The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ghana Integrated Aluminium Development Corporation (GIADEC), Mr Michael Ansah; the CEO of the Minerals Commission, Mr Martin Ayisi; and the Board Chair of the Ghana Bauxite Company (GBC), Mr Isaac Ofori-Poku, to attend the 2022 Edition of the famous Bauxite and Alumina Conference held in Miami, Florida, in the United States of America.
The aim of the Conference was to encourage Ghana’s Integrated Aluminium Industry and to market Ghana’s policy to drive the processes of integration and value addition across the bauxite to the aluminium value chain.
For over eight ( decades, Ghana has made several efforts to establish and maintain an integrated aluminium industry. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, upon assuming office in January 2017, resurrected this vision by establishing GIADEC by an Act of Parliament. This move by the President is to ensure that bauxite mining in Ghana is refined in Ghana, thereby helping to develop the downstream industry to provide employment, enhanced talent development, and transform the economy.
Aluminium has been identified as a strategic mineral by Governments worldwide in the drive towards the energy transition, and Ghana has huge opportunities for persons looking to invest downstream.
I strenuously indicated to the investor community that Ghana, with her open society, vibrant economy, resilient, democratic institutions, respect for individual liberties and the rule of law, and where the principles of democratic accountability are ingrained into her body politic, is ready for business.
The CEO of GIADEC, Mr Michael Ansah, spoke about the need to utilize Ghana’s raw material base to ensure that the aluminium we produce will be used to drive the downstream industry, which, in the end, will help the country realize the vision of a Ghana Beyond Aid. He demonstrated the strong commitment of GIADEC to meeting regulatory requirements in all developments along with the bauxite and aluminium value chain, and safeguarding the environment for stakeholder communities and future generations.
On the sidelines, we held various meetings with global giants in the bauxite and alumina industry, such as Trafigura Investment Company Ltd, with the view of attracting much-needed investment capital in the industry.
These engagements were to help ensure that the efforts of President Akufo-Addo to build here, in Ghana, an integrated aluminium industry with all the linkages to mining, smelting, refinery and downstream production are realized. And we are determined to work relentlessly to ensure that his vision comes to fruition.
Also present at the Conference was the Guinean Minister for Mines and Geology, Mr Moussa Mogassouba.