The government is considering the involvement of a strategic investor to restore the Volta Aluminium Company (VALCO) to full-scale production, with the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, warning that the company’s current operating position is unsustainable.

Mr Buah said VALCO had significant industrial potential but was operating well below the capacity of its infrastructure, making fresh investment necessary to rehabilitate the smelter and support Ghana’s ambition of developing an integrated aluminium industry.

“It is bleeding, it is bleeding,” the minister said during a policy engagement with the IMANI Centre for Policy and Education in Accra on Thursday, August 13.

He subsequently made his position clear on the way forward: “You need to find a strategic investor.”

Capacity concerns

Mr Buah said VALCO had five potlines, but only a fraction of the facility’s capacity was currently operational.

He explained that the government faced competing demands for limited public resources and could not continue providing the level of capital required to rehabilitate and sustain an underperforming state-owned company.

He said the priority should be to make VALCO productive and commercially viable rather than maintain its existing ownership structure without addressing its operational challenges.

The minister's comments form part of broader government efforts to reposition Ghana’s minerals sector and increase the value derived from the country’s natural resources.

The policy engagement, held in Accra, brought together officials of the Ministry and representatives of agencies under it, including the Minerals Commission, Forestry Commission, Lands Commission and Ghana Geological Survey Authority.

The IMANI delegation was led by its Founding President and Chief Executive Officer, Franklin Cudjoe, and included Vice-President for Strategy Selorm Branttie, writer and IMANI associate Kay Codjoe, and IMANI associate Ransford Brobbey.

The engagement followed an August 10, 2026 request by IMANI for a fact-finding discussion on the Ministry’s inherited challenges, performance, operational difficulties, reforms and major policy initiatives.

Aluminium industry

VALCO remains a key component of Ghana’s long-standing plans to develop an integrated aluminium industry based on the country’s bauxite resources.

The government’s broader strategy involves linking bauxite mining, processing and downstream manufacturing to retain a greater share of the value generated from the mineral industry within the country.

Mr Buah said restoring VALCO’s productive capacity could therefore have implications beyond the company itself, including employment, industrial development and the expansion of Ghana’s aluminium value chain.

He also recounted an instance in which prospective visitors seeking to inspect the facility faced resistance from some workers, an experience he said illustrated some of the challenges surrounding efforts to introduce new investment or partnerships.

Investor questions

The proposal for a strategic investor is, however, likely to raise questions about the structure of any potential arrangement and the extent of the State’s involvement in VALCO.

Issues such as the amount of capital to be invested, rehabilitation of the potlines, future production capacity, employment, ownership, local participation and the cost of power will be critical considerations in determining the terms of any partnership.

The government will also have to ensure that any arrangement supports its wider objective of developing an integrated aluminium industry rather than simply addressing VALCO’s immediate financial and operational difficulties.

VALCO board offers alternative

Meanwhile, the Board Chairman of VALCO has requested a meeting with the IMANI team to present alternative proposals for keeping the company operational.

According to the report from the engagement, the Board Chairman disputes the characterisation of VALCO’s financial position, arguing that claims about the company’s losses have been overstated.

The differing positions set the stage for further discussion over the future of the state-owned smelter, particularly whether the company should pursue a strategic investment arrangement or alternative measures to restore its operations.

For now, Mr Buah’s position is that additional investment is necessary if VALCO is to fulfil its potential and contribute meaningfully to Ghana’s aluminium industry.