Koranteng & Koranteng Legal Advisors Recognized in the 2025 Legal 500 Rankings
We are honoured to be recognized in the latest Legal 500 rankings, a testament to our team’s dedication to excellence.
The firm has attained the following rankings:
- Tier 2 – Capital Markets
- Tier 2 – Energy
- Tier 2 – Infrastructure Projects
- Tier 3 – Banking and Finance, Corporate, Commercial, and M&A
We are delighted to add that the Tier 3 ranking in Banking and Finance marks our first accolade in this category—thanks to our clients and amazing team for making this possible.
Koranteng & Koranteng Recognized in Chambers Global 2025 Rankings
Chambers and Partners, the globally authoritative ranking institution for law firms and lawyers since 1990, has acknowledged Koranteng and Koranteng Legal Advisors, and our Managing Partner, Afua Adubea Koranteng, for outstanding achievements in Projects and Energy.
With a dedicated team of 200+ full-time researchers, Chambers conducts rigorous, in-depth evaluations based on client feedback, legal expertise, and professional conduct. Law firms and lawyers are ranked from Band 1 (highest) to Band 6, with an “Up-and-coming” category for emerging talent and starred rankings for those with exceptional reputations.
The firm was recognized in the following categories:
Corporate/Commercial – Ghana: Band 3
Our firm has earned a Band 3 ranking for our work in Corporate/Commercial law. This recognition reflects our expertise in handling complex transactions, due diligence reviews, capital markets, and refinancing matters. Clients have commended us for our proactive approach and commitment to delivering sound legal advice.
Client Testimonials:
“Koranteng & Koranteng is proactive in the way it handles the affairs of our company.”
“We are satisfied with the firm’s legal services; the output reflects how much work it has put in. The firm gives sound legal advice and is very responsive.”
Projects & Energy – Ghana: Band 3
Our firm has also been recognized for our expertise in Projects & Energy, a testament to our deep industry knowledge and our ability to navigate complex infrastructure and energy-related legal matters.
Individual Recognition: Afua Adubea Koranteng – Band 3 (Projects & Energy)
We are proud to highlight the recognition of our Managing Partner, Afua Adubea Koranteng, as a Band 3 ranked lawyer in the field of Projects & Energy. This distinction underscores her extensive experience and strategic insight into infrastructure projects and the energy sector.
Client Testimonials:
“Afua Adubea Koranteng is intelligent and pays attention to the details. She is able to identify and analyse key issues for decision-making.”
Our ranking in the Chambers Global Guide 2025 reaffirms our firm’s commitment to excellence. Whether in corporate transactions, commercial advisory, or energy projects, we continue to aim to serve our very best.
We must wage war on screens
We live in the most over-stimulated generation in history. A small study by Yeykelis, J.J. Cummings, and Reeves, published in the Journal of Communications in 2014, examined how frequently American college students stay focused.
Researchers installed tracking software on their computers to monitor their daily activities. The findings revealed that students, on average, changed tasks approximately every 65 seconds.
Their median attention span on any single activity lasted only 19 seconds. Another study conducted by Gloria Mark, a professor of informatics at the University of California, Irvine, found that the average office worker remains focused on a single task for only three minutes. The near-ceaseless cacophony of beeps, notifications, and popups has created a commensurate escalation in screentime.
According to a 2019 analysis by RescueTime, the average person spends about three hours and fifteen minutes on their phone during the workday. Research by Insider in 2016 found that people touch their phones an average of 2,617 times every day.
This has decimated our collective attention spans, especially among children. If you are reading this, I am certain you can experientially attest to this in your own life or in the lives of people you know. The area of modern life where this is most manifest is the drop in reading.
The percentage of people who read books for leisure has dropped to an all-time low. According to the American Time Use Survey, which surveys a representative group of 26,000 people, the number of men reading for enjoyment decreased by 40percent from 2004 to 2017, while women saw a 29percent decline.
Gallup polling revealed a dramatic rise in the number of people who report never reading a book in any given year, with this proportion tripling between 1978 and 2014. Today, 57percent of people report not reading a single book annually. For the youth, the demographic of people who are still actively cultivating the habit of handwork, studying and reading for leisure, this is severely deleterious to habit formation and paints a bleak portrait of the future.
At first instance, the solution seems rather simple. Exercise individual agency.
Parents, teachers and guardians should take steps to moderate themselves and their children, limiting screen hours and time spent online. But this is not a scalable long-term solution, in the same way wearing a face mask outside, every day for fifty years does not fix air pollution.
The way these devices work is not some intractable, permanent fixture of nature, like how rain must fall and man must labour to eat. They are systems engineered by humans, and where those systems are no longer serving us, but rather the pockets of the few, the state must act through force of law.
First, let us analyse the perverse incentives underlying the operations of the mega-corporations that birth the apps that capture us.
Digital gold – the price of engagement
Tristan Harris, former Google engineer, narrated this to the author of ‘Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention’:
“…success was measured, in the main, by what was called ‘engagement’ – which was defined as minutes and hours of eyeballs on the product. More engagement was good; less engagement was bad. This was for a simple reason. The longer you make people look at their phones, the more advertising they see – and therefore the more money Google gets… you should always design products that ‘engage’ the maximum number of people, because engagement equals more dollars, and disengagement equals fewer dollars.”
But that is merely one head of the hydra. The other is perhaps more sinister:
These companies are building up a profile of you, to sell to advertisers so they can target you. For example, from 2014, if you used Gmail, Google’s automated systems would scan through all your private correspondence to generate an ‘advertising profile’ exactly for you. If say, you email your mother telling her you need to buy diapers, Gmail knows you have a baby, and it knows to target ads for baby products right at you. If you use the word ‘treadmill’, it knows you are in the market for one, so Youtube pushes you fitness content.
For the same reason, Google Maps is free; so, the mega-corporation can include the details of where you go every day.
When social media sites decide what you see in your news feed, there are many thousands of things they could show you. So, they have written a piece of code to automatically decide what you will see. There are all sorts of algorithms they could use – ways they could decide what you should see, and the order in which you should see them. They could have an algorithm designed to show you things that make you feel happy, or sad, or things that are topical.
