A book providing Ghanaian literature on Commercial Law has been launched at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA).
The book “Commercial Law In Ghana – Sourcebook,” was written by private legal practitioners Clement Akapame and Lom Nuku Ahlijah and launched on Thursday 3rd February 2022.
The 424-page hardcover book, written as a primary text for the study and practice of commercial law in Ghana, covers topics such as law of agency, hire purchase, negotiable instruments, banking, as well as commercial litigation and arbitration.
It was launched by Chair of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration Council, Piesie Kofi Asante.
Addressing the audience via video recording, at the ceremony to launch the book; Retired Justice of the Supreme Court of Ghana, Professor Justice Samuel Kofi Date-Bah noted that the book will serve the needs of students of law by providing them with legal analysis backed by Ghanaian sources.
“I have always been of the view that commercial law is an essential element in the legal infrastructure for the development, deserving of research and scholarly attention. Students of the law need to be given a good grounding in commercial law to make them fit for purpose in the particular world of work in which most of them will later find themselves. With the growing numbers of law students in Ghana, serving this purpose is more needed than ever,” he noted.
Brief remarks about the book were delivered by Deputy Attorney General, Diana Asonaba Dapaah, and Deputy Rector of GIMPA, Prof. Martin Morgan Tuuli.
For businesses also, commercial law plays a vital role in enabling best practice by providing compensation to affected parties, safeguarding shareholder rights and providing a framework for business formation.
In an interview with Citi Business News, Co-Author, Clement Akapame noted that the book, which contains six chapters, was written to fill the gap in the provision of legal tools to provide clarity in the rules of commerce and trade within the Ghanaian setting.
“We are hoping that this will help in making commercial law, and it’s learning more attractive to students. At least there is more Ghanaian material that they can rely on now. It will also assist practitioners to get references to some commercial principles as there is a source book on Ghanaian law that they can refer to. So this is to provide Ghanaian literature, that is the main gap that we are trying to fill because currently there is no Ghanaian literature on commercial law and that is what we sought to achieve by putting this source book together,” he noted.
He further added that the book is crucial as businessmen and women can refer to it to improve productivity and growth especially with the coming of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement.
“You know primarily commercial law deals with businessmen in their daily dealings in sale of goods and agency. So with the coming of AfCFTA, we are hoping that we will have clarity in our rules for commerce and trade and a starting point is to have clarity in our domestic legal regime. So such Ghanaian literature will provide the needed foundation for our businessmen to understand what pertains to commercial law in our domestic setting then we can latch on to what the AfCFTA provides for us,” he added.
