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Olam Gabon’s Quarterly newsletter

November 2012

EDITORIALLetter from the Country Head

CORPORATE NEWSWhat happened lately in our company?

NEWS FROM THE FIELDSpecial delivery from our projects

ACROSS BUSINESSESDepartments working towards mutual benefits

ACTIONS FROM OUR PARTNERSDrill Watt, our partner in providing access to basic needs

COMMITTING TO GABONMedical Kits distribution in KangoThe story of Richard

WE ARE OLAM GABON! Olam Staff

NEW TEAM MEMBERSA growing corporate family

PHOTOS OF THE MONTH

Gabon Flash

Dear Colleagues, Dear Partners,

November significantly marks our relationship with Gabon as we celebrate two years after the signing of agreements with the Gabonese Republic. We are honoured to be one of the Republic of Gabon’s major partners and to

contribute to Gabon’s march towards the “Emergence” goals. There are still many steps ahead of us, and we are committed to growing responsibly whilst creating mutual values. In two years, we have invested more than US$ 400 million (CFA 220 billion) and developed our projects in accordance with six Environmental and Social Impacts Assessment (ESIA) studies. We are concerned about our projects neighbou-ring livelihood and look forward to building long-term relationships with inhabi-tants of the Estuaire, Ogooue-Maritime, Woleu Ntem, Ngounie and Ogooue-Ivindo provinces, while increasingly involving them in project development through infor-mation exchange.

We have started a long journey along which tremendous projects are being built. They take time, motivation and effort. The Olam Gabon family has grown from 800 staff in 2011 to 3,200 today, the team is getting larger

and stronger. What has been accomplished so far would not have happened wit-hout all our employees. They are the essence of Olam’s achievements and without them nothing would have been accomplished. Thanks to a hardworking team and a strong partnership with the Gabonese Republic, we have been able to deliver all projects on time, except Gabon Fertilizer Company due to the delay in getting the ESIA approvals.

These two years are only the beginning of a challenging but a bright future. We are pleased to look back and witness such achievements in this adventure though still in its early stage but certainly improving.

On behalf of Olam, I would like to warmly thank the Gabonese people and the Government together with whom we lay the foundation of a solid and sustainable future.

Gagan Gupta, Country Head

Key Numbersfrom october 2012

CFA 220 Billionalready invested in Gabon

1,200,000rubber stumps in our nusery

650solar lamps erected in 6 months

AgendaEND OF 2012

Payroll electronic system installed

Rubber planting process started240 hectares of nursery

2,000 hectares planted for our Palm activi-ties

GFC : Dredging and land filling started on plot F of Mandji’s Special Economic Zone

Modernisation of our sawmill in Makokou

GABON FLASH - OLAM GABON’S NEWSLETTERDirecteur de la publication : Gaëlle Dupuis - 06 00 52 00 Comité de rédaction : Lauriane Guillemin - 06 00 51 99Electronic version available on : www.insuu.com

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3200 Olam employees in Gabon

2,196hectares planted for Palm

1company has already started its activities in Nkok Special Economic Zone

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Corporate News

Our ”Country Meet” gathered 97 members of the Country Team in Franceville. Team members discussed projects covered by Olam in Gabon, Gabon as a land of opportunities, in addition to achievements and issues faced by our teams across the country.

Franceville Country Meet : “We will make it happen!”

On September 8th and 9th, an interactive presentation allowed

business units representatives to share their views and experience. The bilingual presentation touched upon the investments in Gabon and what the strategy for each project is. Discussions enabled all to take the floor and exchange ideas or concerns about the company and develop a sense of belonging as one corporate family.

Three team building outdoor acti-vities were organized by a trai-

ning agency. The Country team was divided into 12 small groups who competed whilst challenging their team spirit, focus, speed, action planning, solidarity and interperso-nal communication.

In the evening, local dancers and musicians made a vibrant and bla-

zing performance adding a unique touch to this Country Meet. The reunion remarkably strengthened the professional ties of bright key players who usually work across 7 different sites in Gabon.

The National Agricultural exhi-bition took place from October

16th to 20th. Prime Minister, Ray-mond Ndong Sima did the traditio-nal ribbon cutting before stopping by all stands and discussing with exhibitors. The national theme was ”agricultural cooperatives feed the world”, as this year, the international economic context is affected by the global rise of food prices. Informative stands covered

fields of agriculture, livestock and fisheries.

Our company took this unique opportunity to inform a wider

audience on our Palm and Rubber projects. We had about 230 visi-tors, most of which were students and teachers.

Our stand at Gabon’s Agricultural exhibition attracts 230 visitors at Gabon-Expo.

