The government has constituted a team to negotiate with a potential strategic investor as part of plans to modernise the Volta Aluminium Company Limited (VALCO) and secure its long-term future.
The Negotiations Team was inaugurated by the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources on Friday, August 21, 2026, with a mandate to agree on the terms for bringing a strategic partner into the Tema-based aluminium smelter.
The partnership is expected to provide the capital and technical support needed to retool, expand and improve the efficiency of VALCO.
At the inauguration, the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, said government remained committed to transforming VALCO into a profitable and internationally competitive company.
He charged the team to approach the negotiations with transparency and ensure that any agreement secured would protect Ghana’s interests and deliver value for money.
Mr Buah stressed that VALCO was an important national asset and could not be allowed to collapse.
The prospective investor will be assessed on its financial capacity, technical expertise, experience in operating aluminium smelters and willingness to make sustained investments in Ghana’s aluminium industry.
The move comes at a time when VALCO is facing operational difficulties. The number of active cells at the smelter has reportedly declined from 127 in 2025 to about 90 as of August 2026.
Ageing machinery, power supply challenges and difficulties within the supply chain have been identified among the factors affecting operations.
Government has, however, clarified that the proposed partnership does not amount to an outright sale of VALCO.
Instead, the arrangement is expected to involve a strategic investor providing fresh capital and technical expertise in return for an equity stake in the company.
The six-member 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 VALCO.
VALCO, established in 1964 under Ghana’s post-independence industrialisation programme, was designed to use power from the Akosombo Dam to support the development of an integrated aluminium industry.
The smelter was originally equipped with more than 200 pots and had an annual production capacity of about 200,000 tonnes.
Government acquired full ownership of VALCO in 2008 following the exit of Kaiser Aluminium.
Since then, the company has faced persistent challenges, including high electricity costs, ageing infrastructure and limited capital for major upgrades.
Attempts to secure a strategic investor have been ongoing since 2022, when Cabinet approved proposals by GIADEC and VALCO to explore strategic equity investment.
A KPMG technical and financial assessment conducted that year identified equity investment as the most commercially viable option for the rehabilitation of the smelter.
In November 2025, government also established a 12-member committee to assess proposals from potential investors. The committee subsequently submitted its options analysis report on January 7, 2026.
GIADEC has maintained that the objective is not to sell VALCO outright but to secure a credible partner capable of injecting the resources needed to modernise the company while supporting jobs and the wider aluminium value chain.
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