Chapter 6: The Mining Industry and the Sustainable Development Goals in Ghana

This study aims to review the actual actions of multinational mining company (MMC) subsidiaries operating in Ghana in relation to their contribution to addressing challenges facing sustainability and development by integrating the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into their core business.

This study reviews sustainability reports of three prominent MMCs, that is, AngloGold Ashanti (South African), Gold Fields (South African) and Newmont (American), to determine the extent and nature of the disclosures relating to efforts to integrate specific SDG targets into their core business.

This review finds that MMCs identify corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability issues that affect value creation, that is, a prioritisation of ‘internally actionable SDG targets’, and therefore, falling in a MMC’s sphere of influence, as well as explore opportunities to collaborate and leverage on their contribution to realising the SDGs, that is, ‘externally actionable SDG targets’.

Future studies should aim to collect information on the firms’ CSR and sustainability strategies from the stakeholder perspective, particularly, mining industry regulators, and thereby aiding data triangulation and rigour.

This study contributes to theoretical development of ‘the SDGs as a goal-based institution’ and contributes to the literature on MMCs’ CSR and its link to the SDGs, that is, efforts by MMCs to integrate specific and/or context-relevant SDGs into their core business.

From a managerial perspective, and through institutional isomorphism, MMC subsidiaries’ CSR and sustainability policies in the mining industry in Ghana should be adapted to meet the local SDG targets and aspirations.