Palm and Rubber on the catwalk : Agricultural Exhibition

Olam has won this year’s Africa In-

vestor - Leadership in Sustainable Investment in Africa of the Year Award, presented at the Investment and Busi-ness Leader Awards (in a ceremony held recent-ly at Tokyo, Japan), as

part of the Africa Investor CEO Investment Climate Summit (Ai CEO Invest-ment Climate Summit).The award recognises The Olam Livelihood Charter (OLC), which for-malises the company’s long-standing commit-ment to investing in rural

communities in emerging markets and farmers across the globe.

Olam wins the ‘Leadership in Sustainable Investment in Africa’ Award

GLOBAL NEWS

Team attending Franceville Country meet.

From left to right : Mr. Adrien Nkoghe Essingone, 3rd VP of the National Assembly, Mr. Julien Nkoghé Békalé, Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Raymond Ndong Sima, Prime Minister, Mr. Georges Mboussougou, social communicator for Palm.

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Since January 2012 public consultations have been organised by our company to make sure, with the help of NGOs, village chiefs and consultants that the local populations are aware of the project’s impacts. In fact, 800 ha of land were given up to 2 villages for their own plantation needs, furthermore ancient and sacred sites will be protected in respect to Native Customary Rights. About 50 people were present at the signature of the social contract, including Olam delegates and 29 repre-

sentatives from 8 different villages (the village Chiefs, the Prefects, and the Presidents of Departmental Councils of Douya Onoye and Tsamba Magotsi). 500 solar streetlights have already been erected and are operational around Mouila area. A total of 30 water hand pumps have been approved by the Ministry of Oil, Energy and Hydraulic Resources and are being instal-led by local subcontractors.

First anniversary at Awala (Kango)

Plantation in Mouila - October 2012

Awala kicked off with a first 7-month-old-seedling being planted by the President of the Gabonese Republic, His Excellency Mr Ali Bongo Ondimba. Our Awala plan-tation started with about 100 people and

has reached 945 people in 12 months. In the past 3 months we have been able to plant up to 820 hectares. We plan to complete 7,500 hectares of plantation in Awala by June 2013.

President Ali Bongo Ondimba honours us with his presence in Mouila!

During his tour in the southern part of Gabon (Lambaréné, Fougamou, Nden-dé, Lebamba…) on September 10th, the President of the Republic of Gabon, His Excellency Mr. Ali Bongo Ondimba, included our palm plantation as part of his busy itinerary. His Excellency honou-red us by planting the first palm tree of our plantation in Mouila and also ac-knowledged the large amount of work done. Over the past two months, we have

hired about 600 workers to develop about 70 hectares of nursery i.e. 900 000 seed-lings, now reaching 140 hectares of nur-sery in Mouila. The planting process will begin in March 2013 and a total of 10,000 hectares should be planted by the end of year 2013. The plantable area was deter-mined after the validation of the Environ-mental and Social Impact Assessment by all relevant authorities on the 1st of August.

Bonding with Mouila’s populations Further to the Free Prior Informed Consent (FPIC) process, a social contract was signed between our company and Mouila’s communities representatives. This step marks the begining of our planting process on site.

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News from the field: PALM

A year ago, Olam was giving birth to its first plantation of palm trees in Gabon

H.E Mr. Ali Bongo Ondimba and Alida Dissielou Assistant Manager at Palm Mouila.

We will proudly remember September 10th 2012, the day the President came by our plantations in Mouila.

Mr. Michel Mouguiama, Governor of Ngounie signing social contract in Mouila - August 2012

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Rubber kicks off

Plantation in Bitam - September 2012

The very first Rubber budded stumps were delivered in Bitam on the 25th of July. They were brought by air all the way from Côte d’Ivoire to Douala, and were driven to their final destination in four trucks. This delivery is major as it set the

start of the nursery.That operation requi-red 360 boxes containing 150,000 Rub-ber budded stumps ready to be bagged up in the nursery, within the 72 hours fol-lowing their arrival.

Social contract is signed for 4,300 hectares in Bitam

The social contract covering 4,300 hec-tares, i.e. one bloc on the Western side of the Nye River was signed on October 9th. This contract involved 7 villages: Okok, Toulouse, Edoum, Nyazang, Woumou, Essong Milang and Ongongo Bibe Eba. The Free, Prior and Informed Consent process (FPIC) aims to reach an agree-ment between our company and the com-munities living around the project site. Within the 4,300 hectare-wide land cove-red in the social contract, 1,479 hectares were identified as protected areas and will not be planted, i.e. 34% of total area. 33 people including the Prefect of Ntem, Mr. Boniface Foungues and other community

leaders, attended the signing ceremony. Between 2012 and 2013, 1,500 hectares for bloc 1 will be planted, production will begin in 2018.

