The University of Mines and Technology (UMaT) has conferred an honorary Doctor of Science degree on renowned businessman and philanthropist Ibrahim Mahama.

The honour, bestowed during the university’s 18th Special Congregation on Saturday, January 31, 2026, recognises Mr Mahama’s nearly three-decade contribution to the mining and construction sectors.

The event was graced by President John Dramani Mahama as the special guest of honour, alongside business mogul Sir Sam Jonah.

Mr Mahama’s journey began in 1997 with a small equipment rental firm that has since evolved into West Africa’s largest indigenous mining and construction company.

In a move to ensure his legacy contributes to the sector's future, UMaT announced the establishment of the Ibrahim Mahama Institute for Precious and Green Ghana, which will focus on sustainable mining and environmental stewardship.

The ceremony took a personal turn when President John Dramani Mahama took the podium to congratulate his younger brother.

He recalled how Ibrahim’s industrial instincts were visible long before he became a CEO.

“Even as children, Ibrahim displayed remarkable entrepreneurial instincts, always thinking of ways to create, build, and provide. I, on the other hand, have always been drawn to speaking and persuasion. It is inspiring to see how Ibrahim has turned his early entrepreneurial spark into a force for national development,” the President remarked.

He continued: "Our father was two things: a politician first and then an entrepreneur. And as you can see, I adopted the political genes. And somebody adopted the entrepreneurial genes."

President Mahama further narrated how his brother set up Engineers & Planners and the trajectory that has birthed a conglomerate.

"He has an interest in aeroplanes, motorcycles, and cars, but above all, he has an interest in heavy, earth-moving engineering machines. In England, he continued to pursue that interest, and it led him to meet a partner who was also a contractor, I think an Irish contractor, who was down on his luck and was virtually bankrupt.

"Ibrahim convinced him to take a few bulldozers and excavators to Ghana. 'We can start renting them to the mines, and we'll make some good money'. So, they came together and formed Engineers and Planners," President Mahama explained.

He praised his brother for the success he has achieved as a businessman and a trailblazer in the mining sector.

"That’s how he began subcontracts for African Mining Services, and he proved so good at the work he was doing that they gradually recognised he could not only deliver on budgets but also on time.

He opened that space for the first indigenous Ghanaian mining company to get contracts directly from the big mining companies, and his mentor is here, Mr Sam Jonah," he noted.