By Ernest Addo
It is an inspiring story of how a wholly-own Ghanaian company-Engineers and Planners(E&P)-a resourceful mining services company, procured an ailing Black Volta Gold Project, in the Upper West Region, belonging to Azumah Resources Ghana, a subsidiary of a multinational company.
Business Development Director, Emmanuel Erskine, in a press release yesterday catalogued in chapter-and-verse; the journey of how a comatose Azumah Resources Ghana approached E&P offering to sell the project for $100 million.
Read the full unedited narrative from Engineers and Planners:
- The government of Ghana gave a lease to Azumah Resources Ghana Ltd in respect of
a gold concession in the Upper West Region in 1992. The company is owned by an
Australian company.
- From 1992 till 2022, the company was unable to commence any significant exploration
activities on the land, contrary to the terms of the lease agreement.
- By 2022, the company was indebted to the GHANA REVENUE AUTHORITY and Minerals Commission to the tune of over $5 million.
- The Ghana Revenue Authority had obtained a judgment in both the High Court and the
Court of Appeal against the company and was going to sell the assets of the company.
- Gold price was low and so the owners of the company wanted to sell what was left of
the company and for the new owner to deal with all the risk with GRA and The Minerals
Commission.
- Additionally, the political instability in neighbouring Burkina Faso posed an elevated
risk for any more investments in that sub region.
- In May 2023, the shareholders approached E&P, offering to sell the project to E&P for
$100 million.
- E&P accepted the offer and the risk, despite the value of the project being estimated
at less than $80 million.
- The Project Acquisition and Development Agreement was signed by the shareholders
of Azumah and E&P on 9th October 2023 at the Roman Ridge, Accra offices of E&P.
- Per the agreement, the $100 million was to be paid in two equal instalments of US$
50 million on by June 2024 and June 2026.
- By an email exchange between the parties, the first instalment of June 2024 was
amended to December 31, 2024.
- Per the agreement, E&P immediately took control of the project and funded the
operations of the mine on an average of US$500,000.00 monthly from November 2023 to
date; the last expenses were June 30, 2025.
- Per the agreement, E&P appointed 2 representatives to the board of Directors of
Azumah Ghana in January 2024.
- Per the agreement, E&P was responsible for raising the finance to develop the project.
- Indeed, a top executive of the shareholders of Azumah from Australia accompanied
officials of E&P to Lome, Togo, to visit and hold discussions with EBID towards the project
acquisition and development.
- E&P managed to renegotiate the existing liabilities to salvage the entity.
- In August 2024, a gentleman named James Wallbank, Director of Azumah, started
making demands to increase the price of the project from $100million to $300million. His
reason is that after the contract was signed in October 2023, the price of Gold increased
by more than 100%.
- E&P rejected this position and insisted on paying the original value agreed upon.
- This led to a dispute, and E&P commenced arbitration proceedings in October 2024,
asking for an order for specific performance of the contract; particularly when Azumah
claimed to have unilaterally terminated the agreement.
- E&P also filed an application in the High Court in Ghana in 2024 asking for an order
for E&P to continue to discharge its obligations under the contract and exercising its
rights under the contract until the determination of the arbitration. The high court upheld
the argument of E&P and, by a ruling in June 2025, ordered the status quo to remain for
contract to be enforced. In effect, the alleged termination by Azumah was held by the
court to be of no effect.
- Meanwhile, E&P made a formal application to EBID early 2024 for a facility of $ 100
million to pay the shareholders. EBID finally approved and signed the facility contract to
give E&P the $100 million to pay the shareholders of Azumah.
ADDRESSING FALSE ALLEGATIONS IN THE MEDIA
- Allegation – E&P only signed the agreement to acquire Azumah after the elections.
Response – FALSE-The agreement was signed on 9th October 2023.
- Allegation – The President or Government of Ghana and its appointees influenced
this acquisition or the financing of it in any way.
Response – FALSE – Every single milestone in this transaction, (ie signing of
agreement to acquire the project and offer letter for financing) was satisfied
before the elections in December 2024.
- Allegation – Azumah terminated the agreement in December 2024.
Response – Azumah unilaterally purported to have terminated the acquisition
agreement signed on 9th October 2023. This was despite E&P continuing to fund
the operations. In June 2025, the court in effect rule the termination to be of no
effect.
- Allegation – The letter making rounds dissociating Azumah from the signing
ceremony.
Response- The signing ceremony organised on 7th July 2025, was the signing of
the Acquisition facility agreement between two parties, Lender – EBID and
Borrower- E&P. Despite the subject matter regarding the acquisition of Azumah,
the presence of Azumah was not required. In any case, the Resident Directors of
Azumah were present at the ceremony.
CONCLUSION
There is a deliberate effort to create conditions that would have made it difficult for E&P
to raise the required acquisition capital. There is a vested interest in E&P’s failure to raise
the funding, to open the avenue for some of the directors of Azumah to unduly take
advantage of the significantly higher gold prices.
THE WAY FORWARD
- E&P has already obtained the No Objection Letter from the Minerals Commission to
acquire the mine.
- E&P will continue with the process in line with the agreement for EBID to make payment to the shareholders of Azumah.
- E&P will commence development activities at the mine and do well to see the first
production within 36 months.
- Ghanaians should support their own and not allow mercenaries to divert attention
from this historic project, the first time ever for a wholly owned Ghanaian company to
acquire a large scale mine.
- This is not politics. This is a pure commercial transaction on an arm’s length basis.
- God bless our homeland Ghana.