A roof for our plantation workersA housing plan is currently being put in place to relieve workers based on site.

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News from the field: RUBBER

President visits Bitam - August 2012

Our Rubber nursery starts after rubber stumps aredelivered by air.

Boxes of rubber stumps

Signature of Social contract

The signature of the Social contract allows us to start developping our activities on a first bloc of 4,300 hectares.

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Rubber nurserySocial and comunication teams meeting Okok Villagers

A housing plan aims to provide private facilities to our workers across the country. We are currently experien-cing the construction of 216 bedrooms split in three buil-dings and 40 supervisor units. To complete dormitories, two laundries, a 500-square-meter-dining-hall and its kitchen. Housing for management and 60 wood dormi-tories are also under construction.

Dormitory on construction on our site near Okok.

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The first ”Made in GSEZ” products are out

Nkok’s SEZ railway - November 2012

We have welcomed, over the last quarter, 8 confirmed customers whose projects will cover 14.7 hectares, the Special Economic Zone of Nkok now counts a total of 62 confirmed custo-mers of which more than 40 are from the industrial sector. Resurgent is a Asian timber company which has built a sawmill, on site, with a proces-sing capacity of 5,000 cubic metres per year. Around 20 employees will be needed to run the sawmill and the

production will be orientated to export. Resurgent’s activities started on No-vember 1st, only four months after the first foundations were placed. On site, Shinago and CDG (Chaudronnerie du Gabon) have started building their transformation factories. Our confirmed investors’ projects represent, so far, US$ 1.7 billion of Foreign Direct Investments. ©

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News from the field: GABON SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONE

Foreign investors viewing SEZ’s model - August 2012

In half a year we have welcomed about 600 visitors (potential inves-tors, journalists, NGOs, partners,

international organisations, national authorities…), some of which have

given us feedback :

“An impressive visit of this “emer-ging” site. It carries hope for a

country such as Gabon that will develop using its countless natural resources in a sustainable manner.”

A visitor from the World Bank

“Thank you very much for your hospitality. It is heartening to see such an impressive and competent

team put together by Olam. All the best .”

A visitor from HSBC

“Amazed with the progress! Congratulations!”

A visitor from the US embassy

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On the 4th of October, about 40 journalists visitited Nkok site and wit-nessed the progress done. Gabon Matin, L’Union, BBC, Télé Africa, La Griffe, Gabaon, RFI and many other important media organisations have accepted to jump on board and discover newly built infrastructures.

SEZ under the spotlights

Nkok’s investors have started their first constructions and productions.

Construction at Chaudronnerie du Gabon, GSEZ, Nkok.

One of Resurgent’s sawing machine, GSEZ, Nkok.GSEZ, Nkok.

Journalists visiting the Electrical distribution Main Receiving Substation, with Théophile Ogan-daga, General Coordinator and Jasveer Singh, Head of GSEZ.

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Forest feast

Viana in Makokou - August 2012

Between the 1st and 4th of August, local populations from Okondja (Ma-kokou) and Olam representatives ral-lied to identify cultural and ancestral sites within the exploitation area per-mitted by Timber’s operating licence. This participative meeting, followed by festivities was handled by Benja-min N’nang Akare, social communi-cator, Toussaint Ndong Abesssolo, botanist, Saint-Louis Ndongo, pros-pector. Sacrifices were done in Cocomoi-cala by representatives of five vil-lages (Cocomoicala , Melondomiole, Turwaya, Makebe, Bakwaka). The ritualisation step was completed after a concerted identification of important zones within the area defined by the operating permit.

This detailed process de-fines areas of customary use (sacred sites, areas critical for subsistence farming, etc). The ritual sacrifices symbolise a request for blessings from the spirits of the fo-rest. Designed members of the community (Village chief of Bakwaka, and 2 public figures coming from all 5 villages) invo-cate spirits for them to give their consents and

make sure work is successfully conducted in the area.

News from the field: TIMBER

Shanghaï: New equipment delivered - November 2012

The modernisation of one of our sawmills in Makokou will increase production as well as expand our product line which will eventually make us competitive on the European Market of hydraulic logs. We currently have two wood-processing plants. One is called Viana and is operational, the second one is called Shanghaï and is being modernised and should start producing again by December 2012. Both sawmills host two header saws and two board edgers. Viana has a processing capacity of 1,000 m3 per month.

Ongoing improvement of our production unit

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The utilisation of forest resources features strongly in Gabon’s history and we understand sites have special value for people as they represent their heritage. After the traditional process area mapping, access and development of activities require the observance of rituals and ceremonies.

