Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Engineers and Planners, Ibrahim Mahama, says business owners must deliberately prepare the next generation to take over their companies because they will not be around forever.
Mr Mahama said he has deliberately stepped back from the day-to-day management of Dzata Cement to give younger leaders the opportunity to take risks, gain experience and develop the capacity to manage businesses.
“In life, some of us should learn these lessons. We won’t live forever. So sometimes we should give the children the opportunity to be able to take that risk of managing,” he said.
He was speaking on Tuesday, October 6, 2026, at the fifth anniversary celebration of Dzata Cement.
Mr Mahama said the approach forms part of a broader succession philosophy he has adopted across his businesses, including Engineers and Planners, which he has run for about three decades.
According to him, succession should not begin when an entrepreneur is too old or unable to continue working. Rather, younger members of the family should be introduced gradually into the business, taught how it operates and given increasing responsibility.
“What we do is that we start running together and then as our children grow, we employ them into the business, we teach them, and then we go into retirement,” he said.
The philosophy is already reflected in the management of Dzata Cement, where his daughter, Nafisa Ibrahim, serves as Managing Director.
Mr Mahama said giving the younger generation responsibility was important because they needed to develop the confidence to make decisions and take calculated risks.
He said entrepreneurs should therefore not cling indefinitely to control of businesses they have built.
Instead, he advocated a gradual transition in which older generations work alongside younger members of the family before eventually allowing them to take over management.
His remarks formed part of a broader reflection on the five-year journey of Dzata Cement and the lessons he had learnt from building the company.
Mr Mahama said the cement company itself emerged from his determination to demonstrate that Ghanaians could build and own large-scale industrial enterprises.
He recalled how he observed cement production at Ghacem while working as a transporter and eventually concluded that he could establish a plant himself.
The company subsequently overcame significant financial and operational challenges to begin production.
Mr Mahama’s comments on succession add another dimension to the story of Dzata Cement, highlighting not only the challenge of building indigenous companies but also the question of whether such businesses can survive beyond their founders.
He said the ultimate objective should be to build enterprises that can continue growing when their founders eventually step aside.
Source: www.kumasimail.com