One key driving principle is consistent. It shows you things that will keep you looking at your screen. That’s it. Remember: the more time you spend viewing, the more money they make. So the algorithm is always weighted towards figuring out what will keep you looking, and pumping more and more of that on to your screen to keep you from putting down your phone.
Their business model can only succeed if they dominate more and more of your attention.
Sometimes, a few of their specific practices have been banned by law. For example, in 2017 the European Union blocked some forms of tracking of internet users – they cannot scan your Gmail any more in that territory – but the wider invasive machinery rolls on.
The result is several feature updates that are as inexorably associated with mobile gadgets today but were alien to the tech scene merely 20 years ago. For example, infinite scroll. Online pages about 15 years ago had you reach a bottom, where the user had to elect to continue on. Enter Aza Raskin, former creative lead at Firefox — he designed the pages to load more as you reached the bottom. His idea took off.
At a conservative estimate, infinite scroll makes you spend at least, 50 percent more of your time on sites. Every day, as a direct result of his invention, the combined total of 200,000 more total human lifetimes – every moment from birth to death – is now spent scrolling through a screen. These hours would otherwise have been spent on some other activity.
Another is brightly coloured apps with fruity colours that hijack the cognitive instinct our early ancestors developed to forage for ripe crops. The brighter, the better. The more your brain draws your eyes to it. The more likely the click, the more likely the engagement. This is usually coupled with a frequent flow of notifications from apps; pings, vibrations, rings. Anything to tease out more engagement.
Masterclass in manipulation
These tactics were not arrived at on accident or coincidence. These corporations are applying principles of a psychological field known as ‘reinforcement learning’, popularised in the 40s by Harvard professor, B.F. Skinner. Animals were once thought to be behaviourally fixed. B.F. Skinner discovered that you could train pigeons, crows, monkeys and mice to do a range of tasks from playing instruments to solving mazes and puzzles, simply by rewarding the desired action with positive stimulus.
In the human brain, the reward receptor releases a chemical called dopamine. This produces the pleasure sensation felt when one reaches for their phone at the sound of a ping, for instance. The more the habit is rewarded, the more the human is likely to repeat the action.
As it happens, long tasks requiring deep focus, like reading a book, simply cannot compete. The vivid, rapid sensory stimulation one gets from a snappy TikTok, generates significantly more dopamine from your brain than these ‘long focus/deep work’ activities typically associated with productivity.
The incentive that generates the love for casual reading in a 7-year-old, for example, never gets a chance to take root, because it simply generates an inferior ‘pleasure response’. A couple hundred engineers in Silicon Valley have set millions of our children’s attentions on a railroad to ‘sedation station’, and we have called it fate.
It gets worse.
There is a level above reinforcement learning; something that juices the brain of dopamine even harder than reliable reward: intermittent reward.
As social psychologist Jonathan Haidt explains in his book ‘The Anxious Generation: “It’s best not to reward a behaviour every time the animal does what you want. If you reward an animal on a variable-ratio schedule (such as one time out of every 10 times, on average, but sometimes fewer, sometimes more), you create the strongest and most persistent behaviour.
When you put a rat into a cage where it has learned to get food by pressing a bar, it gets a surge of dopamine in anticipation of the reward. It runs to the bar and starts pressing. But if the first few presses yield no reward, that does not dampen the rat’s enthusiasm. Rather, as the rat continues to press, dopamine levels will go up in anticipation of the reward, which must be coming at any moment!
When the reward finally comes, it feels great, but the heightened levels of dopamine make the rat continue to press, in anticipation of the next reward, which will come . . . after some unknown number of presses… There is no off-ramp in an app with a bottomless feed; there is no signal to stop”
Intermittent reward is the same impulse that fuels gambling addictions, except these triggers to our base natures are not tucked away behind the 18+ walls of a casino, they are trafficked into children’s hands through in-game stores in video games played by millions of children like Fortnite or Call of Duty.
These game mechanics are deliberately designed to appeal to the same impulses you get from a Vegas slot machine (tap to spin/activate an object on the screen to stand a chance of winning a prized pick, which is brought before you with a fanfare of stimulus; flashing lights and a trilling jingle).
Again, engagement is the lifeblood of these apps. Every pixel and line of code is optimized to keep you coming back. It can be something as simple as the ‘Refresh’ click, which in most apps is designed, not subtly by the way, to mimic the motion of cranking a handle of a slot machine.
The anticipation of ‘I might get the next best video or the next best meme pop up next’ triggers a dopamine release. Even if what pops up at Refresh does not live up to your expectation, merely thinking ‘it might’, cranks out more than enough dopamine to keep you repeating the habit.
Even grown men with developed reasoning and discipline faculties fall prey. We have done to children the social equivalent of setting smallpox loose on Native Americans with no natural immunity in 1482.
The next psychological tick these developers exploit is investment.
Social-psychologist Jonathan Haidt explains; “Humans can be offered ways to put a bit of themselves into the app so that it matters more to them.”
If a young girl has already filled out her profile, posted many photos of herself, and linked herself to all of her friends plus hundreds of other Instagram users, or a boy has spent hundreds of hours accumulating digital badges, points, rewards and other investments in video games, at this point, after investment, the trigger for the next round of behaviour becomes internal.
The notification sounds need no longer instigate their indulgence. They have formed an identity with the platform; ‘I wonder if that new pic got more likes’, or ‘I wonder if I can ascend nother level of the game leaderboard’.
Teens’ decisions and behaviour are mainly driven by emotion, the intrigue of novelty and reward. While these all seem positive, they make teens very vulnerable at the elevated levels they operate on. Especially in the absence of a mature frontal cortex to help restrain their passions.
One could argue that children since time immemorial have had the proclivity to be easily distracted, but they have never had a portable drip feed of dopamine that fit in their pockets everywhere they go, twenty-four seven.
The effect is an unprecedented degree of attention fragmentation, as addiction researcher Anna Lembke explains in her book, ‘Dopamine Nation’.
The harms to mental health are more insidious, yet just as bad.