Our sawmill in Makokou is being modernised to increase the overall production by 50%.

Ritualisation with elected representatives of villages of Melondo-miole, Turwaya et Cocomoicala.

Schulte sawing machine being installed.

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Dredge and land filling on site - October 2012

Fertilising Gabon’s growth

News from the field: GABON FERTILIZER COMPANY

Due to required in-depth technical, social and environmental studies on-site and off-site and changes in the project’s overall cost, the plant’s construction has experienced some delays. Be-fore we can begin the construction of the Fertiliser plant, we must complete the Front End Enginee-ring and Design (FEED), get the Environmental and Social Impacts Assessment (ESIA) valida-ted by relevant authorities and conduct the Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) with local po-pulations. The past months have marked a step forward for the ESIA and the FEED. The Front End Engineering and Design (FEED) took place between October 2011 and June 2012. This basic engineering plan is required for the establishment of the Open Book Esti-mate and the release of the Lum Sum Turnkey contract (an agreement in which a contractor designs, constructs, and manages a project until it is ready to be handed over to the client and operation can begin immediately.). Detailed en-gineering and construction can now begin. The ESIA is currently being carried out by consul-tants from URS Scot Wilson and Ecosphere. Last September the ESIA report was made pu-blically consultable at the Direction Générale de l’Environnement (DGE).

Gabon Fertilizer Company is a joint-venture between Olam International Ltd (62.9%), the goverment of Gabon (12%) and Tata Chemicals (25.1%). The project is at its early stage, and is undergoing studies and seeking the required validations.

So far we have achieved the following for ESIA approval : • Phase 1, that allows us to prepare the land (clearing and

construction of access roads). • Phase 2, that allows us to dredge and land fill.• Phase 3, that allows us to start the main plan construction.Phase 4, once acquired, will allow us to build water pipelines.

Location of Site in Mandji’s SEZ

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News from the field

Operational projects :

Palm

Rubber

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Number of employees in Bitam 600 employees

Number of hectares planted thisquarter in Bitam

410 hectares are underdevelopment

Amount already invested FCFA 7.7 billion i.e. US$ 15.2 million

Number of employees in Awala(Kango)

955 employees

Number of employees in Mouila 968 employees. 600 employeesjoined over the last quarter

Number of hectares planted thisquarter in Awala (Kango)

820 hectares have been planted in the last quarter, of total of 2190 hectares already planted

Number of hectares planted thisquarter in Mouila

70 hectares of nursery’s total size of 140 hectares, i.e. 2,000,000 plants

Amount already invested CFA 62 Billion i.e. US$ 122 million

News from the field

GSEZ

Timber

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Number of employees in GSEZ 1375 direct and indirect employees

Area achieved Phase 1 : 438 ha including roadsand greens

Amount already invested FCFA 147.5 billion i.e. US$ 292million

Number of employees in Makokou 350 employees

Number of hectares exploited in Makokou

555,000 hectares

Amount already invested FCFA 3.5 billion i.e. US$ 6.8 million

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News from the field

Hectares already developped by Olam in Gabon

(nurseries and plantations, every semesters)

Workforce

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Semester 1- 2012 Semester 2- 2012

RubberPalm

Hectares

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2011 Semester 1-2012

Semester 2-2012

Workforce (includingindirect jobs at Nkok'sGSEZ)

Employees

We have already invested FCFA 220 billion in Gabon, whilst devoting FCFA 986 million to social actions, since the begining of 2012. Those actions include the erection of solar street lights, the installation or rehabilitation of water hand pumps, the construction or rehabilitation of health care dispensaries and donations towards health and education.

Across businessesFocus on I.T.

A total of 9 members from our team : Vinodanand Jha (IT head); IT Managers, Induprasad Nair and Rodrigue Mintsa Mengue, and IT Supports: Malick Pambou Mbokou Rangue, Brice Kenzam, Michel Nguema, Andreï Olago Mboumba, Parfait Edou (Bitam), Vivian Kombila (Mouila), Lionel Mezui Ogouta (Makokou) is working towards modernizing telecommunication means within the company. The IT Department’s ambitions will bring considerable improvement within Olam Group as well as technological development for Gabon’s Special Economic Zone.

We have 7 locations across the country between which we need to main-tain connectivity, and furthermore keep in touch with our headquarters and other Olam locations worldwide. Up to 5 locations can be called simultaneously for video and 4 locations for audio conference from Libre-ville. Bitam, Kango, Makokou, Mouila, Nkok and Port-Gentil will be provi-ded with this service by end of November.

