Ibrahim Mahama is a Ghanaian entrepreneur and the Founder of Engineers and Planners company– the largest indigenous-owned mining contracting company in West Africa. Also among the list of companies he owns are MBG Ltd, Asutsuare Farms, and his most recent addition, Dzata Cement. The cement company has over US$100 million investment and is located on a 10-acre land near the Tema Port.
Michael Ibrahim Mahama was born on January 29, 1971 in Piase in the Northern Region of Ghana to Emmanuel Adama Mahama, the former Minister of Agriculture and the First Minister of the Northern Region under the Nkrumah’s regime and Madam Joyce Tamakloe, a businesswoman and native of Keta in the Volta Region. Ibrahim had his tertiary education at the College of North London but later dropped out of school at the age of 26.
At this point, young Ibrahim realized that his future was in no ways tied to the confines of a classroom, prompting his return to Ghana. Avidly reading and researching on the mining industry in Africa, Mr. Mahama immediately took a keen interest and his curiosity got triggered, further pushing him to the fringes of entrepreneurship.
Ibrahim Mahama subsequently worked for the Canadian mining firm, Golden Star Resources at Mpohor in the Western Region of Ghana. Following this, he put thought to paper and sweat to the realization of his dream by establishing Engineers and Planners, a mining contracting firm that provides mining support services to the Extractive Industry, in 1997. This initiative enabled pivoting his breakthrough in the business front as it has become one of the largest mining contractors in West Africa with over 3000 workers and an asset value worth over 100 million US dollars. When the war-torn country of Sierra Leone decided to rebuild its country, Ibrahim Mahama in collaboration with worldwide steel giant, Arcelor Mittal, owned by one of the richest men in the world, Lashkmi Mittal, embarked on many development projects in Sierra Leone and Liberia which were supervised by Engineers and Planners.
Building quite a portfolio for himself, Ibrahim Mahama also invested in MBG Ltd. which deals in the sale and rental of heavy-duty vehicles and spare parts, located in Tema. Also, as the real estate industry began to boom in the country, Mr Mahama took advantage of its growth to establish his ability in the industry as well. His presence in the Real Estate industry can be attested to as a result of the high-end and luxurious apartments and houses he has dotted across the capital city, Accra, for both Ghanaians and foreign nationals who are on the lookout for aesthetic and comfortable residence. Farming is one aspect of the economy which particularly warms the heart of the resourceful businessman who in 2004 took on the challenge of setting up the Asutsuare Poultry Farms. The Farm produces 150,000 eggs and 10,000 live broilers a day.
Gratification, to some, may well-identify with Mr. Mahama. For an underachiever, these laudable achievements would have well brought finality to his quest for success and wealth. However, Mr. Mahama pulled quite a surprise from his hat of ambitions with the establishment of an indigenous cement-producing manufacturing company, Dzata Cement, in the heart of Tema. The construction of Dzata cement factory commenced in 2011 with a projected production capacity of two million tonnes of cement each year. The plant, can produce an average of 120 bags per minute from the two production lines. Complementing this, the plant’s phase 1 reveals a two-line re-bagging contraption with an installed capacity of 1.2 million tonnes per annum using jumbo bags of imported bulk cement. Phase II of the project will have a plant capacity of 2.4 million tonnes per annum using imported bulk Portland cement, while Phase III will involve actual manufacturing and bagging, using two vertical grinding mills of 3 million tonnes capacity each. The production silos of the plant have the capacity to hold 40, 000 metric tonnes of cement.
As one who believes in the spirit of community and charity, Ibrahim Mahama has been recognized for supporting the Northern and Zongo communities. The advent of the pandemic saw Mr Mahama exhibit his philanthropic nature through donation of food items and undisclosed amounts of cash to the National Chief Imam, Sheik Nuhu Sharubutu, the St. James Catholic Church at Osu, the Christ the King Catholic Church in Accra and some individual households within the Greater Accra Region and its environs as part of a relief effort in the fight against the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19). The items were distributed to about 10,000 households in deprived communities in the Greater Accra Region. Also, Mr. Mahama has catered for many in these communities, providing for education, healthcare, employment as well as funding projects within the communities.
Following the loss of his mother to breast cancer in 2005, he has championed charity causes that create awareness on different types of cancer. He is a co-founder of the Joyce Tamakloe Cancer Foundation which has raised funds for several hospitals in Ghana as a contribution to the fight against cancer. The Foundation has provided free mammograms for over 1000 women across Ghana. The foundation also plays a key role in ensuring breast cancer patients receive treatment under the National Health Insurance in Ghana.
Rave reviews characterized his operations as the company was heralded to have built one of the largest tailings dam in West Africa for a South Africa Gold mining firm, Goldfields, at their Tarkwa mining site.
Alluding to this, Ibrahim received in 2018 the “Industrialist of the Year” at the African Achievers’ Award in London. This was during the 8th edition of African Achievers awards that took place in the House of Commons in London.
