VALCO not for sale- GIADEC boss

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Integrated Aluminium Development Corporation (GIADEC), Mr Reindorf Twumasi Ankrah, has stated that the Volta Aluminium Company (VALCO) is not for sale, but rather the government requires a strategic partner investment of $600 million.

He explained that VALCO, which has a capacity to produce 200,000 metric tons of aluminium annually, has been producing only 35,000 metric tons each year for the past 15 years, therefore, a partnership is needed to meet demand and restore the company’s fortunes.

“As of January 2025, VALCO’s debts had increased to about US$450 million, owed to institutions including GRIDCo, the Ghana Revenue Authority and the Tema Development Corporation(TDC). As the government does not have 600 million dollars to revive VALCO” he said.

In an interview with Ghanaian Times yesterday in Accra, Mr Ankrah said that in May 2022, the cabinet approved the search for a strategic investor to revive VALCO, as most of the machinery used was over 60 years old and lacked the capacity to produce more.

He mentioned that currently, the government lacks the financial capacity to sustain the company and must seek an investment of about 600 million dollars, which some financiers have shown interest in.

“And you know that from the time the government took over the management of VALCO and its ownership, things started declining. As of 2022, VALCO was shut down. When I say shut down, it means the plant was closed. Workers were laid off,” he said.

He added that records show that whenever there is a shutdown, resuming operations typically results in a reduced capacity because the plant does not return to its former operational level.

He emphasised that the only way for the government to find breathing space was to shut down the plant, as it was not contributing to the country’s GDP, stressing that the Company is running in millions of dollars’ debt.

Mr Ankrah noted that VALCO’s staff strength is currently around 650, compared to over 12,000 workers when it was fully operational and that the only valuable asset remaining is the land.

He mentioned that an internal audit valued VALCO at about $90 million, a situation investors argue otherwise as their machinery and logistics were outmoded noting that KPMG during their valuation valued VALCO a little over 100 million dollars.

He explained that the company produces about 23 per cent of its capacity, with less than 50 per cent of the installed capacity requiring approximately 90 megawatts of power to operate.

“But when you produce, you generate less revenue, and you may not even cover the electricity costs needed to produce between 30,000 and 40,000 tonnes of aluminium,” he said.

“KPMG recommended five options, with the first being to bring in an equity partner for managerial expertise and capital. This was a decision agreed upon by the then cabinet,” Mr Ankrah said.

He said that although some investors have expressed interest, no agreements have been reached, as they want control over staffing, including the ability to recruit or dismiss workers, which the government has rejected adding that currently, some investors have shown interest.

“The government decided that whoever is going to express interest in reviving the company must provide us with how they intend to generate power, and also give us their clear plan on retention of the existing staff. So this was the two key things based on which we started the process for searching for investment,” he said.

“The current plan aims to increase capacity to about 300,000 tonnes of aluminium annually, an additional 100,000 tonnes. An expert indicated that an investor could complete the new installation within about 36 months,” Mr Ankrah revealed.

He reaffirmed his commitment to building on the progress made by his predecessor and strengthening GIADEC’s role in developing the entire aluminium value chain.

BY BERNARD BENGHAN.

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