Black Volta Goldmine Dispute Deepens as Engineers & Planners, Ibaera Clash Over Ownership

Black Volta Goldmine Dispute Deepens as Engineers & Planners, Ibaera Clash Over Ownership

 The long-running tussle over the Black Volta gold concession has taken a dramatic turn, plunging Ghana’s mining sector into fresh controversy.

The dispute, which pits Ibrahim Mahama’s Engineers & Planners (E&P) against Australian private equity firm Ibaera Capital, has been described by policy analyst Bright Simons as “the most fascinating mining saga in Africa.”

At the heart of the impasse is Azumah Ghana, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ibaera that holds the Black Volta concessions. In 2023, E&P signed a contract with Ibaera to inject about $100 million to clear project debts and up to $200 million more to construct a mine. Under the agreement, E&P secured two board seats in Azumah Ghana and developed close ties with the company secretary, who also acted as trustee for Ibaera’s shares.

However, when E&P failed to raise the required funds within the agreed timelines, Ibaera terminated the deal. E&P subsequently challenged the termination through arbitration in London in late 2024.

In recent months, the saga has taken increasingly bizarre turns. E&P has reportedly acted as though it already owns Azumah Ghana, even staging an event in which Ecowas Bank was presented as having financed the acquisition of the Black Volta mine—a claim Ibaera promptly denied.

After a public outcry, Ghana’s Minister of Lands and Natural Resources intervened to mediate an amicable settlement. But tensions escalated further this week. E&P withdrew from the arbitration it initiated, and then announced—on Azumah letterhead—that it had taken over the company and now owns the Black Volta goldmine.

In an even more startling twist, E&P is alleged to have engineered the transfer of Ibaera’s shares in Azumah from the trustee to itself, without paying Ibaera. Ibaera has denied knowledge of any such transaction.

E&P, for its part, insists that its actions have the blessing of the Minerals Commission, suggesting a split between the regulator and the sector minister, who only recently assured stakeholders in Australia that the matter was under control and headed for peaceful resolution.

The dispute has now reached fever pitch, raising concerns about investor confidence, regulatory oversight, and governance in Ghana’s mining sector.