What is your experience being one of few women CEOs in a male dominated industry?
At the moment, in Africa, there are around 17% women working in the entire large scale mining industry, with Ghana sitting even lower, at about 12%%. This gap is due to historical reasons, and there is a lot of catching-up to do. Even in countries with higher percentages, a lot of the women are not in technical roles, but we are so far behind, that we are pushing mere participation at the moment. Mining offers above average wages so getting as many women as possible in this industry would lead to the economic empowerment of numerous families, and, ultimately, communities.
What is the story behind founding Georgette Barnes, and how did you decide to put your name on the frontispiece?
I finished my post-graduate studies in 1993, and whilst working in communications, I felt there could be more to my professional life so I started looking for a job that could give me a sense of adventure. Luckily, I got the opportunity to join a Canadian exploration company, and fulfilled my dream to travel around West Africa, with my degree in French and networks formed during a year of study in neighbouring Burkina Faso coming in handy. Subnsequently, in 2009, after having worked a decade at an Australian mining consultancy, I decided to start my own company.
Across the experience I had throughout my career, I realized that the technical teams needed some specific items that were often not available locally, and could only be found in New Zealand, Australia or South Africa. Having seen this deficit, I gathered courage and founded the company that bears my name in an attempt to fill this gap in the market.
I went for an eponymous brand because I wanted to leverage the network that I managed to create up to that point, and, indeed, many doors have opened thanks to this decision.
Which countries do you operate in and what is your concrete field of activity?
We are based in Ghana, with Accra being our current headquarters, but the plan is to soon move to Obuasi, a famous mining town in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Our client base spreads from Senegal to Mauritania, Nigeria, Mali, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, and Togo. We are West Africa focused and we provide inputs for exploration, from drilling fluids to drill-bits, and other elements that make the rig work. We also offer complete solutions for geology departments and core yards, including Core rollers, and racks building expertise.
It seems the mining industry is going to grow at an unprecedented rate given the demand for raw materials. Are you expecting a scale up in your operations in the coming years?
In West Africa our focus has been on gold for a very long time, but there are other resources, like Manganese, bauxite, Uranuim and lithium. This new attention towards other resources translates into investment in exploration and, as a result, an increase in demand for our products. In the past few years, business has been very difficult trying to keep the balance between local content and imported items, and we are still recovering from the post-Covid supply chain disruptions which caused us a three-year delay in growth.
What measures are you taking to overcome these challenges?
Cost cutting was definitely one of the measures we took initially, as well as postponing our expansion plans. We have not increased our staff; instead we used more short-term contracts and consulting services. With interest rates going up, we experienced exchange rate difficulty in accessing capital. We learned that the best ways to manage these challenges are to be agile with our business plans, and adapt our focus from time to time, without losing sight of the long-term strategic vision. e We always have a plan B in place, and we are always on the lookout for cheaper financing opportunities.
How many of your partners are Western companies and how much does the West filter capital to local communities through their operations?
Through the local content law, the regulator requires that the majority of mining companies should purchase from local companies. Moreover, there is an established procurement list of items that should be produced locally. However, there are still issues of quality, and therefore as a small company, we need to import some items to meet the technical specifications of our customers. Besides, even if we had the technical and financial capacity to produce them domestically, the investment cannot be justified without guaranteed access to regional markets.
