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.
He is a member of the Ghana Bar Association, ICSID Panel of Arbitrators and the Board of Lex Mundi. He is also a Fellow of the Aspen Global Leadership Network (AGLN), Africa Leadership Initiative, West Africa (ALIWA) and the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Testimonial
“Ace Ankomah- Ethical, knowledgeable, meticulous and competent. Also exhibits a high level of professionalism and sound judgement”- The Legal 500 EMEA, 2023
”Ace Ankomah is a brilliant and experienced lawyer who provides innovative solutions.”- Chambers Global, 2023
Rankings and Awards
Band 1- Chambers Global, 2023
Leading Individual, Dispute Resolution – The Legal 500, 2022
Highly Regarded Lawyer – IFLR1000, 2022
9th Position – Legal 500 Arbitration Powerlist 2021: Africa
Awarded as one of Africa’s 20 Arbitration Powerlist –Africa Arbitration Academy
- Lead counsel for Bank of Ghana in several matters in court.
- 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.
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)
