Engineers & Planners Defends $100m Gold Mine Acquisition, Warns of Sabotage
Accra, Ghana - 9 July, 2025 - A Ghanaian mining firm, Engineers & Planners (E&P) Co. Ltd., has defended its $100 million acquisition of the Black Volta Gold Project in the Upper West Region, dismissing allegations of political interference and urging national support for what it describes as a historic milestone for indigenous ownership in Ghana’s mining sector.
The company’s statement, issued on 8 July 2025, follows a contentious dispute with Azumah Resources Ghana Ltd., an Australian-owned entity, over the gold concession, which has escalated into international arbitration and public scrutiny.
The Black Volta Gold Project, originally leased to Azumah Resources in 1992, remained largely undeveloped for three decades, accumulating over $5 million in debts to the Ghana Revenue Authority and Minerals Commission, according to E&P’s statement.
Citing financial struggles and regional instability, particularly in neighboring Burkina Faso, Azumah’s shareholders, led by Australian firm Ibaera Capital, approached E&P in May 2023 to sell the concession for $100 million, despite its market value being assessed at under $80 million.
E&P, founded by Ghanaian entrepreneur Ibrahim Mahama, signed the acquisition agreement on 9 October 2023, taking over operations and funding the site at $500,000 monthly from November 2023 to June 2025.
Tensions emerged in August 2024 when Azumah’s director, James Wallbank, sought to triple the sale price to $300 million, a demand E&P rejected, leading to arbitration at the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). A June 2025 High Court ruling in Ghana upheld the original agreement, nullifying Azumah’s attempt to terminate the deal.
To finance the acquisition, E&P secured a $100 million facility from the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID), formalized at a signing ceremony in Accra on 7 July 2025. E&P clarified that the event involved only EBID and itself, despite Azumah’s resident directors’ presence, countering claims of a finalized sale.
E&P’s Business Development Director, Emmanuel Erskine, emphasized the deal’s commercial nature, stating, “This is not politics. This is a pure commercial transaction conducted at arm’s length.”
He warned of efforts to sabotage the project, alleging some Azumah directors aimed to exploit rising gold prices, which reached $2,400 per ounce in 2025, per Bloomberg.
The company denied media reports suggesting political influence, noting all agreements predated Ghana’s December 2024 elections. Prominent Ghanaian industrialist Sir Sam Jonah, speaking at the EBID signing, rejected claims of political favoritism, calling the deal a “merit-based” step towards local ownership, as reported by Asaase Radio.
Azumah Resources, however, has contested E&P’s narrative. On 4 July 2025, it issued a disclaimer distancing itself from the EBID ceremony, insisting the dispute remains under arbitration.
Spokesperson John Mason criticized E&P’s claims, stating the firm provided only $4 million of a promised $250 million, and affirmed Azumah’s commitment to developing the mine with international investors.
A 5 July 2025 announcement by Azumah claimed construction had begun, funded by its shareholders, though E&P’s legal counsel, Bobby Banson, told CitiNewsroom that the ICC dispute was resolved through the EBID deal, allowing E&P to settle with Azumah and assume full ownership.
