Ghana looks for $700 million investor to revive VALCO aluminium smelter

The Ghanaian government says the Volta Aluminium Company (VALCO) needs more than US$700 million to modernise the smelter, clear power‑sector debts and restore production, which has fallen to about 40,000 tonnes a year from a design capacity of 200,000 tonnes. Cabinet has approved a co‑ownership model rather than an outright sale, and an inter‑ministerial Investor Selection Committee is evaluating bids from global contenders.

Minister of Lands and Natural Resources Emmanuel Armah‑Kofi Buah told staff that the investment includes roughly US$250 million to settle power‑related liabilities and addresses a legacy debt of about US$400 million. He stressed that workers’ welfare remains a priority, that a worker representative will sit at the negotiating table, and that the revival could expand the plant from its current 90 cells and 800 employees to up to 500 cells and around 5,000 jobs. The smelter project is part of a broader US$2.3 billion plan to build Ghana’s first alumina refinery and develop a full aluminium value chain, positioning the country in the global low‑carbon aluminium and critical‑minerals competition.