Video conference switched ON

New upcoming systems are being implemented to standardise business practices for the whole com-

pany’s resources (finance, material management, ac-countancy…). The System Application Products (SAP ERP) that we are installing and implementing is the largest Entreprise’s Resource Planning software ever conceived. This multi-lingual SAP will cover operational processes from purchase acquisition to purchase order creation and reception of the material for Palm, Rubber, Timber and SEZ. This system is used worldwide and it should ease up everyone’s daily work as it will standar-dize all business units’ administrative processes across sites in Gabon.

Business Intelligence will be incorporated to the ap-plication and enable us to have automatic data ana-

lysis and graphs.

A document Management system whereby all elec-tronic documents will be stored in a central depo-

sitary, is under execution. This document management system will allow authorised employees to view, print, modify, copy or delete documents stored in the system. A search engine will facilitate all research within the sys-tem.

Modernising and standardising Olam’s Business Operations using SAP

We are cur-rently wor-

king towards improving our payroll sys-tem through the introduc-tion of SAGE s o f t w a r e , t h e r e f o r e automat ing payment pro-cedures. The implementa-tion of this new process has resul-ted in a shift of cash and may have resulted, for a short amount of time, in unregular payments. The transi-tion and the use of this brand new payroll system explains the inconvi-nience caused.

You may have experienced some misunderstanding with your pay check in Mouila. This was due to the introduction of a new Payroll sytem that will modernise our Human Resources Department ‘s daily and monthly tasks.

PayRoll SAGE Software implementation

We should soon acquire a ”central depositary” where all electronic docu-ments would be accessible under authorisation. We will be able to view, print, modify, delete or copy with a specified authorisation and traceability. Soon, moving out of our offices to get a practical document will be unne-cessary, all will be able to access from their computers and accounts.

Document management system

Agribusiness Solution Value Chain

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Olivier Aveyra is SAGE HRM Project Manager

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We aim to bring prosperity to communities we operate next

to, we wish to build long-term rela-tionships based on fairness and trust, and part of our social actions is to provide access to water for com-munities living around our projects. One of our Gabonese subcontrac-tors Drill-Watt installs and rehabili-tates water hand pumps around our project sites and ensures the good quality of the water, for the benefit of the communities. Drill Watt’s work is approved and monitored by the Ministry of Oil, Energy and Hydrau-lic Resources. The enterprise works within our Corporate Social Res-ponsibility scope.

Since July 2012, Drill Watt has been providing us with water

hand pumps (as opposed to electri-cally activated pumps) as most vil-lages lack electricity supply. All bore wells drilled in villages near Olam (average of 20 metres depth) sites have concrete liners to prevent them from contamination by seepage. Furthermore, all pumps are hand-powered, as opposed to more com-monly used foot pumps. This parti-cularity makes usage easier for the elderly and children (who represent the majority in most villages).

”Our collaboration with Olam al-lows us, while doing a commercial

operation, to contribute, at our level, to a common effort, and bring a vi-tal input to rural populations” states Jean-Medard Madama, General Manager of Drill Watt.

“Other companies request our ser-vices with regards to their Corpo-

rate Social Responsibility. Never-theless, Olam has been the only one so far to do an operation of such importance quantity-wise. Firms would usually ask us to install two to three water pumps, Olam is plan-ning to cover about 100 villages and wishes to cover more in the future”.

So far, Drill Watt has drilled or rehabilitated 19 pumps. 11 dril-

lings extra were achieved but hap-pened to be negative. In other terms, despite our estimates there was no water or we came upon a solid rock. Fortunately, Gabon’s water tables are plentiful and frequently reple-nished by heavy rainfalls.

Actions from our partnersDrill Watt : Our partner in providing access to basic needsDrill Watt is one of our numerous local partners which help us meet our Corporate Social Responsibilities towards local communities. Drill Watt inatlls and rehabilitates water hand pumps around our sites.

”Olam has been the only one so far, to do an operation of such importance quantity-wise.”

Water pump in Okok, near Bitam, as part of Olam’s Corporate Responsability and Sustainability programme - September

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A constructive discussion took place between participants and

Velan Mahadevan, our Awala plan-tations General Manager, Arun Venkataraman, our Olam Palm Ga-bon’s Sustainability Vice President, Ramesh Kumar, our Regional Mana-ger, Pearl Comlan, our Health & Sa-fety Manager, Raphael Aouba, our Environmental and Social Impact/RSPO Manager, Synclair Okoh, our Quality, Hygiene, Security, and Envi-ronment Manager, and of Hugues Maguena, Chief of Staff.

Further to our grievance exchange, medical kits were distributed with

explanations by the medical nurse who works for the plantation wor-kers in Kango. Kits are distributed to all women working in our plantations and to village chiefs.