According to a Millenium Cohort study, teens who are heavy users of social media are more depressed than light users and nonusers, and this is especially true for girls. For girls, there is a larger and more consistent relationship. The more time a girl spends on social media, the more likely she is to be depressed. Girls who say that they spend five or more hours each weekday on social media are three times as likely to be depressed as those who report no social media time.
The better angels of our nature
If there is anything as true, as foundational as time and space itself, it is that we are creatures of habit. A man who steals 99 times is more likely to steal the 100th time. The role of the state is not just to protect against external threats, but also to incentivize their populace to aspire to higher and better virtues and habits, especially in the youth. As Abraham Lincoln put it “…to appeal to the better angels of our nature”. This is why states regulate hard drugs, or alcohol, prostitution, gambling and so on.
Not the total elimination of individual freedoms, but making the climb steeper, the friction greater, for persons seeking to over-indulge in behaviours that historically produce worse outcomes.
After all, we are fundamentally, social creatures. We do not exist in isolation, and a huge part of our socialization is from the incentives our surroundings feed us. Incentives dictate results. These incentives are not entirely deterministic, like the hand of God or fate, they can partly be a product of policy, history and material conditions. Words of scolding to these mega-corporations will simply not suffice, for the same reason that a storm is never persuaded to quench itself.
There is too much money at stake.
As researcher Johann Hari explains; “To give you a sense of the money involved: the personal wealth of Larry Page, one of the founders of Google, is US$102 billion; his colleague Sergey Brin is worth US$99 billion; and their colleague Eric Schmidt is worth US$20.7 billion. That’s separate from Google’s wealth as a company, which as I write stands at US$1 trillion.
These three men alone are worth roughly the same as the total combined wealth of every single person, building and bank account in the oil-rich country of Kuwait, and Google is worth roughly the entire wealth of the whole of Mexico or Indonesia. Telling them to distract people less was like telling an oil company not to drill for oil.”
Other countries have already taken steps in this direction.
Australia passed the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill, 2024 in November last year, which among other things, included provisions to ban youth under 16 from using social media, as well as to penalize corporations up to US$49.5 million for breaches. It also introduces additional privacy measures to prevent the overcollection of information by social media platforms, effectively combating the two arms of revenue (engagement and data harvesting).
China’s National Press and Publication Administration issued a regulation in 2021 that kids under 18 in China will only be able to play video games for one hour a day and only on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. This comes after a 2019 ruling that banned kids in China from playing after 10:00 PM and only allowed them to play 90 minutes a day, except on holidays they got three hours. They also curtailed kids in-game transactions, the stuff that often normalizes the psychological impulses of gamblers with impressionable children.
The European Union’s Digital Services Act (2022) protects minors online by prohibiting platforms from using targeted advertising based on the use of minors’ personal data. It also imposes certain limits on the presentation of advertising and on the use of sensitive personal data for targeted advertising, including gender, race and religion.
In Canada, four major Ontario school boards are taking some of the largest social media companies to court over their products, seeking about US$4.5 billion in total damages from Meta Platforms Inc., Snap Inc. and ByteDance Ltd., which operate the platforms Facebook and Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok respectively, because “these social media companies … have knowingly created a product that is addictive and marketed to kids,” said Rachel Lin, the chair of the Toronto District School Board.
In New York, Governor Kathy Hochul signed legislation in 2024 to combat addictive social media feeds and protect kids online. The Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation (SAFE) For Kids Act to require social media companies to restrict addictive feeds on their platforms for users under 18, and the Child Data Protection Act to prohibit online sites from collecting, using, sharing or selling personal data of anyone under the age of 18, unless they receive informed consent or unless doing so is strictly necessary for the purpose of the website.
Debate persists over the efficacy of these measures, but it is a step in the right direction. The singular advantage Ghana and Africa at large have is our extraordinarily youthful populations that can produce the next Nkrumahs, the next Mandelas and the next Chinua Achebes. All that might come to nothing if they grow up sedated and drug-addled by screens.
Article 28(1D) of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana states;
- “(1) Parliament shall enact such laws as are necessary to ensure that …
(d) children and young persons receive special protection against exposure to physical and moral hazards.”
Section 3 of the Ghana Health Service and Teaching Hospitals Act, 1996 (Act 525) also states;
“3(2) For the purpose of achieving its objects, the Service shall perform the following functions…
(g) promote health, mode of healthy living and good health habits by people.”
- Section 2 of the National Commission for Civic Education Act, 1993, Act 452 states;
“(2) The functions of the Commission
The functions of the Commission are…
(e) to formulate, implement and oversee programmes intended to inculcate in citizens an awareness of their civic responsibilities and an appreciation of the rights and obligations of citizens as a free people.”
When the country dealt with cultural and disease crises like low girlchild education, HIV/AIDS epidemic, littering, even the recent COVID-19 pandemic, the first step to consolidating national focus was with public education. This created a groundswell of attention, to usher in legislative change and government programs to fix these problems.
That same force in public education must be brought to bear on this matter by all relevant government stakeholders and civil society. Parliament must lead by considering laws that address addictive design in technologies.
Some pragmatic, balanced legislation on this might look like;
- Disabling ‘infinite scroll’ on minors’ accounts;
- Doing ‘batch notifications’ (scheduled pinging in bulk) on minors’ accounts instead of a constant flurry;
- Disabling data harvesting and recommendation algorithms on minors’ accounts;
Hefty fines can be placed on social media companies that desist from complying, such as initiatives the government has taken in making sure companies like Instagram, Facebook and Airbnb, crack down on tax evasion by online entrepreneurs.
There are also further penal measures, such as requesting that Internet Services Providers (ISPs) block selected apps or sites, and petitioning the various app stores to restrict access in the jurisdiction. There are some workarounds to this, such as getting a VPN, but usually, the risk of losing a large user base such as Ghana is incentive for these corporations to negotiate ways they can meet compliance.
There are plenty of precedents of something becoming so widespread in society before we discovered its harms and the legislature reigned in the large corporations that propagated these harms: CFC gas, cigarettes, lead paint, leaded fuel etc.
