Jamaica revives two-decades old promise to help Ghana build out its alumina industry

Durrant Pate/Contributor

Jamaica, the Caribbean’s largest bauxite producer has struck a US$60-million deal with Ghana, as both countries move to revive a two-decades old bauxite and alumina trade relationship.

Jamaica plans to use local bauxite company, Jamalco’s parent company, Noranda’s Louisiana refinery to help Ghana build its aluminium industry in this US$60 million deal. Business Insider Africa is reporting that the deal involves Jamaican bauxite being refined in Louisiana, then shipped as alumina to Ghana for aluminium production.

This agreement could significantly expand bilateral trade and support Ghana’s long-standing goal of creating an integrated aluminium industry. It also aims to help Ghana capture more value from its bauxite resources while reducing its dependence on imported alumina.

Helping to bridge the gap

Ghana has vast bauxite resources but still lacks a domestic alumina refinery, leaving its aluminium industry dependent on imported alumina but this deal with Jamaica could help bridge that gap while reviving a decades-old trade relationship between the two countries. 

Recently, Managing Director of Jamaica Bauxite Mining Limited (JBM), Donna Marie Howe told JIS News that discussions are already under way and could soon lead to a formal agreement. The talks began in March 2026 after representatives from Ghana’s state-owned bauxite sector visited Jamaica to explore renewed cooperation.

“We started talking about how we can rejuvenate getting some more bauxite refined in our Louisiana plant in Gramercy, so it can be shipped to Ghana, so they can do the production of aluminium there,” Howe explained adding that the initiative has the backing of Ghana’s President, John Dramani Mahama, who recently completed a four-day state visit to Jamaica.

According to her, “the timeline for this is imminent. It is for us now then to just build on those discussions and transition that into an actual agreement.” The proposed deal would build on an existing trade relationship rather than create a new market for Jamaica in Ghana. 

Ghana-Jamaica bauxite relationship

In 2024, Ghana imported about 26,250 tonnes of Jamaican alumina worth $11.1 million, compared with nearly 30,900 tonnes worth $13.1 million from Egypt and about 11,600 tonnes valued at $4.1 million from Cameroon. The Ghana-Jamaica relationship, however, stretches much further back.

In July 2005, then Jamaican Prime Minister P. J. Patterson announced that Jamaica would assist Ghana in developing its own alumina refinery following talks with then Ghanaian President, John Kufuor. At the time, the Jamaican government said Ghana had already been consuming Jamaican alumina for about 30 years, placing the commercial relationship between the two countries as far back as the 1970s.

That long-standing trade relationship developed alongside Ghana’s broader ambition to build an integrated aluminium industry of its own. Founding Ghanian President, Kwame Nkrumah envisioned a system powered by the Volta River project, under which Ghana would mine its own bauxite, refine it into alumina and then produce aluminium domestically.

More than six decades later, that vision remains incomplete. Ghana still exports raw bauxite while importing the alumina needed to supply the Volta Aluminium Company, or VALCO, smelter in Tema. The state-owned Ghana Integrated Aluminium Development Corporation, which oversees the development of the country’s integrated aluminium industry, says all bauxite currently mined by the Ghana Bauxite Company is exported, while VALCO depends on imported alumina for production.

The Awaso mine, Ghana’s first and only operational bauxite mine produces about one million tonnes of bauxite a year but the African country still lacks a commercial refinery capable of converting the ore into alumina. Historically, some of the country’s bauxite has been processed abroad in countries including Jamaica, Scotland and Canada before alumina is imported for aluminium production at home.

The proposed US$60 million Jamaica deal would therefore help meet Ghana’s immediate alumina needs while the country continues efforts to build domestic refining capacity and process more of its own bauxite at home.