Each kit contained: Paracetamol syrup for children,

Paracetamol pills for adults,Anti-malaria medication for adults

and children,Diarrhea medication for adults and children,Parasitic worm drugs,A packet of oral rehydration salts for children, A thermometer,An illustrated leaflet on use and pre-cautions.

Jacqueline Bindang Mengue, our nurse in Kango explained the

usage and precautions of all medi-cations and the necessity for all to check expiring dates before getting medicated.

Committing to GabonDistributing medical kitsOn September 18th, our teams in Kango organised a formal dinner with the village chiefs to share their grievance. It was the opportunity to discuss between local authorities and Olam representatives distributed medical kits to all 30 attendees. Medical kits were supplied by our partner, the First Lady’s Sylvia Bongo Ondimba Foundation which promotes Information, Prevention, Protection, Screening, Care and Respect (medical kits, condoms distribution).

While the journey ahead of us is a long one, the positive socio-economic impacts of our

projects will increasingly become tangible. We are committed to ensuring long term responsible growth of all our projects in Gabon and their contribution to improving rural livelihoods. Richard is part of the growing community living around our plantations and benefiting from the economic impact our pro-jects have in several areas of the country. He owns a small store of second hand clothes, right at the entrance of Kango’s palm plantations.

Richard is a 55 year-old man who opened his business about six months ago, when the

number of workers in the plantations started increa-sing. To provide their needs for clothing, he began selling a stock of second hand men shirts and jeans to workers heading to Palm crops or back home. “Olam workers are my main customers. When they get their salary paid, they come and treat them-selves with some new clothes. I have Gabonese and expatriates coming to my store…”, Richard explained to us with a smile. In the back of his shop

stands a small bedroom for his personal use “this is where I live for the time being. But the Market is expanding, there will be more and more businesses settling around the area. I wish to open a small inn one day, I believe truck drivers could become va-luable customers”, he added.

“Olam workers are my main customers.”

Richard’s story: a retailer from Awala

Distribution of medical kits to female workers on plantations. Photo on the left: Speech of Dr Pearl Comlan (Occupational Doctor) in front of Village Chiefs and representatives of Nsilé, Woubélé 1 and 2, Ayeme Bokoué 1 and 2n Agricole Centre and Agricole Frontière (near Kango).

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Richard is a retailer working a few kilometers away from our plantations in Awala, right at the entrance. He tells us about the positive impact Olam has had on his business.

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Committing to Gabon

4,973 kids equipped for the year

In our commitment to social welfare, we invest in community-based projects that improve the living

conditions of our workers and their communities. Contributing to education is a key component of our social investment, as it is instrumental in multiplying chances of a brighter future for our workers’ families.

The distribution of scholar kits started last month for villages near our Rubber, Timber and Palm projects.

4,973 children from 20 villages around our Timber site, 13 villages around our Palm sites, and 37 villages around our Rubber site benefited from our company’s actions. Each bag contained an agenda notebook, a box of colored pencils and coloured markers, 4 pen-cils, a ruler, a compass, a pencil sharpener, 3 erasers and a retractable pen of 4 colours. For the youngest, schoolbags contained a water flask, a slate and some chalks, as for the highest -classes (4th and 5th year) a pack of printer papers was added.

Parents who attended the greeting ceremonies in schools welcomed the school kits with grateful-

ness and relief.

We would like to send special thanks to the social teams and their coordinators for this successful

and tremendous task:- Rubber : Olivier Desmet, Sustainability and Certifica-tion Manager, Tatiana Eoua Social Manager, Fatouma-ta Alene Eba’s Social Manager and communicator, and Social communicators Emvo Ovono Parfait and Ayom Essono Franckie.- Palm : Arun Venkataraman, VP for sustainability at Olam Palm Gabon, Akornefa Akeya trainee for CRS issues, Nina Koubahangoue Social Manager and Communicator, and Social Communicators Christelle Moavele Atabi and Dieudonné Akessa in Mouila and Rapahael Aouba, RSPO Manager, Gyslaine Milebe, Social Manager, and Social Communicators Georges Boussougou and Murielle Madjinou in Kango. - Timber : Social communicators Olivia Dezona and Benjamin N’nang.- and coordinators Roselyne Chambrier and Monica Burlacu

Olam Gabon distributes kits to children from neighbouring villages.

School of Nsilé (near Kango), where 165 pupils have received school supplies.

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We are Olam Gabon! La Palme d’Or

OLAM Communications : How long have you been working for Olam?

Fatoumata: 5 months, I started in May.

