Attorney-General and Minister of Jusstice, Godfred Yeboah Dame
Ghana’s Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, revealed that the country’s economy was on the verge of collapsing due to arbitration claims against the government over the past four years, which nearly cost the country a substantial amount of $9 billion.
Godfred Dame stated that Ghana’s economy was saved from collapsing following a timely dismissal of arbitration claims in favor of Ghana.
Mr. Dame said, “Over the past four years, the value of arbitral cases against the Republic has been in excess of $9 billion, and I will cite a few examples to illustrate the point. One such case was the financial claim by ENI Vitol against Ghana, which was initially $7 billion and subsequently reduced to $915 million after Ghana successfully challenged the proceedings in court. In fact, any of these amounts could have collapsed the Ghanaian economy.”
At a Public Sector Law Conference held in Accra on Tuesday, November 5, 2024, Mr. Godfred Dame maintained that the economy of the country could cripple if arbitral claims against the government are not properly managed.
“There are certain glaring dangers that I think arbitration portends for Ghana and the developing world which seem to be overlooked. Whilst arbitration is touted to assure neutrality, privacy, and efficiency in the adjudication of disputes, arbitral claims filed against the government, if not diligently managed, tend to collapse the entire Ghanaian economy.”
Mr. Dame highlighted some arbitration cases, which included the Ghana vs. International Finance Corporation (IFC) case (2020) when Ghana was involved in arbitration over a dispute with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), which had invested in Ghana’s energy sector.
In 2019, there was a case between Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) and Aker Energy. In that case, there was a dispute between the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) and Aker Energy, a Norwegian oil company, over an exploration agreement in the deep-water offshore oil fields.
Also, in 2018, Kosmos Energy and the Government of Ghana had a dispute about the interpretation and application of certain tax provisions in a contract for offshore oil exploration.
Godfred Dame posited that in a space of four years, arbitral claims against Ghana amounted to over $9 billion. He explained that a possible collapse of the country’s economy was averted following the defense by his office.
Mr. Dame further cited a domestic arbitral claim which he said, upon successful defense, had warded off GHC10 trillion.
“In point of fact, over the past four years, the value of arbitral claims against the Republic has been over US$9 billion. I cite a few examples to illustrate the point:
a. The financial claim by ENI/Vitol against Ghana was initially US$7 billion and subsequently reduced to US$915 million after a challenge in the course of the proceedings by Ghana. Any of these amounts (US$7 billion or US$915 million) could have collapsed the Ghanaian economy. By the Grace of God, this financial claim was recently dismissed in its entirety by the international arbitration tribunal.
b. Cassius Mining Ltd’s claim against the Government of Ghana has a value of about US$300 million.
GCNet’s arbitral claim involves a claim of over GHC4 billion (the equivalent of about US$250 million).
The recently filed Eland arbitration claim against the Government of Ghana involves a claim for a minimum of US$320 million.
These are just a sample of a few of the international arbitration claims against Ghana. Domestically, there have been claims in excess of over GHC10 trillion successfully defended by the Office of the Attorney-General against the State,” Mr. Dame said.
