JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Diversified mining and marketing company Glencore on Thursday announced an innovative employee engagement solution to strengthen communication with employees at the Kamoto copper and cobalt mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). 

Kamoto, Vodacom Business and Standard Bank have partnered to create the Umoja App, a digital workplace tool that provides employees with real-time information, including health and safety updates, human resource and payroll details, training, and employee feedback channels.

The digital workplace tool is designed to address structural communication challenges prevalent not only in the business, but in the broader community.

Full-time employees are provided with smartphones, data bundles and solar chargers in the DRC location where the lack of Internet access has real-world implications for employees, who often cannot access critical information in real-time.

“This will better connect them to the rest of the business,” Kamoto acting commercial director Ndomba Tshiendela stated in a release to Mining Weekly.

The app leverages the administrative capabilities of Standard Bank’s OneHub platform that consolidates the bank’s entire suite of digital solutions. 

“As a bank committed to Africa and her people, this partnership supports our mission of driving positive, sustainable and truly embedded technological growth across the continent. We continue to seek meaningful collaborations that can help develop and deliver the infrastructure needed for a digitally inclusive and connected continent,” said Standard Bank Group platform business head Jonathan Lamb.

The core capability for the app was developed and is managed by Wyzetalk, with Vodacom Business providing the smartphones and the mobile data for the app, which offers new opportunities for two-way communication in real-time.

“Connectivity opens the door to new opportunities, transforming lives and enabling a better future,” says Vodacom Business CEO William Mzimba.