We know how to do this. We have done it before. In this case, it only takes editing lines of code on a screen. We can save millions of toddlers, teens and adults, from turning into yet another set of sedated slaves to the tiny glowing rectangle: the almighty screen.
We are thrilled to announce that Koranteng & Koranteng Legal Advisors has been ranked by IFLR 1000 in its 2024 edition of the world’s leading financial law firms
We have been recognized as a Tier 2 firm in Capital Markets: Debt in Ghana. Additionally, we have been highlighted as a notable firm in Mergers and Acquisitions, as well as Banking & Finance and Project Finance. This recognition is a testament to the hard work and expertise of our incredible team. We extend our sincere gratitude to our clients, as this achievement would not have been possible without their trust and collaboration.
Our Managing Partner, Afua A. Koranteng , has been recognized as a Notable Practitioner, and both Bridget Agyei and Kensah Ashkar, Associates at the firm, have been ranked as Rising Stars.
To the amazing team at Koranteng & Koranteng Legal Advisors, your dedication and ambition to succeed have made this achievement possible. May you continue to excel in all that you do.
IFLR 1000 is a prestigious international legal market research platform, ranking nearly 5,000 law firms and over 21,000 lawyers across 12 practice areas and 250 jurisdictions.
#IFLR1000 #LegalExcellence #Ghana #Teamwork #Recognition #KorantengAndKoranteng #lawfirm
We are excited to welcome our new trainee/pupil associates to the team.
Through The Looking Glass with With Aseda Takyi-Mensah – Enhancing Agricultural Diversification: How Cashew and Soybean Can Boost Ghana’s Commodities Exports
Introduction
Ghana is famously known for commodities such as cocoa, gold, and shea. These commodities have proven to be important earners for our economy. For example, according to the Bank of Ghana, exports of cocoa beans and products amounted to $2.29 billion in 2022. Thankfully, other commodities like cashew and soybean have gained ground and hold significant potential to further boost the country’s economy, diversify our export base and improve the livelihoods of local producers.
Statistics from the Ghana Export Promotion Authority indicate that earnings from Non-Traditional Exports (NTEs) increased from $2.84 in 2020 to $3.33 billion in 2021. Cashew nuts constitute one of the top ten NTEs. This proves that agricultural produce such as cashew and soybean have the potential to generate foreign exchange for Ghana. However, to fully realize this potential, policy amendments and strategic government interventions will have to be put in place.
Commodities are generally raw materials; basic resources that tend to come from the earth and are produced in large quantities. Commodities are products that possess uniform qualities and are interchangeable with other goods of the same type. Some commodities include grains, oil, natural gas, cocoa, coffee, sugar, livestock, minerals and precious metals. Commodities can be classified into soft and hard commodities. Soft commodities are goods that are grown, harvested or reared such as coffee and soybean. Hard commodities are natural resources that are mined or extracted from the earth such as gold and oil. Commodities may be further categorized according to their purposes. These categories include agriculture (sugar and corn), metals (copper and silver), energy (crude oil and coal) and livestock (cattle and leather).
Commodities can be traded on exchanges such as the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and the London Metal Exchange (LME). The four dominant agricultural commodities traders, also known as the ABCDs are Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM), Bunge, Cargill and Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC). They control about 70 percent of the global food market. Other notable global trading companies include Wilmar International, and Olam International who presently operate in Ghana. The definition of commodities has been expanded to include financial products such as foreign currencies and indexes. This article refers to the more traditional examples of commodities such as grains and oil. The article seeks to focus more specifically on cashew and soybean also referred to as soya bean. Cashew and soybean hold the potential of becoming important commodities for exportation.
Cashew and Soybeans Exports
Cashew: The global cashew market was valued at $7 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach $10.5 billion in 2031. India is one of the world’s largest producers of cashew with a production of about 700,000 tons of cashew in 2022. The current upward demand for cashew is being fueled by the marketing of cashew as a source of healthy fats, protein and fiber. Cashew nuts are packed with nutrients such as iron and magnesium and are high in fiber. Cashew nuts are versatile and are used as ingredients in breakfast cereals, energy bars, nut spreads/butters, condiments and sauces such as pesto. Cashews nuts can also be enjoyed simply roasted salty or sweet snacks. Cashew is the third most popular nut after almonds and walnuts accounting for 17% of world tree nut production in 2020. Cashew trees thrive in tropical climates.
Cashew production in Ghana has grown significantly over recent years. According to official data from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, in 2022 Ghana produced about 200,000 tons of Raw Cashew Nuts (RCN) per 234,171 hectares. The sector has contributed substantially to the nation’s economy, with export revenues reaching approximately $300 million in 2023. Major cashew producing regions include Bono, Bono East, Ahafo, Northern and Upper West Regions. Currently, most of the country’s cashew export is raw cashew nuts, which limits value addition and reduces potential profit margins for local farmers and processors. The story is similar for most African countries. The majority of cashew nuts emanating from Africa are exported as raw nuts without deshelling. Even though the African continent produces about 57% of the world’s raw cashew nuts, the continent has a share of only 6.6% of the shelled cashew export market.
Soybean: Soybean production is also on the rise in Ghana. In 2022, the country produced approximately 250,000 tons and exported $29.5 million worth of soybeans. However, Ghana has the potential to produce about 700,000 tons of soybeans per year. The current production figures represent only about 26% of the country’s potential. The five major destinations of the country’s soybean export are the United States ($15.3 million), Turkey ($7.13 million), India ($4.48 million), Canada ($1.27 million) and Togo ($791,000). The major producing regions are primarily the Northern and Upper East regions. Soybean holds great potential due to its versatility and high demand in both local and international markets. Soybeans can be processed into cooking oil and animal feed particularly for the poultry industry.
Governing Bodies
The Tree Crops Development Authority (TCDA) is a government body established in 2020 by the Tree Crops Development Authority Act, 2019 (Act 1010). TCDA is tasked to regulate and develop in a sustainable environment the production, processing, and trading of six tree crops in Ghana namely, cashew, shea, mango, coconut, rubber, and oil palm and to diversify Ghana’s agricultural sector beyond cocoa. As part of its various functions, the TDCA is to implement policies to ensure the viability of the tree-crop sub sector; conduct and promote research to develop the sector and regulate, register, coordinate and promote all activities relating to tree crops.
