Having outgrown its original premises in Accra, Ghana, high technology and services engineering group Sandvik has moved into a dedicated office in the capital, capable of accommodating the current staff complement of 100, with capacity for future expansion. Speaking at the April 2012 ribbon cutting ceremony that officially opened the new building, James Oosthuizen, Sandvik’s vice-president sales area West Africa and managing director of Sandvik Ghana, said a good and conducive office environment would facilitate improved customer service, create and sustain operational efficiencies and ensure the comfort and well-being of the company’s employees.

Sandvik, which celebrates its 150th anniversary of global operation in 2012, originally established a presence in Ghana nearly 15 years ago, starting out with about 26 staff members and operating from Accra, Obuasi and Tarkwa, where the bulk of the company’s activities lay at that time. Over the years, Sandvik maintained the Accra office for ease of coordination and the much needed interaction with its burgeoning customer base, most of whom have their corporate offices in the capital. However, Sandvik’s Ghana team has since expanded and space became extremely limited, particularly since this building was shared with other organisations and also served as residential accommodation. These realities, coupled with the fact that Sandvik was no longer able to effectively maintain its desired environmental and occupational health and safety (EHS) best practices, led to the decision to move to new premises.

At the same time, work has begun on the construction of an ultra-modern Sandvik complex in Kumasi, in southern central Ghana’s Ashanti region, that will incorporate offices, a training facility, an equipment servicing and rebuild section and warehousing. The ground-breaking ceremony for the new Kumasi complex also took place in April 2012 and included the Ashanti King, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II and government representatives among its VIP guests. At the event Oosthuizen described the establishment of a fully-fledged Sandvik facility in Ghana as “the visible beginning of a new era in the operations of Sandvik Mining in West Africa.”  He added: “The facility represents a massive investment into an environmentally friendly and occupationally safe and healthy facility, in demonstration of our commitment to protecting the environment for ourselves and for posterity and to ensuring that we go about our jobs with zero harm.” Oosthuizen stressed that the facility’s workshop, warehouse and training facilities would also provide opportunities for the essential practical experience required by students at educational institutions in the area.