Ibrahim Mahama | |
Birth Date: | 29 January 1971 |
Birth Place: | Tamale, Northern Region of Ghana, Ghana |
Education: | Tamale Senior High School |
Alma Mater: | College of North West London |
Occupation: | Businessman |
Organization: | Engineers and Planners, Dzata Cement Limited |
Parents: | Emmanuel Adama Mahama Joyce Tamakloe |
Relations: | John Dramani Mahama (brother) |
Ibrahim Mahama (born 29 January 1971) is a Ghanaian businessman and founder of Engineers and Planners,[1] a West African indigenously-owned mining company. He owns other businesses in Ghana, including Dzata Cement Limited.[2] [3] He is the younger brother of John Dramani Mahama, President of Ghana from 2012 to 2017.[4]
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.[5]
Mahama moved to the United Kingdom to study at the College of North London.[6] After graduation, he went on to live in London, where he worked for a property development company.
Mahama started his company, Engineers & Planners, in 1997 after his return from London. His company now employs over 3,000 Ghanaian employees.[7]
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.[8]
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 the operations started in 2018. It is projected to create 1,200 direct jobs.[9] [10] [11] the production capacity of this company is aimed to be 2 million tonnes of cement a year.[12]
Mahama has been recognized in supporting the underdeveloped Northern and Zongo communities.[13] He has provided funding for projects in areas of education, healthcare, and employment.[14] [15] [16] A notable project includes the construction of a new dormitory for Tamale Secondary School in the Northern Region of Ghana,[17] [18] aiming to replace facilities after a fire destroyed an existing dormitory.[19] [20] [21]
Following the loss of his mother to breast cancer, Mahama has advocated charity causes that create awareness on different types of cancer.[22] 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.[23]
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.[24] [25]
Ibrahim Mahama and his wife, Oona Mahama, have three children.[26] Mahama is the younger brother of John Dramani Mahama, President of Ghana from 2012 to 2017. His step-mother died in July 2016.[27] He was the first in Ghana to purchase a Bombardier 604 luxury private jet, which he named "Dzata".[28]
In 2018, Mahama attended the 8th edition African Achievers Awards ceremony in the House of Commons to be named African Industrialist of the year.[29] He was awarded the Ultimate Man of the Year at the 2022 Exclusive Men of the Year Africa Awards.[30]