The President, His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo, has appointed Mr Michael Ansah, as Chief Executive Officer of the newly established Ghana Integrated Aluminium Development Corporation.

The Government has outlined its intent to develop an Integrated Aluminium Industry which will be one of the major pillars to drive the industrial transformation and accelerated development of the Ghanaian economy. To this end the Ghana Integrated Aluminium Development Corporation (GIADEC) was established through an Act of Parliament last year. GIADEC will focus on leveraging Ghana’s bauxite reserves, and allied aluminium assets, including the strategically aligned businesses, VALCO Aluminium Smelter at Tema, and a minority stake in Ghana Bauxite Company, to drive the full commercial exploitation of the bauxite deposits. In what will be seen as a significant departure from past efforts, emphasis will be placed on adding value across the full value chain through establishing a refinery to produce Alumina locally, and its smelting, to produce Aluminium, whilst encouraging the development of downstream industries to create wealth and boost employment. GIADEC will spearhead the promotion and development of a globally competitive Integrated Aluminium Industry in Ghana. Integral to this is attracting strategic foreign investment, encouraging local participation, and ensuring success and value creation for all stakeholders including communities that will be impacted through mining and allied activities.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo, in his State of the Nation Address to Parliament, on Thursday, 21 February said, “we intend also, to mine at long last, our bauxite deposits in order to establish an integrated aluminium industry in Ghana, and GIADEC has been set up to spearhead the Government’s commitment to create an integrated aluminium industry”. 

Commenting on his appointment as CEO of GIADEC, Michael Ansah said “it is a great honour and privilege to be given this opportunity to lead a flagship initiative of Government, and a major part of Ghana’s industrial transformation at this time, and to play a pivotal role that will contribute to delivering the President’s vision of a ‘Ghana beyond aid’”. 

Until his appointment, Michael Ansah was Senior Vice President (SVP) at Dell Corporation, the $80Bn turnover Information Technology multinational company. He is an accomplished business executive and leader, with significant international experience across varied industry sectors. In role as SVP at Dell, he was a member of the senior executive team, and led the Global Real Estate and Facilities Organisation with responsibility for managing business activities and functions across more than 80 countries. He was a lead member of the global integration team that implemented the $67BN Dell and EMC transaction that led to the creation of Dell Technologies - the largest such transaction in the Tech industry. He had primary responsibility for creating value from the combined assets, while planning and executing the integration of a global portfolio in excess of 30 million square feet, across more than 700 locations worldwide. He served as a member of Dell’s Tax Incentives and Policy Advisory Team, leading negotiations with Governments of countries including Morocco, India and China, setting up partnerships and structures to create conducive environments to optimize investments.

Prior to joining Dell in 2006, he held senior leadership roles in Management Consulting and General Management. He has advised corporates and public sector organisations on business transformation strategies, complex real estate structures, infrastructure and capital investment decisions, and business services outsourcing. He has worked at organisations including PWC Consulting/IBM Business Consulting Services where he was Director/Associate Partner in the Real Estate and Capital Programme Management Practice, and as a Group Director at Regus Plc., now part of the International Workplace Group. He also worked at the Ministry of Finance in Ghana as interim CEO of Ghana’s Millennium Challenge Account Programme. Earlier in his career he was Director of Consulting at Symonds Group. He also practiced as an Architect, and was Group Architect for the Corporate Banking and Treasury Division of Lloyds Bank Plc.

Michael Ansah is a regular speaker at international conferences including the FT’s fDi Intelligence Conferences on Global Trends in Foreign Direct Investment. He is a Chartered Architect, and Member of the Royal Institute of British Architects. He holds a B. Sc. Design, and Post Graduate Diploma in Architecture from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, and an MBA from Cranfield School of Management, UK. He is married with 3 children.