Published: June 9, 2022 |

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Anglo American has signed a $100 million 10-year loan agreement with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) linked to the delivery of sustainability goals that are integral to Anglo American’s Sustainable Mining Plan. This sustainability-linked loan is IFC’s first in the mining sector and is understood to be the first in the mining sector globally that focuses exclusively on social development indicators.

The specific goals tied to the loan agreement are aimed at supporting community development in rural communities close to Anglo American’s mining operations across South Africa, including by promoting the creation of jobs as well as improving the quality of education for more than 73,000 students.

“Our Sustainable Mining Plan has a set of ambitious global goals relating to delivering a healthy environment, creating thriving communities, and being recognized as a trusted corporate leader. We designed our goals to challenge us to lead and innovate in how we can best deliver meaningful and enduring value to society, and particularly to those nearest to where we operate,” said Stephen Pearce, finance director of Anglo American.

“We are delighted to now link some of our education and job creation targets to this loan as an additional demonstration of our commitment to deliver real and tangible benefits for our host communities,” added Pearce.

Anglo American’s Sustainable Mining Plan includes targets to support schools in their host communities to perform within the top 30 percent of state schools nationally and to create or support three offsite jobs for every onsite job at their operations by 2025.

“To achieve our education target, we will aim to strengthen the public education system by training educators, practitioners, and school management teams, and upgrade basic school infrastructure and equipment including providing Wi-Fi and computers at over 100 primary and secondary public schools in South Africa. We are already supporting more than 73,000 students from early childhood development centers, primary schools, and secondary schools, with more children to benefit in Phase 2 of the program,” said Jonathan Samuel, Anglo American’s group head of Responsible Business Partnerships.

“To achieve our livelihood target we plan to provide mentorship, capacity building, skills development and access to finance to small businesses in the mining value chain and in other sectors, with a focus on women and young people. Since 2018, we have supported over 13,500 jobs and facilitated ZAR 430 million of loans to small businesses in South Africa through Anglo American’s Zimele Loan Fund,” added Samuel.

Anglo American has committed to contributing additional funds to agreed social causes if it falls short of fully achieving its education and livelihood targets under the terms of this loan.

Anglo American and IFC have worked closely to ensure that a robust set of metrics and targets are documented.

“Sustainability-linked financing is a powerful tool for mobilizing capital and to incentivize companies that seek to contribute to a more sustainable future. IFC’s partnership with Anglo American will support quality education for early learners, strengthen human capital development, and boost small businesses in South Africa,” said Kevin Njiraini, IFC’s director for Southern Africa and Nigeria.

This loan is part of a broader Anglo American engagement with IFC on local social development, including in Peru where Anglo American, IFC and other partners are supporting regional development initiatives.

About Anglo American
Anglo American is a leading global mining company and its products are the essential ingredients in almost every aspect of modern life. Their portfolio of world-class competitive operations, with a broad range of future development options, provides many of the future-enabling metals and minerals for a cleaner, greener, more sustainable world and that meet the fast growing every day demands of billions of consumers. With people at the heart of their business, they use innovative practices and the latest technologies to discover new resources and to mine, process, move, and market our products to their customers — safely and sustainably.

As a responsible producer of diamonds (through De Beers), copper, platinum group metals, premium quality iron ore and metallurgical coal for steelmaking, and nickel — with crop nutrients in development — they are committed to being carbon neutral across our operations by 2040. More broadly, their Sustainable Mining Plan commits them to a series of stretching goals to ensure they work towards a healthy environment, creating thriving communities, and building trust as a corporate leader. They work together with business partners and diverse stakeholders to unlock enduring value from precious natural resources for the benefit of the communities and countries in which they operate.

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