The Ghana Commodity Exchange (GCX) is an entity set up to establish linkages between agricultural commodity producers and buyers, to secure competitive prices for these products while assuring the market quantity and quality of the products and timely settlement. Through the establishment of the national commodity exchange and its supporting infrastructure, GCX aims to promote the commercialization of Ghana’s agricultural sector, improve market access, increase market efficiency and lower transaction costs.
Governing Regulations
The Tree Crops Regulations, 2023 (L.I. 2471): L.I. 2471 was passed to aid the operations of TDCA. The purpose of the Tree Crops Regulations is to regulate the tree crops industry by providing for the registration and licensing of value chain actors in the tree crops industry and compliance and safety standards for the industry amongst others. L.I. 2471 outlines protocols for nursery operators, aggregators, and processors to uphold quality standards and fair practices. The Regulations also introduce pricing mechanisms to incentivize farmers and safeguard their interests. L.I. 2471 requires actors who fall into the category of main actors or auxiliary actors in the tree crops value chain to register with the Authority.
Main actors are categorized into:
- Farmers or producers
- Aggregators
- Nursery Operators
- Traders
- Processors, Millers, Refiners
- Exporters and Importers
- Service providers, including
- On-farm service providers such as weeders, sprayers, extension service providers, seed nut producers, nursery operators;
- Input dealers such as dealers in agro-chemicals and fertilizers;
- Logistics providers such as providers of transport and evacuators; and
- Providers of packhouses and warehouses.
It is important to note that an aggregator license is only issued to a citizen. Currently the marketing of cashew is unregulated, leading to price fluctuations. Aggregators and buyers may have an upper hand determining when to buy and the price at which to buy the produce. It is expected that the enforcement of this Regulation would boost competitiveness, productivity, profitability, and sustainability in the tree crop value chain.
The Export and Import – Restrictions on Exportation of Soya Bean, Regulation 2020 (L.I. 2432): L.I. 2432 was passed to regulate soybean trade in Ghana. The regulation provides the licensing system for the exportation of soybean in commercial quantities to ensure availability of the beans for domestic use to meet local processing requirements. Soybeans and maize are important ingredients used in processing poultry feed. However, there have been appeals by farmers to lift the ban on the export of soybeans. According to farmers, the export restriction has resulted in the fall of prices of the commodity.
In addition to the regulation, the government in August 2024 imposed an immediate ban on the export of grains. This is due to challenging drought conditions affecting the Northern regions of the country. The ban on the export of grains includes soybeans, maize and rice. This measure is intended to ensure these crops are available for the domestic market.
Challenges
Despite the increase in cashew and soybean production, local producers in these sectors face significant challenges, including inadequate infrastructure, limited access to finance, volatile market prices, lack of modern farming techniques and limited market access. As earlier indicated, most of the country’s cashew nut export is raw unshelled nuts which does not allow for value-addition. This poses significant challenges since the global trade in shelled nuts is more lucrative than that of raw unshelled nuts. Another challenge in the cashew industry is the lack of adequate infrastructure to deshell cashew nuts in a safe way. In the case of soybeans, current production levels represent only a fraction of the country’s potential. Low production levels lead to concerns about food security. This is evidenced by the recent ban on the export of grains.
Recommendations
Amendments to Encourage Local Processing/ Promotion of Value Addition: Revising the regulations to better support local producers and enhance the value chain is crucial. Specifically, L.I 2471 could include provisions that seek to encourage local processing. Such provisions can provide incentives for local processing of cashew nuts before export. The government may also offer tax incentives for investments in local processing facilities and provide subsidies for inputs and equipment to enhance productivity. This would increase value addition and create more jobs locally.
The government may consider investing in processing cashews. This is important because countries, most notably African countries, that do not process cashew nut on a significant scale retain a minimal portion of the value created in the global cashew market. Value addition for such countries holds significant potential to achieve job creation and additional revenues invariably leading to economic development. Investments in processing may take the form of private-public partnerships. This issue of a lack of value addition permeates Ghana’s other critical exports, cocoa and gold where international chocolate producers and jewelry makers reap significant financial benefits while the producers of the raw material are left with small margins for their hard labour.
Boosting Local Production and Demand: Encouraging local processing capacity goes hand in hand with boosting local demand of cashew nuts. Ghana needs the internal capacity to absorb what is processed. This is imperative because if there is a slump in global demand in any particular season, local demand for products can still keep the sector afloat. Producers will not be left with unsold produce and unpaid loans. Regarding the soybean industry, boosting soybean production will help alleviate concerns about food security and improve the livelihood of farmers, thereby obliterating the need for periodic bans on the export of the crop.
Limiting Raw Cashew Nut Exportation: Another recommendation aimed at boosting the local value addition is to limit the exportation of raw cashew nuts. Implementing directives that restrict the export of raw cashew nut will ensure that more cashew nuts are processed in Ghana. This can be achieved by offering grants and low-interest loans to local businesses to start processing plants. Foreigners may also be permitted to export provided the nuts are processed. An export limitation approach must be implemented in phases by gradually increasing local processing capacity over time. Doing so will increase the profits margins of local processors and invariably increase the country’s revenues.
One should however note that the local processing capacity is currently not enough to handle the entire output, this may lead to bottlenecks and reduced income for farmers. A directive on exportation will need to be balanced with measures such as incentives for enhanced local processing capabilities to create a more conducive environment for growth.
Setting Sector Specific Standards: The relevant regulatory bodies on their own or in conjunction with other entities can develop standard forms of contracts to be used by parties in the cashew and soybean sector. These entities can also offer arbitration and mediation services to parties who used the standard forms of contracts. An example is the Grain and Feed Trade Association (GAFTA) headquartered in London. GAFTA has developed various standards forms of contracts such as “General Contract for Grain in Bulk (FOB terms)”. The organization also provides parties who use their standard forms of contracts arbitration and mediation services to resolve disputes in a timely and efficient manner.
