MINING community and providing jobs and industry wherever it operates .
“ We are close to 95 percent in terms of localised employees ,” says Elias .
But this does not rule out the need for expats where necessary and Debswana takes into account that in any discipline where expats are needed , the company develops a localisation plan with the aim of transferring the technical skills to locals . This mandate expands further into local business – Debswana takes into account the amount of investment in both local and foreign based businesses , particularly with regards to supply chain .
“ When it comes to local businesses , we are always looking for opportunities to promote partnerships with these local companies and we support , promote and advise them ,” he says .
This falls under a wider Corporate Social Investment ( CSI ) strategy at Debswana . The strategy sees Debswana promise to engage
Every single day , one needs to think about what kind of technologies will be the best for our country , and how we can better develop the skills of employees and those in the communities .
This is something I believe we can achieve greatly within Debswana
– Edwin Elias , Head of Ore Processing www . debswana . com 121