The Board Chairman of the Volta Aluminium Company Limited (VALCO), Ambassador Horace Nii Ayi Ankrah, has waded into the ongoing discussions about the sale of VALCO to Mr. Ibrahim Mahama.
Reacting to the recent demonstrations held by some workers of VALCO, the Board Chairman said Mr Ibrahim Mahama has not expressed interest in buying or investing in VALCO.
He added that, until government decouples the Ghana Integrated Aluminium Development Corporation (GIADEC) from VALCO, there will be more demonstrations and misunderstandings.
“I keep saying and I strongly believe that until GIADEC is decoupled from VALCO, these are some of the things that we will see. Misunderstanding, miscommunication, disinformation and stuff like that. For example, since when did Mr Ibrahim Mahama show any interest in VALCO?” It has never happened,” Mr Ankrah said in an interview on July 28.
On the question of government’s effort to bring onboard a strategic investor, Nii Ayi Ankrah said that what VALCO does not need a strategic investor but rather an investor.
“I prefer an investor to a strategic investor, and my reason is this. A strategic investor would like to have control, and when we talk about dividends, we are talking about shares, but when we talk about an investor, he or she simply wants his or her profit,” he explained.
“VALCO as it is now, we wouldn’t mind if any investor came in and moved it further than it is now.”.
Some workers of VALCO, together with members of the Industrial and Commercial Workers’ Union (ICU-Ghana), on Monday, July 27, 2026, staged a protest against what they described as attempts to privatise the state-owned aluminium smelter.
The protesters expressed concern over what they claimed were efforts by the Ghana Integrated Aluminium Development Corporation (GIADEC) to introduce strategic equity investors into VALCO.
By Komla Klutse