Setting strict quality control standards will enhance product quality to ensure Ghanaian cashew and soybeans meet international standards. There is a need to develop and implement certification systems, provide technical assistance to key stakeholders which will invariably boost the reputation of our commodities as high-quality products. Producers and processors must also be encouraged to adopt sustainable farming and processing practices, aligning the sector with current international environmental and ethical standards.
Enhancing the Activities of Relevant Bodies: The government can also enhance the activities and powers of governmental bodies involved in the cashew and soybean sector. This institutional empowerment could be similar to that of Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) which plays a pivotal role in the cocoa sector. For example, enhancing marketing activities by market development will help to increase diversification, standardize quality and promote Ghanaian cashew and soybeans globally. These entities can further negotiate trade agreements with new international markets and facilitate market access.
However, it is important to recognize the potential disadvantages of having such governmental monopolies in the export market, where single entities control the entire export process. This sometimes leads to market inefficiencies and lack of innovation. Monopolies may also lead to reduced competitiveness by stifling competitive pricing. Without competitive pricing, producers may receive lower prices for their produce thereby leading to exploitation. Another potential pitfall is bureaucratic inefficiencies where large boards become bureaucratic and unresponsive to market changes.
Case Studies: Côte d’Ivoire
Côte d’Ivoire has over the years become a leading global producer of cashew nuts. The country accounts for about 25% of the world’s total production. Its gross cashew production grew from 400,000 tons in 2011 to 1 million tons in 2022. Cashews are the country’s third ranking exports after cocoa and refined petroleum products. The commodity is a crucial source of income for producers and processors. Substantial investment in processing capacity helped Côte d’Ivoire expand its cashew exports. An example is the recent $10 million loan from Norfund to Valency CIV to build a cashew processing plant with a capacity of 45,000 tons per year. Côte d’Ivoire has significantly expanded its export to the European market and in 2022 overtook India in terms of export to Europe.
VINACAS & CEPCI – Vietnam & India
The Vietnam Cashew Association (VINACAS) is an organization representing Vietnam’s cashew industry, which includes producers, processors, traders and exporters. It was founded in 1990 and has played a major role in supporting and promoting the development of Vietnam’s cashew sector, making it one of the largest in the world. The Association has led initiatives to modernize cashew processing plants, making the country a hub for advanced cashew processing technology. Regarding value addition, VINACAS has supported members in exporting more value-added products such as roasted cashew nuts and cashew oil, thereby increasing profit margins.
The Cashew Export Promotion Council of India (CEPCI) was established by the Indian Government in 1955 with the objective of promoting cashew kernels and cashew nut shell liquid (CNSL) in India. The Indian government alongside CEPCI have over the years undertaken several initiatives to aid the growth of the cashew industry. Such initiatives have included facilitating trade delegations, fairs, development workshops and providing trade information and statistics to its members. Setting up the council has helped in the promotion of exports of cashew kernels and cashew nut shell liquid.
Het Comité – Netherlands
The Royal Dutch Grain and Feed Trade Association (Het Comité) is a trade organization founded in 1872. The organization represents the interest of its members and affiliated members in the field of agriculture, food safety and trade policy. The organization advocates both at the national level and at the European level in close cooperation with COCERAL. To facilitate both national and international trade, Het Comité has drawn up various standard trade contracts, such as the Conditions of the Dutch Trade in Grain and Feed Materials (CNGD). In the event of disputes based on these contracts, companies may apply to the organization for arbitration. The organization also organizes annual grain trading courses. Activities from organizations such as Het Comité has helped make the Netherlands the world’s second largest exporter of agricultural products after the United States.
Conclusion
Cocoa has traditionally been one of Ghana’s foremost commodities. However, as the global agricultural market evolves and new regulations such as the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) come into play, there is a need for a rethink of the country’s agricultural strategy. One cannot also forget about the ills of illegal mining/ “galamsey” and how it may hamper cocoa production. The cocoa sector has over the years benefited from substantial government support and intervention. These interventions have contributed to Ghana becoming one of the leading global cocoa producers. Lessons learnt from the cocoa sector can be replicated in the cashew and soybean industry to achieve growth.
Investing in commodities such as cashew and soybean offer promising opportunities to diversify and transform Ghana’s agricultural export base. The potential benefits of growing the cashew and soybean sectors are innumerable. Implementing the above recommendations is key to increasing economic growth, job creation and a more diversified agricultural export base. This will also lead to an increase in profit margins for local producers. An enhanced competitive cashew and soybean industry can establish Ghana as a significant player in the global market. Developing new markets for cashew and soybean will help reduce the country’s dependence on traditional commodities such as cocoa, increase our economic resilience and ensure long-term sustainable growth. It is important for all relevant stakeholders to act to maximize the benefits of these promising commodities.
SOURCE: https://thebftonline.com
We are thrilled to announce that Nuna Attipoe has joined our team as an Associate following her successful pupillage.
Nuna has interned at institutions like The Republic of The Gambia’s Attorney General’s Chambers and Ministry of Justice, Sterling Attorneys, and LithurBrew & Company. Her academic achievements are equally impressive.
She holds a First Class Bachelor of Laws degree from Lancaster University Ghana and a Qualifying Certificate in Law from the Ghana School of Law. She is a recipient of multiple Merit List Awards and a spot on the Provost’s List for Academic Excellence at Lancaster University.
Beyond her academic and professional accomplishments, Nuna has demonstrated strong leadership and community involvement through roles such as General Secretary of the Lancaster University Ghana Law Society and Vice President of the Lancaster University Debate Society.
She is sure to be a tremendous asset to all our clients.
Newsletter 4th Quarter 2023 — Koranteng & Koranteng Legal Advisors
Through The Looking Glass with Nuna Afi Attipoe: Renewable energy – a foreseeable reality?
As the world continues to strive for a more environmentally sustainable future by understanding climate change and developing ways to mitigate its adverse effects, the energy sector has been playing a crucial role in these conversations.
Specifically, the renewable energy sector has been determined to be a vital solution as it aids in the mitigation of the effects of climate change by reducing greenhouse gases and providing diverse sources of energy.
