Ghana seeks strategic investor to rehabilitate VALCO smelter

Ghana’s Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah, has called for a strategic investor to rehabilitate the VALCO aluminum smelter. Speaking at a policy dialogue with the IMANI Centre for Policy and Education in Accra, Buah stated that the current state of the facility is “bleeding” and that the government cannot indefinitely sustain the costs of its current operation.

Buah noted that while VALCO remains a strategic national asset, it is currently operating far below its industrial potential. The government intends to seek capital capable of restoring the smelter’s production capacity to support Ghana’s goal of developing an integrated aluminum industry. The discussion was part of a fact-finding engagement regarding the performance and operational challenges within Ghana’s mining, forestry, and mineral development sectors.