Many of our staff have been with the company for over five years and we have undertaken significant training within GDC to develop our people’s skills in areas such as pipe laying, safety, administration, management, sales, marketing and human resources.

Throughout the process of developing the Logbaba field, local consultation sessions have been run to help communities become aware of how operations are to move forward, and to give GDC the chance to listen to concerns and feedback from the people of Douala. Our community interaction programmes have allowed GDC to pre-empt issues, in what is a highly populated urban area, and also to ensure that local people have been involved in paid work during all stages of development.

One of the key measures of success of the relationships we have built in the community is the proactive approach the local community takes to ensure pipeline security. For example, our safety teams receive often feedback from community members if concerns arise over other companies planning subsurface work in areas where our gas pipes have been laid.

GDC is committed to strengthening local communities. We have in place an active community programme helping to benefit people in the city of Douala. Our approach is to liaise with communities; identify key needs and then develop projects ourselves or work on them in conjunction with established organisations. We look to ensure that a true cross section of community members participate in active schemes and have worked to develop ballot systems for selecting individuals to participate in certain programmes.

Some of our Corporate Social Responsibility Activities carried out to date include:

• Sponsoring the Logbaba District Hospital’s breast and endometrial cancer screening programme
• Paying maintenance costs of the borehole supplying potable water to the local population of Ndogpassi
• Making compensation payments for pipeline construction disturbances
• Employing local residents as community workers for GDC activities
• Holding safety information and awareness meetings with local authorities and residents
• Holding stakeholder engagement and information meetings related to gas pipeline extension to the Bonaberi area