AngloGold Ashanti (AGA) was on Thursday awarded the International Computer Driving License (ICDL) Training Centre Certificate to enable it to build and improve competences in computer skills for its staff and host communities. The certificate awarded by the Ghana-India Kofi Annan Centre for ICT Excellence would place AngloGold Ashanti in a position to run programmes that are world class and internationally recognised IT training to its staff in Ghana and abroad as well as the host communities. This would enable AGA to run a concurrent programme while awarding the same certificate as the Centre. Mr Ernest Abankroh, Country Manager of AGA, signed for his company while Ms Dorothy Gordon, Director-General of the Centre, signed for the Centre. Mr Abankroh said the vision of the partnership was to train AGA IT trainers throughout the country and the sub-region, establish two certified training centres within AGA at Obuasi in Ghana and Bamako, Mali, to serve the three AGA mines as well as the Siguiri Mine in Guinea. He explained that the partnership between the two institutions started last year, stressing that the company was eager to be a premiere centre in Ghana and play the role of a driver of ICT sector growth. AGA is the first company to adopt a company-wide approach using a special training development package designed by AITI to boost private sector productivity. Mr Abankroh said the use of computer networks and intranet facility had had a tremendous impact on the way AGA employees, either as groups or individuals, to communicate with each other and use ICT to further develop their skills on the job. "AGA is committed to developing well motivated, competent and experienced employees through recruitment, retention and departmental initiatives." To date, 26 AGA employees in the region have been trained as ICDL trainers from Ghana, Mali and Guinea. Ms Gordon commended the vision of AGA to partner with the Centre and said it will no doubt work at making AGA staff and host communities more useful. She said the aim of the Ghana-India Kofi Annan Centre for ICT Excellence to flush out fake, but expensive ICT Centres in the country who claim to train students in ICT but had no accreditation or competence to do so. Source GNA