Gabby Otchere-Darko appointed co-chair of Commonwealth Legal Network

Senior Partner and Co-founder of Africa Legal Associates (ALA) and Executive Chairman of Africa Prosperity Network (APN), Mr Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, has been appointed as Co-Chair for the Commonwealth Legal Network (CLN), a high-powered commercial legal network set up by the Commonwealth-accredited business network, the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council (CWEIC).

Mr Otchere-Darko already chairs the Ghana hub of CWEIC and has a comprehensive network across Africa, the Middle East, the Caribbean, and Europe. He is expected to bring his rich and diverse experience and network to bear in his new role as Co-Chair for the Commonwealth Legal Network (CLN).

The CLN is open to law firms from the 56 Commonwealth countries, and membership is based on recommendations.

“With the new Commonwealth Secretary-General expressing a strong new focus and partnerships on trade and investments among the 56 member states, the future is very bright and exciting for lawyers and law firms,” says Mr Otchere-Darko in an exclusive interview with Asaase Radio.

“With a population of 2.7 billion consumers and a combined estimated GDP of $14.5 trillion and a new leadership determined to help to more than double intra-Commonwealth trade to over $2 trillion by 2030, both CWEIC and CLN will be actively instrumental in making this enhanced business focus of the Commonwealth successful,” the new Co-Chairman of CLN explained.

“It would mean more opportunities for businesses and, certainly, more work for lawyers,” he added.

On the focus of CLN, Mr Otchere-Darko said that, working with Olasupo Shasore, the other co-chair, and the entire team, their intention is to deepen membership and cooperation among CLN members to serve their new and existing clients better.

“With countries like Canada looking beyond North America for closer economic ties, India, Australia, and the Caribbean states all eager to see the existing commonwealth advantage being enhanced, policy-wise, for greater trade and investment among member states, and Africa actively building a single market, with 21 members of the African Union also being Commonwealth members, we at both CWEIC and CLN see huge opportunities before us and want to see greater interplay among businesses across these various markets and lawyers assisting them in navigating smoothly for broader shared prosperity and more jobs for the people,” Mr Otchere-Darko stressed.

He also hinted that we should expect to see CLN making inroads in non-member states and regions, including the Middle East and the European Union, with CWEIC already establishing offices in the UAE, for example.

Mr Otchere-Darko is the Senior Partner of Africa Legal Associates (ALA), a corporate and commercial law firm located in Accra, Ghana, which operates as a one-stop service centre, offering a wide range of legal services to support its clients in Ghana and beyond.

ALA is also known as ALPi Ghana, which is part of the Africa Law Practice International Group, with presence in nine countries including Nigeria, Kenya, Namibia, Uganda, Tanzania, and South Sudan.

Membership of the CLN includes Charltons, a Hong Kong corporate finance law firm with branch offices in Beijing, Shanghai and Yangon, Myanmar, Irwin Mitchell, one of the UK’s largest full-service law firms, Griffiths & Partners, ALP Nigeria, Triay Lawyers, an independent Gibraltar law firm which prides itself on its long-standing reputation for legal excellence since 1905.

Mr Otchere-Darko is also the Executive Chairman of the Africa Prosperity Network (APN), which organises the annual Africa Prosperity Dialogues, dedicated to facilitating greater ownership and drive of Africa’s economic integration by the private sector, in collaboration with policy makers.

In a message posted on their Facebook Wall, APN stated, “Congratulations to our Founder and Executive Chairman, Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, on your appointment as Co-Chair of the Commonwealth Legal Network (CLN), the legal arm of the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council (CWEIC), which brings together leading law firms across the Commonwealth.

“The announcement was made at the CLN’s annual dinner, held on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Trade & Investment Summit (CTIS). Mr Otchere- Darko takes over from Lord (Hugo) Swire, former British MP and Foreign Minister, who remains Deputy Chairman of CWEIC and a member of the UK House of Lords. Wishing you great success in strengthening the Commonwealth’s legal sector,” the APN post read.

Importance of CLN

Given the increasing importance of the Commonwealth network as a platform for global trade and investment, the benefits of being part of a select group of trusted commercial law firms across the 56 nations of the Commonwealth, all of whom share similar language, legal systems, and values, are clear.

CWEIC hosted the Commonwealth Legal Network’s Inaugural Roundtable for CLN members with the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales in July 2021, and a second roundtable discussion with the Lord Mayor of the City of London in December 2021.

Profile of Mr Otchere-Darko

Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko is a reputable transactional lawyer, whose practice and activities stretches across the African continent, the Caribbean and the United Kingdom, in particular.

Named one of the 50 most influential people in Africa (by the Africa Report in 2023), he brings to CLN his vast, rich, and dynamic experience and extensive network from his international activities over the last three decades.

A solicitor, barrister, and notary trained in the UK and Ghana, Gabby is also the founder of ALA Strategic Consult, an affiliated consultancy firm based in Georgetown, Guyana. The firm offers business consultancy services in the oil-rich Caribbean country, linking international investors and service providers with opportunities and local partners in Guyana.

He was previously the CEO of a UK-based consulting company specialising in facilitating business for companies and other organisations with interest in Africa.

A big advocate for the single market in Africa and for the Commonwealth to achieve greater relevance for its 2.7 billion people, Gabby is a respected lawyer and political risk analyst on Africa and has appeared on television and radio, and written several articles in several reputable journals on investment, corporate governance, good governance, and economic development.

Reporting by Wilberforce Asare in Accra

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