Michael Edem Akafia 2024 Speaker

Vice President & Head, Legal & Compliance

Gold Fields Ghana Limited

Biography

Michael has a multi-disciplinary background in Law, Economics and Finance and was promoted to the position of Vice President and Head, Legal & Compliance of Gold Fields Ltd’s West Africa operations in March 2015, after previously serving as the Legal Manager. He has been the Company Secretary of all Gold Fields entities in West Africa since November 2010.

Prior to joining Gold Fields, he was the Head of Legal and Company Secretary for SIC Financial Services Ltd (SIC-FSL), an investment bank with US$80 million assets under management at the time. He was a member of the IMC that run SIC-FSL for 7 months prior to handing over to a new CEO in 2010.

Before that he was an Associate with the law firm of Bentsi-Enchill, Letsa & Ankomah, where he worked in the corporate, commercial as well as the litigation & dispute resolution practice groups. In the litigation department, he represented clients at all levels of the court system including the Supreme Court.

Michael was licensed by the SEC as an Investment Advisor’s Representative, having passed the Ghana Stock Exchange’s Securities Industry Course. Michael has also been admitted by the Chartered Institute of Taxation as a Tax Practitioner. He previously lectured business law and jurisprudence at the Zenith University College on part-time basis.

Michael studied International Commercial Litigation at University College London (Summer School), LLM in International Dispute Resolution at the Queen Mary University of London, MBA(Finance) at the University of Ghana Business School, Environmental Law at the University of Pretoria, Qualifying Certificate in Law at the Ghana School of Law, LLB at the University of Ghana School of Law and BA (Econs & Geog) at the University of Cape Coast.

Michael made it to the prestigious Legal 500 GC Powerlist: Africa (recognizing the most influential General Counsel in Africa) in 2015 and 2017. He was sworn as a notary public by the Chief Justice of Ghana in February 2022.