia will give them serious attention. In addition, with continuity and consistency, pay increased attention to expanding ties with Africa’s regional integration associations.
Going forward, the focus will be on translating strong trade relations into deeper investment partnerships, fostering technology collaboration, strengthening industrial linkages and contributing towards the shared objectives set by the leadership of both African countries and Russia. At the third summit, the above-mentioned specific initiatives will be further designed. In this regard, the key document, the new action plan for the next three-year period (2027-2029), is intended to reflect dynamic realities in the future relations of Russia and Africa
