VALCO IS BACK AND LUCRATIVE FOR INVESTMENT

–Minister Tells Investors

A Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, George Mireku Duker, has said the present state of the Volta Aluminum Company Ltd. (VALCO) has given hope that the company is back on its feet, viable and lucrative for investment.

According to Mr. Duker, VALCO, under its current management, has shown strong signs of making the company recoverfully and return to its past glory, which is commendable, as he assured, the ministry is counting on the team’s determination and they are also available to support.

“I’m happy that Ghanaians will know VALCO is not going down as being discussed in the public domain. VALCO is in good hands and progressing. VALCO will be the shine of the country in a few years to come,” he said.

He noted that, having spent time to tour the company, he can state that VALCO is in a healthy state and on the cusp of becoming a profit-making company soon, and, therefore, investors should come onboard to invest, because they will not make a wrong decision after investing in the company.

“After touring the VALCO docks, Carbon Plant, Cell Lines, cast house and Maintenance shops, coupled with the briefing received, I am confident to indicate that VALCO is operating well and in good hands and calls on the investor community to partner with VALCO to deliver the necessary value

“I want to assure the investor public that VALCO is lucrative and open to the market and we believe whatever they invest won’t go to waste. We are available as a ministry to play our supervisory role and will ensure the company gets to an enviable pedestal,” he added.

The Deputy Minister, who is in-charge of Mining, was speaking to the media after he led a delegation from the Lands Ministry to VALCO on Tuesday, August 8, 2023.

He noted that with the company now looking to turn a curve, it has become an attractive package for the investing public.

Mr. Duker said that with the confidence and vision of the board and management, he is optimistic the future of VALCO is bright.

“I’m happy that we have people who will want to see VALCO revamped and, as a country, it is sometimes worrying that we mine bauxite, export it in its raw form and turn around to import alumina at a very high cost. That’s why the President in his own wisdom brought up the idea of upscaling value addition along the value chain by turning the bauxite into aluminum in-country and that VALCO is key within these strategic plans,” he stated.

He explained that the President has, therefore, entrusted the Management and Staff of VALCO to ensure the total transformation of the company to enable it to assume a strategic position in government’s plans for the integrated aluminum industry, which hinges on value addition.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Daniel Nii Kwartei Titus-Glover, on his part, provided a thorough overview of the state of the company to the delegation, explaining that, despite some challenges facing them, they have made some remarkable progress.

He outlined the management’s vision for the company, which is to revamp and expand operations to ensure full utilization of the lines.

“As we stand now, we are not making full utilization of the lines. We were supposed to have 200 but because of the challenges, we are doing 117. The business plan is to achieve between 140 and 150 by close of the year,” he said.

The deputy minister was accompanied by the Advisor on Mines, Mr. Benjamin Aryee; the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Integrated Aluminum Development Corporation (GIADEC), Mr. Michael Ansah, and other officials of the ministry.

Source: Anchorghana.com