Fatoumata is a 31-year-old colleague who lives and work in Bitam for our Rubber business unit. Fatoumata is originally from Oyem, and graduated in social psychology and environmental assessment. She happened to have shown interest in our projects when still at university as she conducted an independent study on the social and economic impacts of our Palm project in Mouila. Fatoumata’s everyday job greatly contributes to the sound development of our projects and improvement of social franchise.

Portrait of Fatoumata Alene Eba’a, Social Manager and Communicator

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Some peers are nominated every month based on their achievements, hard work and overall outstanding performance. They are awarded with an Employee of The Month certificate.

Amandine Ogouebandja, Mandji GSEZ Marketing Manager in LibrevilleHas played an important role along with Eric Bygodt in signing the loan agreement and raising $228 million

for the first phase of Olam Palm Plantations. The debt was raised from BGFI, Afreximbank, EcoBank & BEDAC.

Cedrig Bouessy, Assistant Manager, HCV in Awala (Kango)Leads a team of HCV field assistants drawn from the villages around Kango for the last one year to demarcate and protect the buffer zones in the Awala plantation including camping for days in forest under rain and sun and has pro-vided valuable data on bio-diversity.

Eric Bygodt, Head of Legal in LibrevilleHas played an important role along with Amadine Ogouebandja in signing the loan agreement and raising $228 mil-lion for the first phase of Olam Palm Plantations.The debt was raised from BGFI, Afreximbank, EcoBank & BEDAC.

Henri Wora, Storekeeper in Awala (Kango)Has shown great integrity and is very committed to his work. He has rigorously implemented new SOP on fuel receipt that occurs to be very economical for Olam.

Lauriane Guillemin, Communications in LibrevilleA good job was done in improving Olam communication with internal and external stakeholders.

Marie Paule Mazondomaya, Technical Team in MakokouTakes up challenging roles and is very hardworking. Takes great care on what she does. She currently takes part in the mechanical aspect of our new production unit.

Parfait Edou, IT, Rubber BU in BitamA self motivated worker who is willing to work on everything assigned to him without complaining. He is passionate in all he does and his enthusiasm has been an example to other co-workers.

Rock Ella, Machine Supervisor in Nkok SEZHe is a role model who joined Olam as an office boy. He showed keen interest to learn while working. He now super-vises rental machines and controls gasoil consumption. Very dedicated and sincere person.

Roselyne Chambrier, Risk and Financial Analyst in LibrevilleHas rigourously driven various value-added projects across the country.

Sasitharan Mathavan, Managing Director of Palm in MouilaHas shown great leadership in bringing up the Mouila plantation and working in adverse conditions with no faci-

lities whilst building a great team.

We are Olam Gabon! OLAM Coms: Please describe your job role. Fatoumata: I am in charge of the social issues in the Rub-ber business unit. Along with two other members of my team, we travel to villages located near our rubber pro-jects to meet populations and explain how our project’s implementation would impact on neighbouring locations. My main objective is to inform the communities about the project, reach a common understanding and obtain their consent. They usually do so after a Free, Prior, Informed Consent process has been conducted.

OLAM Coms: How would you describe a typical day on duty?

Fatoumata: I usually head to office, and then reach villages. I handle two departments Bi-tam and Minvoul which repre-sent not less than 32 villages. I usually divide my journey into three axes : one journey from Bitam to Okok, second journey to Bikondom, third to Volosso Ville. It would usually take two days to complete one journey. It is a two-way-communication. Our team may have important information to share but are then followed by discussions. We take the time needed to listen to their enquiries and feedback.

OLAM Coms: How many people do you interact with and who are they?

Fatoumata: 192 people…Villagers have elected re-presentatives and spokespersons. In each village, I interact with the Village Chief, the steering committee, the follow-up committee (only Bitam has a follow-up committee). At times, for important releases, we ad-dress them to all inhabitants of villages. Whenever we proceed to the validation of an official document we, of course, we meet with Prefects and Deputy-Prefects of departments as well as Presidents of Departmen-tal Councils. We then report to Mr. Pascal Mathieu Olam’s Site In-Charge in Bitam and Mr. Olivier Des-met Olam’s Sustainability and Certification Manager.

OLAM Coms: What do you like most about your job at Olam ?

Fatoumata: As I talk with the populations I tend to learn so much. I try to fit in the communities… My job allows me to create a better mutual understanding, we try to respond and do whatever we can to meet

local communities’ expectations in the framework of a commitment from both parties, whilst ensuring that they understand what the company will not be able to

OLAM Coms : What would you consider to be your grea-test achievements?