Renewable energy, sometimes referred to as clean energy, is energy that comes from natural sources that are constantly replenished or regenerate naturally. These sources of energy include solar, wind, hydroelectric power, biomass energy, geothermal, and ocean (tidal and wave energy). This class of energy is known to have low or zero carbon footprint and are therefore not classified as a major contributor to the emission of greenhouse gases.
In a world where energy consumption is at an all-time high, due to urbanization, economic development and a rising population, non-renewable energy namely fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas, are major contributors to climate change. There have been efforts to diversify the sources of energy for the purposes of slowing down rapid climate change and further attaining a more environmentally sustainable future.
As the demand for electricity increases in Ghana, the Government of Ghana has expressed its commitment to producing sustainable sources for electricity generation. In 2016, Ghana signed the Paris Agreement, an international treaty that is aimed at tackling the negative effects of climate change.
This agreement is viewed as an ambitious climate action plan that requires its 195 signatories to submit updated national climate action plans known as Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC). Ghana’s signature to this treaty establishes the government’s commitment to include renewable energy into the nation’s body of energy supply.
Legal framework of renewable energy in Ghana
In an effort to develop the renewable energy sector in Ghana, there is a legal framework that exists to facilitate and govern the industry to ensure its full potential. The Renewable Energy Act, 2011 (Act 832) as amended by the Renewable Energy (Amendment) Act, 2020 (Act 1045) are the primary legislations that governs the industry.
Other policies and implemented programs that contribute to the establishment, development and promotion of the renewable energy industry include the National Energy Policy, the Renewable Energy Master Plan, and the National Energy Transition Plan.
The purpose of the Renewable Energy Act is to provide for the “development, management, utilization, sustainability and adequate supply of renewable energy for the generation of heat and power production in an environmentally stable manner”.
Section 2 of the Act defines renewable energy as consisting of wind, solar, hydro, bio-fuel, biomass, landfill gas, sewage gas, geothermal energy, ocean energy, and any other designated sources by the Minister. The Act also bestows the responsibility of implementing its provisions on the Energy Commission (EC).
Some of the Energy Commission’s responsibilities in the development of renewable energy include providing advice on renewable energy, promoting collaboration between the government and private sector stakeholders and civil society, promoting and supporting local manufacture of components to accelerate the growth of renewable energy sources.
Other relevant institutions such as the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Water Resources Commission, Lands Commission, Forestry Commission, National Petroleum Authority, and the Ghana Standards Authority, amongst others, also work with the Energy Commission to develop, manage, and utilize renewable energy in Ghana.
It is evident from the plethora of institutions involved in the development and management of renewable energy that the Act exists to ensure that the development and promotion of renewable energy is holistic and sustainable in order to maintain longevity in Ghana’s body of energy supply. Another objective of the Act is to improve on energy security by advocating for more sustainable sources that protect the environment.
As Ghana has pledged to the global initiative of reducing emissions of greenhouse gases, carbon footprint and overall reliance on fossil fuels, the phenomenon of renewable energy is even more important.
Lastly, the development of renewable energy sources is likely to attract investments and generate employment opportunities within the sector, further contributing to the nation’s sustainable economic development.
Licensing for renewable energy projects
For any commercial activity to be undertaken in the renewable energy sector, a license must be obtained and further granted by the Energy Commission. The commercial activities in the renewable energy sector may include the production, transportation, storage, distribution, importation, exportation, installation and maintenance.
The license may be granted to either a citizen, a body corporate registered under the Companies Act, 2019 (Act 992) or a partnership registered under the Incorporated Private Partnerships Act, 1962 (Act 152).
It is noteworthy that foreign investors may participate in the renewable energy sector by incorporating a company or a joint venture with a Ghanaian company or individual which meets the relevant requirements of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre.
The duration of the license issued by the Energy Commission under the Renewable Energy Act can vary between 5 to 20 years. A license granted may also be renewed by an application for renewal made to the Energy Commission not later than sixty (60) days before the license expires.
Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs)
The primary method for the government to procure large-scale energy supply is through power purchase agreements (PPAs) with the Electricity Company of Ghana being the main procurement entity involved.
Per section 25 of the Renewable Energy (Amendment) Act, 2020 (Act 1045) the contracting of a power purchase agreement with a renewable energy source must be by a competitive bidding process.
Renewable energy operators may enter into such agreements to provide energy for the generation of electricity as Ghana aspires to attain 100% electrification. This is especially lucrative to private sector renewable energy industry players as the nation aspires to increase its electricity access and more than ever, energy, specifically renewable energy for electricity generation is needed.
Renewable energy projects in Ghana
Solar Energy
The generation of electricity through solar photovoltaic (PV) is becoming one of the ways the energy supply is being enhanced and diversified. Due to its feasibility and environmentally sustainable advantages, Ghana is gradually turning its attention to generating electricity through this type of renewable energy. For certain projects and areas, solar energy is being used to generate electricity as a response to diversify the nation’s energy supply as well as increasing access to electricity through renewable means.
Firstly, the geographical location of Ghana makes it a very capable and suitable candidate for the production of solar energy. The advantageous tropical location grants us abundant access to solar radiation throughout the country with the highest concentration in the northern part of the country.
Currently, several companies such as Meinergy Technology, Northpark Power, Energyone, Sinohydro for Bui Power Authority have engaged in development and building of solar farms in Ghana thereby indicating that there is an interest to explore the potentially successful industry of solar energy.
Secondly, Volta River Authority has been reported to be involved in the establishment of a number of solar plants in the northern parts of Ghana in order to contribute to the government’s agenda of renewable energy development and to enhance the diversification of Ghana’s energy mix. Some of these projects include the 13MW Kaleo Plant, the 2.5MW solar plant in Navrogono, and the 6.5MW Lawra Plant.
Additionally Blue Energy Plc., a United Kingdom-based renewable energy developer is a developing a 155MW solar PV plant at Nzema in the Western Region of Ghana and when completed will be largest solar PV plant in Sub-Saharan Africa. Between the various initiatives by the government through its agencies such as the VRA and the various companies engaged in activities surrounding solar energy and its production, it appears that the solar industry is an attractive sector for investors.
