The Government of Ghana and International Arbitration

Since the dawn of the twenty-first century, at least twelve international arbitration claims have been submitted against the Government of Ghana (GoG). This is a significant number compared with what had previously been the case.

To date, there has been little or no academic study involving the claims, the arbitral awards resulting from them, and their implications for Ghana. This book aims to fill that void. It examines GoG’s experiences with international arbitration. It draws on lessons from those experiences, as well as the comparative insights extrapolated from other jurisdictions.

The book, the 2017 Inaugural Lecture for the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences, focuses on arbitration between GoG and private foreign individuals, firms or corporations. It does not deal with interstate arbitration. The book examines:-

• the nature of international arbitration;
• the writings of Ghanaian scholars on international arbitration;
• the legal regimes and contractual mechanisms that make GoG amenable to international arbitration as a method of settling disputes between it and private foreign individuals, firms or corporations;
• the record of actual international arbitration claims that have been brought against GoG, and the awards that have resulted from such claims;
• the reception and treatment of Ghanaian law as the applicable law in international arbitration claims;
• the extent to which Ghana has implemented its international obligations with respect to international arbitration;
• and, the enforcement of foreign arbitral awards against GoG within and outside Ghana.