VALCO is not for sale - GIADEC CEO clarifies

The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Integrated Aluminium Development Corporation (GIADEC), Reindorf Twumasi Ankrah, has stated emphatically that the Volta Aluminium Company (VALCO) is not for sale.

Speaking at a media briefing with selected senior journalists and editors, Twumasi Ankrah explained that ongoing engagements with investors are aimed at securing strategic partnerships to support VALCO’s modernisation and long-term sustainability and not to divest government ownership.

His clarification follows growing public speculation that the state-owned aluminium smelter is being prepared for sale.

However, the GIADEC CEO stressed that the current process forms part of a broader national strategy to reposition Ghana’s aluminium sector under the Integrated Aluminium Industry (IAI) agenda.

Under the IAI vision, Ghana seeks to become the first country in Africa to develop a fully integrated aluminium industry moving beyond the export of raw bauxite to refining alumina and producing aluminium locally.

The strategy is expected to drive job creation, infrastructure development, export growth, and overall industrial transformation.

Twumasi Ankrah disclosed that Cabinet, in May 2022, approved plans for GIADEC and VALCO to identify and engage a strategic investor to inject about US$600 million into the company.

The investment is intended to retrofit, expand and modernize VALCO’s ageing infrastructure to improve efficiency, reduce environmental impact and enhance competitiveness on the global market.

According to him, the expected strategic partner must demonstrate the capacity to raise capital within agreed timelines, provide advanced technology, ensure access to global supply and corporate networks and adhere to strong environmental standards.

He added that the arrangement is structured to ensure that government remains a shareholder while working jointly with investors to turn the company around, with safeguards in place to prevent asset stripping or loss of national control.

The GIADEC CEO further explained that VALCO remains a critical anchor in Ghana’s long-term aluminium industrialization agenda.

Plans for a new alumina refinery estimated to cost between US$2.5 billion and US$5 billion depend on VALCO serving as a guaranteed primary off-taker of locally refined alumina.

The project also includes the development of new energy infrastructure to support refinery operations, with excess power expected to be supplied to the national grid.

Authorities believe that strengthening VALCO is key to enabling Ghana to capture greater value from its mineral resources, rather than exporting raw materials.

Twumasi Ankrah stressed that attracting strategic investment remains the most viable path to sustaining VALCO’s operations in the near term.

Without significant capital injection, he noted, maintaining production could become increasingly difficult due to ageing infrastructure and intense global competition.

He concluded that the phased partnership approach is designed to deliver both immediate and long-term benefits for workers, the aluminium value chain, and the broader Ghanaian economy.

Twumasi Ankrah reaffirmed that VALCO remains a strategic national asset and is not being sold.

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