The legal framework also allows for tax exemptions and certain subsidies for solar related materials. All solar panels imported to Ghana are exempt from Value Added Tax (VAT) and the import duty for industrial/ energy plant, machinery or equipment is waived and lastly, all off grid components benefit from VAT exemptions as well.
Hydropower
Another source of renewable energy is hydropower which has been patronized by Ghana since 1966 through the construction of the infamous Akosombo Dam. This has been the main source of electricity supply in Ghana and this source of energy is known as hydropower. Akosombo Dam together with the Kpong Dam have generated 65% of the nation’s electricity.
The Bui Dam which was constructed in 2013 also significantly contributes to the nation’s electricity supply. Although these large-scale dams amongst other medium and small-scale dams have served the country well, the cost-prohibitive nature of their construction, as well the limited supply of water bodies in Ghana that are feasible for power production, limits the full exploitation of this energy source. Due to this, the government although maintaining hydro power in the energy mix, has sought to add other forms of energy to the energy generation mix to ease the pressure.
Wind Energy
Wind energy has been poised as a significant potential renewable energy supply as it is cheaper and environmentally friendly. Ghana has the potential to generate wind energy in certain locations in the country. Some of these include the Eastern Region, parts of the Volta region, and Greater Accra region.
According to expert opinion, Ghana has a technical potential to produce wind energy at 82.8TWh yearly. The Ayitepa Wind Farm is a 225MW onshore wind project that is being developed in Ningo-Prampram. There is, therefore, a need to build grid infrastructure and modernize current wind farms to realize this potential. NEK (Ghana), a Swiss company has been developing the Ayitepa Wind Farm also has other wind energy projects in various locations across the country that will produce clean, sustainable, and cheap electricity for the Ghanaian population.
The Volta River Authority is also developing 150MW of wind power in the southern part of Ghana. However, such projects have been halted due to the suspension of new licenses by the Energy Commission since 2017 as the commission wanted to develop guidelines on how power purchase agreements were contracted and to ensure that licenses are granted devoid of governmental bureaucracies. This suspension was recently lifted in April 2023.
As Ghana plans to reach at least 10percent renewable energy of its energy mix by 2030 and also realize 100percent electrification, it is crucial that the development of energy sources that are clean and renewable such as wind are explored to the fullest potential. Several institutions and entities have postulated that in order for Ghana to scale up on its energy production and diversification of its energy mix, particularly renewable energy, there must be a leveraged partnership with the private sector.
Geothermal and Ocean Energy
Other forms of renewable energy include geothermal energy and ocean energy. Geothermal energy is heat energy which is tapped from the earth whilst the ocean energy is energy tapped from the wind-wave interactions in the ocean. Although these types of energy are rather novel and the technology is still being developed, it has been said to have the potential to be a reliable source of renewable and sustainable energy.
A local Ghanaian company TC Energy in collaboration with Swedish company have been working since 2015 to create Africa’s first wave power plant. This project was however stalled but has recently reached a major agreement for financing and revival.
TC Energy is projected to install a pilot 14.5MW Tidal Wave Power Plant at Ada Foah in the Greater Accra Region. A project of this kind has been tagged to be a pioneering wave energy project in Africa.
This particular company intends to utilize sea-based wave energy converters to generate up to 100MW of electricity. Various scientific writers have suggested that Ghana could present as an excellent candidate as a destination for such these types of renewable energy due to geographical location.
Carbon Credits
Companies outside Ghana are interested in the Net Zero agenda but are having difficulty meeting the goal. To facilitate their achievement of a Net Zero standard, companies buy carbon credits to achieve this.
The Government of Ghana established the Carbon Credit Fund under the Environmental Protection Agency. The concept of carbon credits has been couched under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement to which Ghana is a signatory. Although the carbon credit market is still in its early stages, there has already been impressive growth.
In 2019, the Ghana Carbon Exchange was launched and this platform exists to facilitate the buying and selling of carbon credits and to also provide support for renewable energy projects that will reduce greenhouse emissions. According to a report by the World Bank, Ghana earned 4.8 million dollars for reducing nearly 1 million tons of carbon emissions.
The World Bank Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) in an emissions reduction payment agreement (ERPA) will pay up to 50 million dollars for 10 million tons of carbon emissions that Ghana reduces through 2024. The carbon credit market proves to be a lucrative potential source of funding for the funding of renewable energy projects in Ghana.
Conclusion
From the above discussion, it is evident that Ghana has the legal framework that supports the development of renewable energy. The legal framework is progressive but not being actively pursued. Section 53 of Act 832 states a Renewable Energy Authority be established to oversee the implementation of renewable energy activities in the country as well as to manage the assets of the renewable energy sector on behalf of the State.
This Authority is yet to be established. However, the amendment of the Bui Power Authority Act 2020, (Act 1046) allows the Bui Power Authority to assume the role of the Renewable Energy Authority. Despite the bright prospects ahead for renewable energy, there is some hesitance persisting in the industry with regards to implementation.
Some of the factors behind the slow development of the renewable energy sector is the lack of investment and active engagement amongst industry players. There is also a lack of technical experience within the renewable energy market.
Organizations such as Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) Energy Service Centre (ESC) are making considerable efforts in boosting the adoption of renewable energy.
AGI-ESC has been set up to provide training and consultancy services for renewable energy and energy efficiency. Such initiatives will boost interest within the renewable energy field and create a lucrative market for renewable energy production in Ghana.
There are also proposed incentives such as substantial tax exemptions, on materials, machinery and equipment and import duty that are intended to make the industry investor-friendly and attractive.
Renewable energy is a foreseeable reality and not just a theory. As the world rallies to combat climate change, Ghana has positioned itself to be a key industry player by setting up comprehensive frameworks and policies that present a willingness to develop the industry.
Coupled with abundant natural resources that remain untapped and the government’s commitment to establishing workable guidelines, including the recent Ministry of Energy’s Green Mineral’s Policy, the country is poised to take advantage of future developments in the green industry to potentially become a green economy.
SOURCE: https://thebftonline.com