The Ghana Integrated Aluminium Development Corporation (GIADEC) and Russian aluminium producer RUSAL have agreed to set up and jointly operate an alumina refinery in Ghana with capacity of 1.2 million tonnes a year.
The agreement was signed in Moscow on 29 October 2026 during the third Russia-Africa Forum. The refinery is expected to cost more than US$1.5 billion and take about 36 months to build. It will run on natural gas.
Bauxite for the plant will come from the Nyinahin deposit, where mining is projected to produce 5 million tonnes of ore a year.
The projects will be run through two joint ventures, Nyinahin Bauxite Limited and Ghana Alumina Company. RUSAL will provide the financing and hold majority stakes in both.
The deal also covers joint exploration of newly identified hills in the Bono, Western, Ashanti and Eastern regions to test whether their bauxite deposits are commercially viable.
GIADEC said the partnership supports its aim of processing Ghana's bauxite locally instead of exporting the raw mineral, and expects it to create thousands of jobs and improve rail and port links. Neither party gave Ghana's equity share, a job count or a start date for construction.