The Industrial and Commercial Workers’ Union (ICU-Ghana) has called for the immediate suspension of negotiations to transfer a stake in the Volta Aluminium Company (VALCO) to a private investor.
The union says it supports efforts to modernise and expand the struggling aluminium company but strongly opposes any arrangement that would give private interests control of the State-owned firm.
The call follows the formation of a negotiating team by the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources to engage a prospective strategic investor.
Although the sector minister, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, has maintained that the proposed arrangement would not amount to outright privatisation, the ICU is demanding greater clarity, particularly over reports that the investor could acquire 70% of VALCO.
According to the union, transferring such a significant stake would effectively give the investor control of a strategic national asset, regardless of whether the arrangement is described as a strategic investment, capital injection or modernisation programme.
The ICU says its opposition to the proposed deal is not new. Its National Executive Council rejected the proposed 70% stake transfer on July 31, while the union had earlier demonstrated in Tema and petitioned President John Dramani Mahama to maintain VALCO under full State ownership.
The union is therefore calling for negotiations to be halted until the government responds to its petition.
Questions over Investor Selection
The ICU has also raised questions about how the prospective investor was selected.
The union says workers were initially informed that no investor had been selected, yet the Ghana Integrated Aluminium Development Corporation (GIADEC) had reportedly established an investor-selection committee in November 2025 and announced in January 2026 that investors had been secured.
The union has further drawn attention to a July 30 letter from Malaysian aluminium company Press Metal Aluminium Holdings Berhad, which it describes as the main technical and smelting partner of the Arch Holdings consortium.
According to the ICU, Press Metal indicated that its only submission before the January announcement was a Letter of Intent dated September 29, 2025, while representatives of Press Metal and Vitol did not visit the VALCO facility until April 2026.
The union argues that these circumstances raise questions about how the consortium could have been assessed and selected before its main technical partner had inspected the plant.
It is therefore demanding that the government explain the selection process and disclose the current composition of the consortium.
Concerns Over Press Metal’s Withdrawal
The ICU says Press Metal’s subsequent withdrawal from the proposed transaction has created additional uncertainty.
If Press Metal was expected to provide critical technical and smelting expertise, the union argues that its withdrawal raises concerns about the consortium’s current technical and financial capacity.
The union has also disclosed that it conducted preliminary inquiries into Arch Holdings and identified issues it believes require independent verification.
ICU Wants VALCO to Remain State-Owned
The union maintains that VALCO can be modernised without surrendering State control.
Among the alternatives it has proposed are reliable and competitively priced electricity, improved management, State-backed recapitalisation, debt financing, governance reforms and clear performance targets.
The ICU is calling on President Mahama to direct the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources to suspend the negotiations until the proposed transaction undergoes comprehensive legal, financial and technical scrutiny.
It is also demanding meaningful consultation with workers and other stakeholders before any agreement is concluded.
The union insists that VALCO is a strategic national asset and that decisions concerning its future must prioritise Ghana’s long-term economic interests, particularly given the outstanding questions surrounding the proposed ownership structure, investor capacity and selection process.
