Semafor reports have detailed that Engineers & Planners (E&P), led by Ghana President John Mahama’s brother Ibrahim Mahama, is defying an October 2025 ICC arbitration ruling and a June 2026 UK High Court order to return the Black Volta gold mine to Azumah Resources after a disputed $100M earn-in deal.
Reports suggest the conflict arose from a 2023 agreement where E&P was to develop and potentially acquire the northwest Ghana project.
Azumah alleges unmet obligations and forgery, while E&P secured ECOWAS financing, claims valid share transfer, and denies seizing operations.
In a video shared on X by Semafor, Alexis Akwagyiram, providing updates, stated, “A company headed by the brother of Ghana’s president has refused to hand back a $100 million gold mine at the centre of an ownership row, defying a ruling by an international court that is, according to a court document seen by Semafor.
A 2023 earn-in agreement, which would enable the Ghanaian firm to acquire equity, was disputed by investors who say the company failed to fulfil the terms that would have enabled it to take ownership, accusing it of forging signatures to facilitate the transfer and seizing the site, according to the documents. The company has denied the allegations.
The dispute has been heard by an international court of arbitration, with the fallout raising questions about the rule of law and regulatory oversight in Ghana. It is not the only case that raises such worries. An Australian firm and a NASDAQ-listed UK headquarters are both locked in an arbitration case against Ghanaian authorities”.
Parts of the news articles filed by Semafor detailed, “The dispute over the Black Volta gold mine in northwest Ghana is emblematic not only of the growing wariness among international investors around mining projects in Africa’s biggest gold producer, but also of the challenges faced by African policymakers trying to increase revenues from natural resources without deterring foreign firms.
Ghana’s government is looking to its mining sector as a way to build long-term growth after emerging from its worst economic crisis in decades, which required a $3 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund. But the issues underpinning the Black Volta mine dispute — about the rule of law, alleged political influence, and regulatory oversight — threaten to damage Ghana’s reputation among international investors and increase the risk premium attached to the country’s mining sector, just as the country is overhauling its approach to strategic mineral resources to capitalize on soaring gold prices.
In arbitration court documents seen by Semafor, Ghanaian mining firm Engineers & Planners — whose founder and CEO Ibrahim Mahama is a brother of Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama — said Azumah’s shareholders offered it the right to acquire the Black Volta project for $100 million in 2023. Azumah’s investors have denied this, saying any acquisition rights were subject to E&P’s compliance with a series of other obligations.” E&P in July 2025 secured a $120 million loan from West Africa’s development finance institution, funds it said were for acquiring the site.
But the sale has been disputed by Azumah’s investors, who say E&P failed to fulfil the terms that would have enabled the Ghanaian firm to take ownership, accusing the company of seizing the site and forging signatures to facilitate the transfer of shares. E&P has denied the allegations. Azumah has denied selling or authorising such a sale entirely, rejecting E&P’s accusations that it reneged on an agreement.
In a ruling dated Oct. 23, 2025, the International Chamber of Commerce’s International Court of Arbitration, which sat in London, ordered E&P to stop “trespassing on, occupying, or otherwise interfering with the Black Volta and Sankofa Mine Sites.”
The court sat in private, and the details are confidential, but the ruling was disclosed months later during a hearing at the High Court of England and Wales, where Azumah’s investors sought to enforce the arbitration court’s ruling. The contracts were established in accordance with English law, and the UK was designated as the site for any dispute resolution, according to James Wallbank, managing partner of Ibaera Capital, a US private equity fund that is among Azumah’s investors.
On June 8 of this year, the High Court ruled that E&P “failed to comply” with the arbitration court’s order. But that second ruling has also been ignored, according to Azumah’s investors. “Over the last nine months, the International Court of Arbitration and now the English High Court have both issued notices to E&P advising them to stop trespassing on the Black Volta project and return assets to the international investors,” Wallbank said in an interview.
Bobby Banson, a lawyer representing E&P, denied that the mine had been occupied. “E&P is neither occupying the Black Volta Mines nor has it taken over the operations of the Mine or its resources,” Banson told Semafor in an email. He continued: “E&P has instructed its lawyers to take steps to set aside the order from the English Court.” He also accused those opposed to E&P in the arbitration case of carrying out “PR gimmicks.”
Representatives of both sides in the case — E&P and Azumah’s investors — said the International Court of Arbitration is due to make a final judgment at a hearing scheduled to take place in September”.
Watch the video below:
A company headed by the brother of the Ghanaian president has refused to hand back a $100 million gold mine at the center of an ownership row, defying a ruling by an international court, Semafor's @alexisak reports. pic.twitter.com/g3N2HpF756
— Semafor (@semafor) July 8, 2026
