Stanbic Bank Ghana Limited and The Standard Bank of South Africa Limited have jointly arranged a US$205 million financing package for Engineers and Planners Company Limited (E&P), Ghana’s largest indigenous mining contractor, as the company sets its sights on expanding beyond the 45 percent share of Ghana’s mining operations it already controls.
The five-year facility was structured in two tranches of US$110 million and US$95 million, combining a senior secured term loan with revolving credit lines. Ecobank Ghana PLC and Absa Bank Ghana Limited participated as additional lending partners, making the transaction one of the largest syndicated financing arrangements for a locally owned mining services company in Ghana’s history. The deal takes the cumulative value of facilities that Stanbic Bank Ghana and Standard Bank South Africa have arranged for E&P to more than US$450 million.
The proceeds will support E&P’s ongoing contract mining operations and its long-term engagement with Gold Fields Ghana Limited, one of Ghana’s most productive hard-rock gold operations. E&P, which employs more than 4,000 people and has been operating for over 25 years, will use the facility to execute large-scale mining contracts, procure and upgrade heavy equipment, and deepen operational efficiency.
At the signing ceremony in Accra, E&P Chief Executive Officer Ibrahim Mahama said the company, which began as a small local contractor, had grown into a dominant force in the sector by consistently delivering on major projects and investing in both Ghanaian and international expertise. He said the financing structure had been built to minimise risk for lenders, with repayment obligations met before profits were taken. “That structure has built trust and allowed us to scale up confidently,” he said.
Mahama also outlined an ambition that goes beyond contract mining. He told attendees that E&P was actively looking to acquire mining assets in order to deepen local participation in the ownership and management of Ghana’s mineral wealth, not just its extraction. “We are not stopping there. We are looking forward to acquiring more and deepening our contribution to economic development,” he said.
Stanbic Bank Chief Executive Kwamina Asomaning described the transaction as a reflection of a relationship built over more than two decades, saying the bank’s role extended beyond providing credit to actively supporting localisation within the mining value chain. He said the deal reinforced Stanbic’s broader commitment to backing indigenous Ghanaian enterprises that operate at international standards.
Beyond direct financing, the facility is expected to generate wider economic benefits through sustained employment, expanded local supply chain activity, and increased foreign exchange inflows from Ghana’s gold sector. The transaction comes as Ghana’s mining industry continues to recover from the disruption of illegal mining and as the government pushes to raise the share of value retained domestically from natural resource extraction.
