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Ghana will require $4 billion to fully develop an integrated aluminium industry capable of unlocking the country's economic potential.
The amount will be invested in port expansion, mining of bauxite, revamping of the Volta Aluminium Company (VALCO) and other investments in the value chain.
Out of the total amount, $1.5 billion will be put into railway expansion; $800 million in the revamping of VALCO; and $250 million in the mining of bauxite.
The investments will further be targeted at improving the transportation system and increase access to reliable power.
This came to light when the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, paid a working visit to the Ghana Integrated Aluminium Development Corporation (GIADEC) today (April 10) to learn at first hand the operations of the corporation.
The minister's entourage included the Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Alhaji Yusif Sulemana; the minister’s advisor on mines, Prof. Jerry Samuel Yaw Kuma, and other technical staff of the ministry.
GIADEC was established by an Act of Parliament, the Ghana Integrated Aluminium Development Corporation Act, 2018 (Act 976) with the mandate to develop and promote a globally competitive Integrated Aluminium Industry (IAI) in Ghana.
Empowered by its object under the Act 976, GIADEC is mandated to hold and manage all of Ghana's current and future interest and investments in the IAI, which includes the entire value chain in the production of aluminium.
It currently has the government's entire shares in two existing companies – VALCO and Ghana Bauxite Company Limited (GBC).
GIADEC has also been working to partner with strategic investors, including local participation across the entire bauxite and aluminium value chain such as mining, refinery, smelter and downstream industries.
Mr Buah said given that GIADEC was a strategic agency that had the potential to unlock the country's economic potential, the government would priorise investment in that sector.
The minister said he would work closely with the management of GIADEC to explore investment opportunities in the aluminium value chain to bolster the corporation’s vision of developing an integrated industry.
He added that it was important to focus on value addition if GIADEC was to live up to the vision for which it was established.
The minister said access to cheap power and efficient transportation system remained the biggest challenges that must be dealt with to put GIADEC on winning ways.
"We have to work together to address these twin challenges if we want to achieve our aim of building an integrated aluminium industry," he said.
He added that there was the need for intersectoral collaboration, particularly among the ministries of Lands and Natural Resources; Transport; and Energy and Green Transition to address those two challenges.
For his part, the Chief Executive Officer of GIADEC, Reindorf Twumasi Ankrah, said raising the $4 billion for strategic infrastructure development was the utmost target of the corporation.
He also said GIADEC was riddled with debts, including employee salary arrears, that needed to be cleared.
Mr Ankrah gave the assurance that while the Lands and Natural Resources minister took up the issue of addressing the financial constraint of GIADEC, the staff would do their best to deliver on the mandate of the corporation.
