Kofi Ahovi

  The Volta Aluminum Company (VALCO) was established as a collaborative venture between the Government of Ghana and Kaiser and Reynolds of the United States of America. VALCO started operations in 1967, with ownership then vested in Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical Corporation (Kaiser) and Reynolds Metals Corporation (Reynolds). Kaiser owned 90% of the shareholdings and the remaining 10% by Reynolds, but Reynolds sold its shares to Aluminum Company of America (Alcoa) before the Company began operations in 1967. Ghana’s first President, Kwame Nkrumah identified the Integrated Aluminium Industry (IAI) as the starting point to Ghana’s industrialization agenda. With Ghana already having an operational bauxite mine in Awaso, Nkrumah saw the proposal by Kaiser Aluminium to establish a refinery and the VALCO smelter as timely and a major step towards the realization of an Integrated Aluminium Industry. The establishment of the Volta Aluminium Company was one of the main requirements for the r...

  The employees of Volta Aluminum Company Limited (VALCO) want the company to peg their salaries to the exchange rate. They claim their salaries continue to fall drastically because they are not receiving what they ought to receive. Edgar Tetteh, the VALCO Workers' Union's local chairman, expressed his dissatisfaction with the workers' present state of affairs. He pleaded with the management to address the problem right away before the worse happens. According to the employees, since last year, the monthly wage of more than US$300 that is paid in cedi equivalent has not increased despite the appreciation of the dollar against the cedi. The employees blamed this development on the “overaged managerial staff who have failed to add value to the running of the company”. Adding that there are about 28 staff who are overdue for retirement but are still post. "The top managers are retirees, and they are determining our fate here. So, when we went to the table and they were pr...

By Jeorge Wilson KINGSON Government has initiated moves to offload 70% of its wholly owned stakes in the Volta Aluminium Company Limited (VALCO) to a foreign consortium; International Aluminium Partners (IAP) , barely a year after it bought over 100 per cent of company from aluminium giant Alcoa. The proposed sale of VALCO’s 70 percent stakes has been valued at US$175.5m. Instructively, Parliament would have to approve the transaction before it becomes valid. Last week, the agreement was laid before Parliament by the Minister of Trade, Industry, Private Sector Development and President’s Special Initiative, Papa Owusu Ankomah. However, even before the committee report could be presented to the House, the minority opposition group in parliament kicked against the motion, citing the need for proper assessment to establish either there was a need to sell or not to sell the proposed stakes in the national aluminium smelter. “The minority after a careful study of the agreement and transacti...