Accra: Acting Chief Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie has called on African countries to prioritise transparency, accountability, and local participation in all extractive sector agreements. "Our people must not be mere spectators in their own dispossession. We must insist on transparency, accountability, and local participation in all extractive agreements," he stated.
According to Ghana News Agency, Justice Baffoe-Bonnie made these remarks at the opening of the 2025 Annual African Bar Association Conference in Accra. The conference attracted justice advocates, Bar Association members from various countries, Ministers of Justice, and Attorneys-General. The theme of the conference, 'Foreign Investment in Africa: Investment or Exploitation,' highlighted the need for economic and intellectual liberation. Justice Baffoe-Bonnie urged African nations to take control of their resources and curb financial leakages.
He stressed that more wealth leaves Africa annually than enters through trade and aid combined. "We must reform our institutions of negotiations," he said, emphasizing that African negotiators should be equipped with both contracts and conscience. Justice Baffoe-Bonnie also advocated investment in intellectual sovereignty, legal knowledge, and economic frameworks tailored to Africa's development.
He highlighted the importance of intra-African trade and urged the full utilisation of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat to build a unified and powerful economy. "If we can trade cocoa for machinery, energy for technology, ideas for innovation, we shall no longer need to plead for what we can produce," he added.
Justice Baffoe-Bonnie noted that foreign interests often influenced governance and policy decisions, shaping legal and institutional reforms. He observed that concessional agreements in resource extraction often enriched a few while impoverishing many. He cited data from the African Union and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, indicating that Africa loses between US$50 billion and US$60 billion each year through Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs).
He pointed out that Africa, despite being rich in natural resources, is still termed poor due to misgovernance rather than a lack of wealth. Justice Baffoe-Bonnie emphasized the necessity for African countries to govern their resources with justice, equity, and foresight. He cited Ghana's Constitution, which recognises natural resources as the property of the people held in trust by the President, and praised the establishment of Goldbod in Ghana as a promising example of deliberate policy aimed at coordinating the gold trade.
