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Creating Local Jobs

Creating local jobs and opportunities

Our supply chain is a powerful lever for the achievement of our sustainability strategy as well as SDG 8, which focuses on decent work and economic growth.

By sourcing goods and services from the community and in country, we contribute to local economic development and facilitate the development of thriving and self-sustaining businesses, which can succeed long after our operations have ceased.

Where goods and skills are available, we prioritize the use of local suppliers with provisions in place to ensure businesses have genuine local ownership. In 2022 we procured goods and services worth $1.4 billion from suppliers in the communities closest to our operations. In total, we spent nearly $6 billion on goods and services from local and host country suppliers.

Our approach to local employment is similar. We work to identify top talent in local communities and to provide these people with world-class training and mentorship programs to help them grow and develop into leaders in our operations or valued suppliers with world class standards.

In 2022, 96% of our employees and 78% of site senior management were host country nationals, and we procured goods and services worth from local suppliers in the communities closest to our operations.

More details on our policies and processes in this area are available below.

Building capacity and raising standards

We realize that vendors from our local communities may not immediately meet the standards we expect. Rather than not use these vendors, we see it as an important opportunity to develop local skills, increase capacity, and improve performance. It is a strategy that takes time but ultimately helps to diversify local economies and reduce dependence on the mine.

An example of this in practice is the catering services at the Kibali mine in the DRC. Golden Camp Services (GCS) have provided catering services to Kibali since 2018 and uses local farmers as their principal suppliers of beef, pork, and lamb. In 2019, GCS purchased over $270,000 of products from local farmers. Beyond this, GCS partnered with the Kibali team to train farmers and other local community members in the health and hygiene standards expected by a world-class mine.

Recently, Barrick funded several local community members who work with GCS to undertake a 10-month training course in the butchery business. This included training on how to process meat into consumer-friendly products such as hamburgers and stroganoff. The course has resulted in many local community businesses achieving professional hygiene certifications, including the requirements of the ISO 22000 International Standard on food safety management.

GCS and Barrick have also worked together to provide the basic infrastructure, including building slaughter slabs – permanently installed constructions which provide a clean environment for the slaughter of livestock.

Our support to GCS and its supply chain is not only important in feeding today’s Kibali workforce. It is laying the foundation for a more robust, highly skilled local economy – one that can offer high-quality services across the region and help build lasting prosperity long after the mine closes.

Management approach: Sustainable supply chains

Policies and procedures

As set out in our Sustainable Development Policy and our Social Performance Policy we see our supply chain as a powerful lever for the achievement of our sustainability strategy. By sourcing goods and services from the local communities and countries in which we operate, we contribute to local economic development and facilitate the development of thriving and self-sustaining businesses, which are able to succeed long after our operations have ceased.

We require all our suppliers, regardless of location, to meet the high standards we set for ourselves. To drive this, our standard contracts include clauses that commit vendors to uphold our core sustainability policies, including our:

Procurement

Where goods and skills are available, we prioritize the use of local suppliers.

To ensure benefits remain in our host countries, we require at least 51% equity ownership of a local supplier by a host country citizen and that at least 80% of executive and senior management positions at the supplier are filled by host country nationals.

If  the products or quality we require are not immediately available in our host communities, we identify vendors in the province or wider region and then our host country, before looking to international companies. We also take a longer-term view and our site supply teams work to build capacity and improve standards at local companies either through mentorship programs, skills and business training opportunities, or by providing loans to cover the cost of the materials needed.

Hiring

We prioritize the provision of job opportunities for our local communities and host countries.  It helps reinforce our social license to operate, and local and Indigenous employees also bring diversity and give our operations a better understanding of local customs, cultural practices, and the impact our activities on host communities.

All our operations have localisation plans, and we work to identify top talent in communities and to provide them with world-class training, and mentorship programs to help them grow and develop into leaders at our operations or valued suppliers with world class standards.

Managing supply chain risk

To manage supply chain risk, as part of our due diligence and vendor on-boarding standards, we make sure our suppliers meet our standards and in order to identify potential risks, our process includes:

  • Pre-contract due diligence – We conduct due diligence on potential vendors to understand their business and risk profile. The due diligence process examines financial health, capability in the industry, human rights protection, safety, environmental management and any history of malpractice. Our checks include prohibited party, political exposure, as well as anti-bribery and anti-corruption screening. For any potential or actual high-risk suppliers, we conduct additional reviews and advanced due diligence as needed. Post-engagement operating controls are implemented where required. These controls may include specific training for our high-risk vendors, additional clauses included in agreements or enhanced invoice reviews. We define high-risk suppliers as those where we anticipate a large spend; working in certain high-risk industries (such as customs, intermediaries, or immigration); based in high-risk jurisdictions and who are linked to, referred by or controlled by government officials or entities.

  • Ongoing monitoring - For the full life of a contract, our site and regional procurement teams work with our vendors to identify, evaluate and manage risks before they happen. We undertake periodic vendor recertification based on a rotating and risk-based schedule. For our largest or high-risk vendors, checks and risk assessments may be undertaken annually, depending on the risk profile. Our onboarding process also includes checks for automated ongoing sanctions, political exposure, legal and regulatory violation for all active vendors.

Key targets and metrics

  • Percentage of workforce who are host nationals
  • Percentage of senior management who are host nationals
  • Percentage of economic value that stays in country
  • Percentage of grievances resolved within 30 days
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