Govt seeks Strategic Investor to galvanize Integrated Aluminium Industry

Dr Henry Benyah is the Chairman of the VALCO Board. He is the Chief Executive Officer of MakYoung Limited, a Management and Financial Consulting Firm, specialising in Business Financing, Business Development, Business Innovation, Change Management and delivery of Management and Financial Consulting Solutions and Services. Prior to MakYoung, Dr. Benyah was a Partner in charge of Consulting for Deloitte & Touche. He had responsibility for Deloitte’s Consulting Services in West Africa and parts of East and Southern Africa.

Dr Benyah is a member of the Board of the Ghana Integrated Aluminium Development Corporation (GIADEC) where he represents the interests of the Integrated Aluminium Industry. In addition he serves on other Boards of Directors, including Zenith Bank (Ghana), and the University of Ghana Centre For Social Policy Analysis. He is Chairman of Fast Pace Transfer Limited and MakYoung and was formerly the Chairman of Ghana Railways Company.

Dr Benyah has a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; an MBA-Finance from Benedictine University in Illinois, USA; and a Doctorate in Management from the University of Maryland, Maryland, USA.

Daniel (Dan) Acheampong is the Chief Executive Officer of VALCO and has held this position since January 2014. Dan is a Human Resource practitioner by profession and prior to assuming this top position at VALCO had had over 28 years of contemporary experience in the field of Human Resource Management and Leadership.

Dan graduated with First Class Honours Degree in Business Administration from the University of Ghana Business School, (UGBS) in 1984, majoring in Management. With over 28 years of contemporary experience in Human Resource Management and Leadership, prior to becoming the CEO, he holds a global perspective of issues, given his solid professional/executive post-graduate credentials obtained from the Business Schools of the University of Michigan, Harvard University and, the Centre for Creative Leadership, all in the United States of America. Productivity occupies a pride of place in his heart, thanks to his course of study at the Botswana National Institute of Productivity.

Since joining VALCO in 1987 Dan has worked in various capacities in human resources and became the Deputy Chief Executive Officer in charge of Human Resource and Administration, Public and Legal Affairs. With his impressive background in Contract, Administrative and Company Law, Dan had worked for over 3 years as Administrative/Investigations Officer with the Office of the Ombudsman, now Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) before joining VALCO.

Dan is currently the President of the Ghana Employers’ Association (GEA). He assumed this office, having served two, two-year terms as President of the Institute of Human Resource Management Practitioners, Ghana (IHRMP) after being its Vice-President earlier on. He also serves on a number of Boards including SSNIT. Dan is a practicing Catholic and is happily married to Kate. They have two children, namely, Yasmine and Nhyira.

Mr Michael Ansah is a Member of the VALCO Board. He was appointed by the President of Ghana in 2018, to lead the development of the nation’s Integrated Aluminium Industry programme. He is the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Integrated Aluminium Development Corporation (GIADEC).

Michael is an accomplished business leader, with extensive international experience across varied industry sectors. Prior to his appointment, he was Senior Vice President at Dell Technologies, where he held global and regional executive leadership positions, managing operations and investments across the Americas, Europe, Middle East and Africa, and Asia Pacific, in a career spanning over 12 years.

He previously held executive roles at Symonds Group, Regus Plc, where he was Group Director, and PWC Consulting/IBM Business Consulting Services, where he was Director/Associate Partner in the Real Estate and Capital Programme Management practice. Michael holds a B.Sc. Hons (Design), and Post Graduate Diploma in Architecture from KNUST in Ghana, and an MBA from Cranfield School of Management, UK.

Mr Seth Adjete Adjei is a member of the VALCO Board. Seth was Managing Director of VALCO from July 2005 until he retired in December 2008. He had worked with VALCO from July 1969, as an Electrical Engineer, as Production Department Manager, and also as Acting Director of Human Resources and Personnel Administration.

Currently, Seth is a Consultant to the Ghana Integrated Aluminium Development Corporation (GIADEC).

Seth is a Fellow of the Ghana Institution of Engineers, and serves as a Council Member of the Energy Foundation. He has held several Directorships in the past, and is currently a Director of City Car Parks Limited.

Samuel Evans Ashong Narh, a product of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology is a Mechanical Engineer by profession. He graduated in June, 1966. He was employed by the Consolidated African Selection Trust (CAST) which later became Ghana Diamond Company Limited at Akwatia as Assistant Plant Engineer in 1966. He was responsible for running the diamond mining plant including plant maintenance. He was in charge of plant supervisor, foremen, attendants, security guards and recorder on the plant.

In 1968 resigned from CAST and was employed by Ghana Cement Works now called Ghacem Limited in 1968 as mechanical engineer in Takoradi. A year later he was transferred to Tema factory and his designation changed to Production Engineer in 1969. The purpose of his transfer was to assist in the expansion of Tema factory from one grinding mill to three mills including the cement packing plant and two additional cement storage silos. In 1979 he led the effort to embark on restructural programme which brought him up as Production Manager to encompass five technical departments, namely: mechanical, production, electrical, stores/procurement and quality control. In 1988 he resigned from Ghacem and went into private practice and established ANOK ENGINEERING SERVICES to offer services in building construction, metal works, and consulting.