Fatoumata : We have managed the Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) process for 4,300 hectares of the land granted to Olam Rubber. We have been working very hard since May, to successfully accom-plish our mission and sign the social contracts with relevant authorities and populations representatives. The amount of work was such that we had to divide

the land into small blocs and proceed with the FPIC scheme on one bloc at a time. This explains why we have covered only 4,300 hectares of 28,000 hectares that make up total area planned for the crops.

OLAM Coms : What are your top challenges ?

Fatoumata : Populations expect a lot from Olam, and sometimes beyond what was agreed in the social contract signed by the communities’ representatives themselves. Requests may be domestic lighting, roads, electricity supply or schools and dispensaries regardless of the National plan and mapping. We sometimes have to ask officials from the Ministry of Health or Education to intervene in discussions and debates we encounter in villages. They would clarify that some enquiries are under the purview of the Government and any social project can only be effec-tively implemented if in line with the national school and health mapping. Consequently, officials have to make alternative arrangements; this is why some pro-jects may take time. Olam reinforces basic infrastruc-tures but cannot fully commit if social projects are not in line with the National mapping. Building a school and a dispensary where teachers and doctors are lac-king would be inefficient.

”My job allows me to create a bet-ter mutual understanding, we try to respond and do whatever we can to meet local communities’

expectations in the framework of a commitment from both parties.”

Near Mouila : Nina Koubahangoue, social communicator for Palm, talking to villagers from Mutambe Sane Fumu

Social communicators in Okok (Near Bitam)

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Arnaud OYIBA Payable Executive in Libre-ville

Jérôme CASTAGNESales Director, in Libreville, for Timber

Lionel MOUNGUENGUI Accountantin Libreville, for Palm

Caroline OZOUAKI Human Resources Assistant In Libreville, for Palm

Manish KUMARFinancial Manager, Bitam for Rubber

Laurielle AGHOZANOAccountancy assistant in Bitam, for Rubber

Nadège BEKALÉ Human Resources Manager,

in Libreville

Grazuella TOVIGNONHuman Resources Assistant

in Libreville

Gaëlle DUPUIS Head of Communications, in Libreville

Hervé SCHILTChief Operating Officer, in Makokou

Iwan Dermawan DAMANIK Purchase & Logistics Manager for Palm, in Libreville

Chamika GUNASINGHEFinancial Manager, in Kango

Keshab CHAUDHURI Purchase Manager, in Libre-

ville

Muriel OUBEMBI MAGUE-NA Assistant Logistics, in Libre-ville

Ornela ONDENO Business Relations Interface

Officer, Single Window Clea-rance, in Libreville

Andreï OLAGO MBOUMBAIT Officer, in Libreville

New Team members Over the last three months, 31 people joined us at our Headquarters.

Linda AZIZE DEJAN Receptionist, in Libreville

Herman KAMONOMONOGeneral Coordinator of Agri-projects, in Libreville

Cindy GIRARD BOUCHARDPurchase Assistantin Libreville, for Palm

Laurence ANGUEAccountancy assistant in Libreville, for Rubber

WELCOME TO

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Yvette BIVIGOUExternal Communications Executive, in Libreville

Sumit PARAB Administration Manager, in Libreville

Pascal MATHIEUSite In-charge of Bitam, for Rubber

René MENGHOME EYEGHEChief of Staff, in Bitam for Rubber

Patrice LOBETHead of Rubber, in Bitam

Paola MEKUI BIYOGOCartographer, in Libreville

Sumith FERNANDO Financial Manager in

Mouila, for Palm

Sanjay SHRIVASTAVA Head of Marketing GSEZ, in

Libreville

Sant Saran GUPTAHead of construction for GSEZ, in Nkok

Prashant REDKAR Administrative support,in Libreville

Rodrigue MINTSA MENGUE IT Manager for Infrastructure,

in Libreville

New Team members

Congratulations to

Sandra Bayeni (Administration team), Audrey Bipanda (Accountancy team), Alvine Ouatata (GFC team), Marie Thérèse Nyangui (Administration team)

and Eva Louembe (Palm) for their newly born babies.

WELCOME TO

For any enquiries or information sharing, please e-mail :

gaboncoms@olamnet.com

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Photos of the Month

Mouila’s Prefect, Mr. Herve P. Nguembe Diyembou, offers gift to Olam Gabon’s Country Head, Mr. Gagan Gupta, in recognition of gains brought by the on-going Palm project to Mouila.

“What is the meaning of Olam ?

“Olam’ is a Hebrew word meaning “Transcending boundaries”

“

What is Olam’s Logo rationale?

Do you know your company?

“The Olam Symbol and logo are unique. They were designed to represent the spirit of our company. It symbo-lises the growth of Olam and the outward looking focus of our business as a global multi-national company.”

Meanwhile in Bitam…

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