Community

We recognise the potentially significant impact that our business has on the communities in which we operate. We strive to empower these communities by investing in programmes that help the long-term sustainable development of the community, its people, and the local economy.

Our goal is to leave a lasting, sustainable legacy for future generations so that even when mining activities have ceased, the regions we have impacted can continue to prosper.

Our approach

We understand the complexities involved in developing schemes that have a meaningful impact and the risks involved in investing without a coherent strategy.

Therefore, our approach is to use our community engagement channels to develop successful and mutually beneficial relationships by identifying and developing the key projects that will deliver the greatest impact. While we fund projects where needed, a core objective of our overall strategy is to engage in capacity building for the local populations to promote self-sustaining development.

By working with the community in this way our goal is also to ensure the viability and durability of any development projects we introduce. It is our aim that communities will take ownership of the projects we support, allowing benefits to accrue long after we have ceased mining operations. Our Social Management Plan (“SMP”) acts as a framework for how we approach the management of community issues and mitigate any potentially harmful impact from our operations.

The Community Development Plan commits to Shanta developing annual projects that deliver sustainable benefits to nearby communities, while our Stakeholder Engagement Plan’s purpose is to identify Shanta’s stakeholders, determine their impact on our business and then tailor engagement strategies to each group of stakeholders.

We have robust grievance and dispute mechanisms in place to allow community members to raise any concerns or complaints, with our preference in the first instance to look for an amicable resolution between Shanta and the aggrieved party before involving any third party.

How we determine which projects to support

Shanta’s community investment programmes in Tanzania and Kenya are developed through the implementation of community initiatives that are devised with the direct engagement of key community and regional stakeholders.

In addition to the wider regional investment projects that we support, Water, Education, Livelihood and Health continue to represent the core pillars of Shanta’s approach to community investment, and the projects we support are aligned with each of these. We are focused on adding business value beyond the financial contributions made through tax and royalty payments.