From the year 2001 to 2005, Hon. Ashong Narh was appointed the Mayor of Tema Municipality which comprised the Tema East, Tema West, Ashaiman, Adenta and Kpone constituencies by His Excellency, President J.A. Kufuor. He chaired the Greater Accra Regional Tender Review Board at the Regional Coordinating Council from 2005 to 2008. Hon. Ashong Narh was elected the Member of Parliament for Tema East and served in that position from 2013 to 2017. In Parliament, he served on three committees; namely - Works and Housing and Water Resources, Government Assurance and Gender, Women and Children. He has since been the Managing Director of Get-Well Ltd (Group of Companies). He is currently serving on the Board of the Precious Minerals Marketing Company Ltd (PMMC). Hon. Ashong Narh has undertaken a number of courses including a Diploma in Cement Technology (POLAND), Cement Machinery (NORWAY) and Cement Production and Management (DENMARK). He holds also a Certificate in Planning by Critical Path Analysis (MDPI ACCRA) .

Dr Gloria Naa Dzama Addico is Senior Research Scientist and the Head of Department of the Environmental Biology and Health Division of the CSIR- Water Research Institute. She is also an Ordinand Priest Trainee attached to the Most Holy Trinity Cathedral Anglican Church, Accra. She attended the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi where she obtained a Bachelor of Science Degree in Natural Resources Management (Watershed Management and Fisheries Option) and Master of Philosophy Degree in Biological Science in 1989 and 2000 respectively.

She also studied Limnology at the Institute of Limnology, Gaisberg, Austria and the Czech Academy of Sciences, Trebon, Czech Republic in 1993. In 2004, she pursued a Doctoral studies at the University of Hull, Hull, United Kingdom at the Department of Biology and was awarded a double Certificate; Post-graduate Certificate in Research Methods and PhD in Biological Science, Ecotoxicity of Cyanobacteria in 2006 and 2008 respectively, becoming the first Ghanaian to be awarded a PhD in Cyanobacteria and Cyanotoxins Studies.

She was a Visiting Scientist at the University of Hull, UK from 2008-2010 and a Visiting Academic at The Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, Scotland, United Kingdom for six months from April to September, 2011. She was awarded a Governmental Citation based on recommendation from the Ghana Government Scholarship Secretariat followed by a Commendation from the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research for her pioneering research work on Cyanobacteria and Cyanotoxins as part of her PhD. Currently Dr Addico is again a Visiting Scientist at the University of Hull working on Developing a Rapid Diagnostics Determination of Cyanotoxins. She has several International Journal Publications to her credit and a book published in Germany. Recently, she was nominated as the Chairperson of the 50th Anniversary Celebration of the Holy Trinity Cathedral Senior High School. She has just completed a Master of Arts Degree in Ministry at the Trinity Theological Seminary, Legon. She serves as a Board Committee Member of the Human Resource Management Committee of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital and the Economic and Development Committee of the Coastal Development Authority. Her major interests are Environmental Ecology and Management, Biodiversity and Cyanotoxins as affects living organisms especially man.

Kofi Percival Akpaloo is a commercial oriented finance professional with several years post qualified extensive work experience of building, leading, and advising corporations through complex restructurings, international expansions, and capital markets transactions. He has been involved in managing financial risks, foreign exchange accounting, economics, and business issues with emphasis on business valuation, economic damages, and forensic accounting issues.

Kofi is an excellent leader with a track record of contributions leading to improved financial performance, heightened productivity, and enhanced internal controls in several organisations. He has worked in a number of organisations in both Ghana and the United Kingdom and Ireland. He worked with Guinness Ghana, Accra Brewery, Darko Farms and Goldlink Ghana Limited all in the Finance and Accounting areas. He also worked in Edreams, Presdel Group and Chase Christopher Roberts in London, United Kingdom in the Accounting field. he held various positions in Northern Trust Global Investor Company and Doveson Lovell both in Dublin, Ireland. In Doveson he became the Senior Business Financial Manager where served as advisor to privately held commercial clients and supervised teams of accountants on multiple projects, including acquisition reviews.

Kofi obtained the Certificate in International Auditing from Emile Wolf College. He obtained his first degree in B.Sc., (Accounting) from the Oxford Brookes University after doing a Diploma in Finance and Accounting at The Institute of Management Studies.

In professional life Kofi is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA). and also a member of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI), Global Association of Risk Professional (GARP) and the Chartered Financial Analyst Institute (CFA).

Mr Michael Abrokwa is the Company Secretary at VALCO and Secretary to the VALCO Board. He has several years’ experience in the field of Human Resource Management. He began his working career in Human Resource Management with VALCO and rose through the ranks to become the Area Manager in charge of Learning and Development before assuming his current role. Mike provides support to the Board of Directors which has overall responsibility, to ensure that VALCO achieves its vision. He ensures the efficient administration of the Board Secretariat and the Company, particularly with regard to compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements.

He has championed a number of learning and development programmes including VALCO’s flagship programme – the Effective Leadership in Management, Health and Safety and has specialized in Performance Management Systems. Mike holds a B.Sc. (Admin) in Human Resource Management, an Executive MBA from the University of Ghana Business School, Legon and an M.Phil. in Leadership from the University of Professional Studies Accra. He has also obtained Certificates in Corporate Governance, Company Law and Company Secretarial Practice. Mike is a member of the Chartered Institute of Human Resource Management Practitioners (CIHRMP) Ghana and the Association for Talent Development (ATD).