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The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources has inaugurated a Government Negotiations Team to lead discussions with a strategic partner for the modernisation of the Volta Aluminium Company Limited (VALCO).
The team was inaugurated on August 21, 2026, and has been tasked with negotiating definitive terms of engagement with a prospective strategic investor for the retooling, expansion and long-term sustainability of VALCO.
The initiative forms part of Ghana’s Integrated Aluminium Industry agenda.
Inaugurating the team, the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Hon. Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah reaffirmed the government’s commitment to revamping VALCO into an efficient, profitable and globally competitive enterprise while protecting Ghana’s strategic interests in the aluminium value chain.
He charged members of the team to conduct the negotiations with transparency and diligence and ensure value for money, stressing that VALCO remains a critical national asset that must not be allowed to collapse.
The negotiations will assess the technical capacity, financial strength, experience in smelter operations and long-term investment commitment of prospective investors.
The move comes as VALCO continues to face significant operational challenges. The number of active cells has declined from 127 in 2025 to about 90 as of August 2026, largely due to ageing equipment, power challenges and supply chain constraints.
The Negotiations Team comprises representatives from the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, the Ghana Integrated Aluminium Development Corporation (GIADEC), the Ministry of Finance, the Attorney-General’s Department and the Chief Executive Officer of VALCO.
The Ministry has assured workers, stakeholders and the public that the process will not result in the outright privatisation of VALCO.
Rather, government intends to bring on board a credible strategic partner who can provide the capital and technical expertise needed to modernise the plant, improve its operations and secure jobs.
Background
VALCO was established in 1964 as part of Ghana’s first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah’s, vision of using power from the Akosombo Dam to develop an integrated aluminium industry.
The Tema-based smelter was designed to operate more than 200 pots with an annual production capacity of 200,000 tonnes. At its peak, it served as a major industrial employer and foreign exchange earner.
In 2008, the Government of Ghana acquired 100% of VALCO’s shares following the exit of Kaiser Aluminium. However, the company has since faced persistent challenges, including inconsistent and expensive power supply, ageing rectifiers and carbon plant equipment, and inadequate capital for retooling.
Efforts to secure a strategic investor date back to 2022, when Cabinet approved a request by GIADEC and its subsidiary, VALCO, to secure a strategic equity investor for the modernisation project.
An independent technical and financial assessment conducted by KPMG in 2022 subsequently recommended equity investment as the most commercially viable option for reviving the smelter.
In November 2025, a 12-member cross-sectoral committee comprising representatives from VALCO, GIADEC, the Ministries of Lands and Natural Resources, Energy and Green Transition, Finance, and Trade was inaugurated to evaluate proposals from interested entities.
The committee, inaugurated by the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, submitted its options analysis report on January 7, 2026.
GIADEC, which was established in 2018 to lead the development of Ghana’s integrated bauxite-to-aluminium value chain, has reiterated that government does not intend to sell VALCO outright.
Instead, the corporation says government plans to cede a portion of its equity to a strategic investor in exchange for the capital injection and technical support required to retool and modernise the smelter.