Ibrahim Mahama adjudged African Industrialist of the Year
Ghanaian businessman Mr Ibrahim Mahama has been adjudged the industrialist of the year at the 2018 edition of the African Achievers Award.
The African Achievers Award has consistently honoured great African achievers from African leaders, young achievers and community builders to captains of industry across the continent.
The awards ceremony has been established as one of the biggest gatherings of influential and global African achievers on the continent.
At the 8th Edition of the awards ceremony held at the House of Parliament, London, Mr Mahama was presented with the award by Lindsey Oliver, a Co-Founder of the Aljazeera news channel.
Receiving the award, Mr Mahama conveyed his appreciation to the organisers of the event for the great honour done him and his company—Engineers and Planners.
Dedication
"I dedicate the award to the memory of my father E.A. Mahama and my mother Joyce Tamakloe, both of whom were entrepreneurs," he said.
He also dedicated the award to the hardworking management and staff of Engineers and Planners, whose untiring efforts have elevated the company to this stage.
Mr Mahama emphasised his confidence in the African continent, saying "I believe that opportunities exist for us as Africans to capture the commanding heights of our economies. As youth of the continent, we must think outside the box and seize the bountiful opportunities that abound right beneath our noses".
The businessman also expressed his belief that receiving this award would spur other young Africans on to aspire to establish their own businesses and take advantage of the opportunities Africa has to offer.
Background
In 1997, with an equivalent of £500, 26-year-old Ibrahim Mahama returned to his native country Ghana after his sojourn in the United Kingdom to set up a Heavy Duty equipment rental company—Engineers & Planners.
Soon, he noticed a business opportunity when the Ghanaian government at the time decided to privatise all state-owned mining companies.
Mr Mahama reworked his business model to take advantage of the privatisation drive of the government.
Today, that £500 rental company is now worth more than five billion dollars in both assets and human resources thanks to the leadership of Ibrahim Mahama.
Engineers and Planners has built a huge portfolio in Ghana, working for mining giants such as Golden Star Resources and Goldfields Ghana.
Staff and operations
The company employs close to 3000 workers working on both the Damang and Tarkwa mines owned by South African Goldfields as it continues to work on other satellite projects across the country including road construction, earth moving and civil engineering works.
Mr Mahama’s impact is not only limited to Ghana, his company was the first to open up the Liberian economy to commercial mining activities after over two decades of civil war when they won the contract to mine the iron ore concession for Arcellor Mittal in Yekepa, Liberia.
Mr Mahama is involved in other business interests. He is the owner of Man Bosch Ghana Limited, (MBG) a company representing MAN DIESEL trucks in Ghana.
He is also currently working on a cement producing company expected to provide employment opportunities for several thousands of wholesalers and retailers across Ghana and the West African sub-region.
The cement factory has a production capacity of 2.6 million tonnes per annum and this is the highest single cement facility in Ghana.