Empowering innovation: Newmont’s AVTI trains next generation of skilled workers
In the Birim North District in the Eastern Region, a traditional staple, fufu, has been a delicacy for generations. However, the labour-intensive process of pounding fufu has always been a challenge, especially for women.
Thanks to the ingenuity of students and tutors of Newmont’s Akyem Vocational and Technical Institute (AVTI), this challenge will be a thing of the past. At the first graduation ceremony of the AVTI’s first cohort, the Vice Principal, Ing Ben Blanton Gidisu, and the graduating class took on the challenge to demonstrate innovative home-grown technologies to drive economic growth.
This included the ever-popular fufu making machine. The graduating class was determined to demonstrate the uniqueness of their technology even though many of such machines are already on the market.
The AVTI’s machine is battery powered, ensuring it runs smoothly without power disruptions, with significantly reduced noise and designed to reduce emissions. With improvements to existing fufu grinding machines available today, the innovation represents a game changer for fufu lovers and is set to revolutionize the way this traditional food is prepared.
From metal fabrication to control panel and electrical installations, the various departments of the AVTI showed their expert skills in the manufacturing of the innovative fufu machine.
The machine was one of the many achievements highlighted at the graduation ceremony of the 93 students who had completed their three-year training programme at the Institute.
They were trained in various fields such as plumbing and gas fitting technology, building construction technology, welding and fabrication technology, and electrical engineering technology.
Newmont Akyem’s Sustainability and External Relations Senior Manager, Derek Boateng, highlighted the company’s commitment to supporting vocational training and skills development in the host communities.
“Today is a celebration of the work we have put in to enhance the talent in our host communities. AVTI continues to equip its beneficiaries with the skills, knowledge, and creativity to make a positive impact and contribute to the country’s economic growth and development. Newmont is proud of this feat.”
The Akyem Vocational and Technical Institute (AVTI) is a community-based school established in 2021 by Newmont ‘s Foundation in Akyem to provide high-quality technical and vocational education to the youth in its mine host communities. Currently, the school has 251 students and 31 staff with courses in welding and fabrication, electrical installation, plumbing and gas fitting as well as building construction.
The battery powered fufu machine is a shining example of the innovation and creativity that Newmont’s AVTI aims to instill in its students. As the Institute looks to commercialize the machine and make it available to markets in Ghana and beyond, it is heartwarming to witness a new generation of innovators and entrepreneurs who are shaping the future of Ghana.