Biography of Ibrahim Mahama

Ibrahim Mahama (born January 29, 1971) is a Ghanaian businessman, the founder of Engineers and Planners, a West African indigenous-owned mining company, and the owner of several other businesses in Ghana, including Dzata Cement Limited. He is the younger brother of John Dramani Mahama, President of Ghana from 2012 to 2017.

Early life

Mahama was born in Piase, in the Northern Region of Ghana to Emmanuel Adama Mahama, the first Minister of State of the Northern Region under the first President of Ghana, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. His mother, Joyce Tamakloe, comes from Keta in the Volta Region of Ghana.

Mahama moved to the United Kingdom to study at the College of North London. After graduation, he went on to live in London, where he worked for a property development company.

Career

Mahama started his company, Engineers & Planners, in 1997 after his return from London. The company now employs over 3,000 Ghanaian employees.

Mahama has also invested in Asutsuare Poultry Farms, which was started in 2004 and produces 150,000 eggs and 10,000 live broilers a day.

Mahama is also an investor and owner of Dzata Cement Limited, an exclusively Ghanaian-owned cement processing factory located in Tema. Construction of the factory began in 2011, and it is set to start operations by the first quarter of 2018. It is projected to create 1,200 direct jobs. Its production capacity is projected to be 2 million tonnes of cement a year.

Philanthropy

Northern Ghana

Mahama has been recognized in supporting the Northern and Zongo communities. Ghana has about 400 Zongo communities which have been described by many as deprived. He has catered for many in these communities, providing funding for projects in areas of education, healthcare, and employment.

He is currently in the process of building a 550-bed dormitory for his former high school, Tamale Secondary School in the Northern Region of Ghana, after a fire destroyed an existing dormitory.

Joyce Tamakloe Cancer Foundation

Following the loss of his mother to breast cancer, Mahama has advocated 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 played a key role in ensuring breast cancer patients received treatment under the National Health Insurance in Ghana. In 2005, the Joyce Tamakloe Memorial Cancer Foundation Polo Championship was established in memorial of Mahama’s mother, a staunch member of the Accra Polo Club.

The championship is held to promote cancer awareness; It was, for instance, played in 2009 to raise awareness on the dangers of prostate cancer, which is fast-spreading in Africa.

Personal life

Ibrahim Mahama and his wife, Oona Mahama, have three children. Mahama is the younger brother of John Dramani Mahama, President of Ghana from 2012 to 2017. His step-mother died in July 2016. He was the first in Ghana to purchase a Bombardier 604 luxury private jet, which he named “Dzata”.

Honours

In 2018, Mahama attended the 8th edition African Achievers Awards ceremony in the House of Commons to be named African Industrialist of the year. He was awarded the Ultimate Man of the Year at the 2022 Exclusive Men of the Year Africa Awards.