Ace A Ankomah

Practice Areas

Litigation, Arbitration & Dispute Resolution, Taxation and Company law

Career

Joined in 1992. Elected to partnership (2000). Senior Partner (2021 - ), Elected Managing Partner (2010 - 2020). Lecturer: Company Law, University of Ghana Business School (1997-2003). Senior Lecturer: Civil Procedure, Ghana School of Law (2005 to 2012).

Professional Memberships

Member, Ghana Bar Association

Member, ICSID Panel of Arbitrators

Member, Board of Lex Mundi

Fellow, Aspen Global Leadership Network (AGLN)

Fellow, Africa Leadership Initiative, West Africa (ALIWA)

Fellow, Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences

Publications

Chapters in Books

Ratification of Pre-Incorporation Contracts by Companies,’ Mobilising the Law for Ghana’s Future: Appraising to Revolutionise (Dowuona- Hammond, Hammond & Atuguba eds; School of Law - University of Ghana; 2020), 236

‘Recognition and Enforcement of Arbitral Awards – The Legal Framework in Ghana and Nigeria’ (2014) Mauritius International Arbitration Conference Book of Papers, 153

‘Legal Aspects of Setting up a Business in Ghana’ GJA Manual on Financial and Economic Reporting (ed Audrey Gadzekpo, 2005)

Journal Articles

The Interplay between the Courts and Arbitral Proceedings – Ghana’s Old Order Changeth? (2016) 29 University of Ghana Law Journal

183.

Land Ownership by Companies with Foreign Shareholding: The Need to Harmonize Existing Legislation (2003) Legislative Alert, Vol 03 No 1 (Institute of Economic Affairs)

De-Fanging a Monster: When Rules of Civil Procedure Become Unruly (2001-2005) 21 Review of Ghana Law 155

The Procedure for Removing Directors – A Balancing Act? (2001- 2005) 21 Review of Ghana Law 121

Tax Treatment of Interest in Ghana, (2000) Banking and Financial Law Journal of Ghana 120

An Overview of Corporate Income Tax Exemption and Accelerated Depreciation as Investment Incentives, (1998) 1 Banking and Financial Law Journal of Ghana 72

Other Publications

Is There Not a Cause to Rant? (Book self-published in 2017, winner of the first Kofi Awoonor Creative Non-Fiction Award by the Ghana Association of Writers, 2018)

Articles

Setting an Ex Parte Order aside through an Ex Parte Application – The Standards are the Same

The Foreign Investor Loses It All: A Cautionary Tale to Multinational Corporations?

Personal

Ace Anan Ankomah is the Senior Partner of the firm. He has over 29 years’ experience in legal practice. As the head of the Disputes practice group of the firm, he is responsible for all contentious matters, by managing, supervising, and performing the required analyses, and then handling trials before the courts and at international and domestic arbitration.

He has worked as Counsel in several headline dispute matters both in Ghana and internationally.

Ace has represented several local and international clients including International Finance Corporation, Bank of Ghana, Abosso Goldfields, Exim Bank, NML Capital Limited, Vitol, Ecobank, Deloitte & Touche, AngloGold Ashanti and Vodafone.

He was the lead attorney for NML Capital in the headline case in Ghana against Argentina that led to the attachment of an Argentine war vessel, proceedings before the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) and the Supreme Court in Ghana, and ultimately a settlement of over US$2.4 billion. In arbitration, he has represented clients such as Volta Aluminium Company/Kaiser, Western Telesystems, Deloitte, Fortiz, and Balkan Energy. He led the Ghana side of the legal team that secured an arbitral award in excess of US$50 million for Bankswitch.

In 2015, the University of Ghana instituted the Ace Anan Ankomah Prize in Constitutional Law in his honour.

Ace holds an LLB from the University of Ghana and a Master of Laws in International Taxation from Queens University, Canada.

Work Highlights

Lead counsel for the Ghana legal team of Bankswitch Ghana in international arbitration and domestic litigation with the Government of Ghana.

Arbitrator in a dispute between Accra Mall Ltd and Gracefield Merchant (Ghana) Ltd.

Lead counsel for the Ghana legal team of Balkan Energy in international arbitration and local litigation with the Government of Ghana.

Counsel for Fortiz Private Equity Fund Ltd in domestic arbitration with SSNIT and SIC (Life) Co Ltd.

Clients

International Finance Corporation, Bank of Ghana, Abosso Goldfields, Exim Bank, NML Capital Limited, Vitol, Ecobank, Deloitte & Touche, AngloGold Ashanti and Vodafone.