Govt. stands at final stage towards the selection of strategic investor for bauxite project, says President of Ghana

The Govt. of Ghana is standing at the final stage to close a deal for bringing in an investor to partner with the Ghana Integrated Aluminium Development Corporation (GIADEC) for bauxite exploitation in the country.

Nana Akufo-Addo, President of Ghana, while addressing the parliament in his first State of the Nation address in his second term said: “GIADEC has made good progress on the bauxite exploration programme that will drive the government’s industrial transformation agenda.”

“We are in the final stage of an open and transparent investor engagement process, and we are in negotiations to select strategic investors to partner GIADEC for the bauxite mining and alumina refinery projects. The selected partner will be announced imminently,” he added.

GIADEC is an institution that was established through an act of Parliament to promote and develop Ghana’s bauxite reserves and downstream industry.

However, it has been revealed that more than 40 local and multinational companies have expressed interest and gone through selection processes to develop various aspects of the aluminium value chain.

The goal of GIADEC is to make certain that Ghana gets the best out of the aluminium industry, with at least a 30% stake in any new mine, refinery or smelter.

GIADEC formulates to operate four mining concessions with a combined production of about 20 million tonnes of bauxite a year and three alumina refineries with a combined capacity to produce four to six million tonnes of alumina.

The management of the institution has initiated engagement with major state agencies, power producers and other stakeholders on the development of a coordinated master plan to support build the needed infrastructure and secure a reliable power supply for the effective operation of the industry.

GIADEC has so far built and inaugurated 19-member committees for the various communities where bauxite mining or alumina refineries are going to be established. These include Asiakwa (Atewa) in the Eastern Region, Awaso in the Western North Region, and Nyinahini and Mpasaaso in the Ashanti Region.