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Ibrahim Mahama stepped off his brand new $70 million private jet on March 3 and immediately answered the question everyone was going to ask: what happened to the old one.
"My old plane is now an air ambulance, an emergency air ambulance for every Ghanaian," the Engineers and Planners founder told journalists on the tarmac at Kotoka International Airport in Accra. "Not just for me, but for everyone."
The aircraft he is donating to the state is his Bombardier 604, a jet nicknamed "Dzata" that has been part of his personal fleet for years and is one of the most recognisable private aircraft in Ghana. President John Dramani Mahama, who is Ibrahim's brother, and Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II have both used the plane over the years.
The Bombardier 604 first drew national attention in 2014 when the New York Times reported that U.S. authorities had flagged the aircraft over a trip to Iran.
Its replacement is a Bombardier Global 6500, ordered in 2024 and delivered in early 2026. The ultra-long-range jet can fly up to 6,600 nautical miles non-stop, runs on Rolls-Royce Pearl engines and carries custom grey-and-white livery with the "Dzata" branding, which is the Ewe word for lion.
The timing of the donation is significant. Ghana's National Ambulance Service recently announced plans to procure 400 ground ambulances and 500 medical motorbikes to strengthen pre-hospital emergency care nationwide. A dedicated air ambulance fills a gap that ground transport simply cannot close, particularly when critically ill patients need rapid inter-regional transfer or medical evacuation abroad.
The donation drew swift praise. Mpraeso Member of Parliament Davis Opoku Ansah described the initiative as "inspiring and commendable," and shared a personal account: in February 2020, after he was involved in a near-fatal accident, Mahama called and offered to evacuate him abroad on the jet. "Acts like this remind us that leadership and patriotism are often expressed through quiet generosity and service to others," Ansah wrote on Facebook.
Presidential Adviser Joyce Bawah Mogtari also commended Mahama, describing his track record through Engineers and Planners as proof that private enterprise can make a national impact.
Not everyone was applauding. Paul Yandoh, the Ashanti Regional Communications Director of the opposition New Patriotic Party, criticised the jet purchase as ill-timed given the economic pressures facing ordinary Ghanaians, including delays in payments to cocoa farmers. "Farmers are suffering because their wares are not being bought, and then a president's brother has gone to buy a private jet," Yandoh said.
Ibrahim Mahama, 55, is one of West Africa's most prominent industrialists. Beyond Engineers and Planners, a heavy equipment and construction firm, he also runs Dzata Cement and holds interests across multiple sectors. His jet donation comes as Ghana pushes to strengthen its emergency health infrastructure ahead of what health authorities describe as a critical phase of investment in pre-hospital care.
