The Volta Aluminium Company (VALCO) is taking proactive steps to boost its operations, after years of running below capacity, which the Company believes has had a negative impact on the nation.
Speaking to the media after a fa cility tour by the Board of Directors on Monday, January 5, 2026, the Chief Executive Officer of VALCO, Dr. Robert Makila Sambian, noted that the company couldn’t just sit back and wait for investors.
“Of course we are taking these steps because over the years we have been in a state of waiting as a plant for external help and that has been the danger because the plant was going down and when we came into office we took the decision that the wait is over. We no longer wait,” he stated, indicating the President’s quest to quickly transform the economy is what has led to the initiative. “In fact the President is in a hurry to transform the country.”
According to Dr. Sambian, the move is part of VALCO’s contribution to the government’s transformational agenda which has began in other sectors of the economy. “We’ve seen what has happened in other sectors of the economy and so we didn’t want to be left behind and so the agenda is firmly on course here.
“So, we took this decision to ensure that we take our destiny into our own hands, transform the place. If help comes later it will only come to us,” he added.
The VALCO plant, established in 1964 and operational since 1967, had an initial production capacity of 200,000 tons of primary aluminium annually.
This capacity was maintained for over three decades until Kaiser Aluminium and Chemical Corporation, the largest shareholder, exited in 2005, handing over to the government of Ghana.
However, production had dropped prior to Kaiser’s exit, mainly due to power shortages – a challenge the Ghana government also faced, leading to below-capacity production after the takeover.
According to Dr. Sambian, VALCO has operated at 23 per cent capacity for the past decade and a half, but are aiming to hit 40 per cent by close of the year to break even.
“When we took over early last year, our mandate was to boost capacity – it’s currently below break-even. So we’re targeting 40 per cent from 23 per cent,” he stated.
“When we took over office early last year our charge was to quickly bring the capacity up because where it is at the moment, [it] is below break-even level. So, the aim is to move it from the 23 per cent to 40 per cent,” he stated.
He stressed that “the support systems need to be right”, including functional mobile equipment and other machinery which have been set in place. The first phase of the plant’s transformation, he noted, will create 25,000 direct and indirect jobs by maximizing the capacity of two out of the five cell lines of the facility.
With doors open for strategic partnerships, VALCO has taken the initiative to increase capacity of its operations, aiming to boost the nation’s economy after years of dormancy.
The current transformation, Dr. Sambian added, will contribute significantly to Ghana’s GDP.
