Ghana

Bentsi-Enchill Letsa & Ankomah (BELA) is a Ghanaian firm based in Accra. Founded in 1990, BELA is a full-service corporate and commercial law firm and a leader in the Ghanaian market, achieving Tier 1 status across all ranked practice areas. The firm is headed by managing partner Seth Asante and senior partner Frank Akowuah.

Key clients

AngloGold Ashanti Plc, African Export-Import Bank, Asante Gold Corporation, Assore International, Caterpillar, Blue Gold International, Diageo Plc, Growth Investment Partners Ghana Ltd, MobileMoney Ltd, Newcore Gold, PZ Cussons, Stanbic Investment Management Services, Temple Investments Ltd, Tenth Capital Investments Ltd, Tullow Oil, United States Development Finance Corporation, Verod

Highlights

The corporate team, led by Seth Asante, Susan-Barbara Boye and Frank Akowuah, advised Diageo Holdings Netherlands B.V. in the sale of its entire majority shareholding in a Ghanaian beverages manufacturing company (which is listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange). This is the largest M&A deal in the beverages manufacturing sector in recent history.

The firm advised AngloGold Ashanti on a cross border acquisition of Centamin Plc in Egypt, establishing a new regulatory precedent in relation to the role of the SEC in an issuance of noted securities as consideration for a takeover offer.

The firm assisted the United States International Development Finance Corporation on its loan to International Community School Limited for the refinancing of existing indebtedness and the funding of the completion of a new school campus. This impactful deal contributes to the expansion of private educational infrastructure in Ghana.

Testimonials

2025

• “The team devises creative ways in which to get things done. The private credit mutual fund created is novel, and their ability to interpret regulations and engage the regulator for waivers to make the transaction happen was outstanding.” – Debt capital markets
• “They just know what they are about!” – Restructuring
• “They take time to first understand your business before providing tailor-fit advice and service.” – Restructuring
• “They blend excellent customer service with deep legal knowledge — simply fantastic.” – Restructuring
• “Bentsi-Enchill is technically superior.” – Banking
• “They are very knowledgeable, with outstanding local expertise in financial services, corporate, and regulatory law.” – Financial services regulatory, corporate
• “Their work was outstanding.” – Banking
• “Stellar work.” – M&A
• “Their team is highly experienced, professional, responsive, and diligent, with a thorough understanding of market practices.” – M&A
• “Prompt response to queries and expert advice.” – M&A
• “Words cannot describe Frank’s knowledge of the law. He brings depth and understanding to every transaction he handles — a true grand master of his craft. His advice is sound, succinct, and flawless”– Frank Nimako Akowuah, Partner
• “Frank has outstanding interpersonal skills and treats clients as though they are his top priority. Frank is simply that guy!” – Frank Nimako Akowuah, Partner
• “Is able to analyse and interpret the regulations with precision and insight.” – Frank Nimako Akowuah, Partner
• “Excellent at project management.” – Elizabeth Ashun, Partner
• “Seth is very dedicated and supportive at every stage. He provides sound technical advice that’s always relevant to on-ground developments.” – Seth Asante, Partner
• “Excellent at trainings and in connecting the dots between different regulations.” – Seth Asante, Partner
• “Gifty makes the client feel valued and special. Beyond her excellent technical expertise, she takes time to explain every fine detail, keeping you fully up to speed. It’s a delight to engage and interact with her.” – Gifty Aku Hlordjie, Associate
• “Excellent when it comes to due diligence investigations.” – Porcia Agbo, Associate

2024

• "Very knowledgeable and business oriented.” – Banking
• “A thorough approach to their legal due diligence of the issuer.” – Capital markets
• “Strong expertise, experience, competence and bench strength.” – Capital markets
• “I liked the way and manner they held the pen to the prospectus and offered legal guidance on the transaction.” - Capital markets
• “Great clarity on what needs to be done, they convinced the exchange board to take a pragmatic working and arrive at a solution and they demonstrated consistency in the project execution.” - Financial services regulatory 
• “Thorough, confident and precise.” - Projects  
• “He is very good at structuring and provides legal guidance with in depth explanations.  He is a reliable transaction team member.  He has very good industry knowledge which helps with providing advisory service to clients. I like how well they hold the pen to the prospectus.” - Frank Akowuah, Partner
• “He develops solutions that solve clients' needs.” - Frank Akowuah, Partner
• “Knowledgeable, professional and reliable.” - Frank Akowuah, Partner 
• “Competent, reliable, accessible and flexible.” - Jonathan Sitsofe Kofi Amable, Senior Associate
• “Very knowledgeable.” - Seth Asante, Managing partner
• “Strong client relationship management and exceptionally knowledgeable.” - Seth Asante, Managing partner
• “He provided solutions, a guide for the outcomes driving them and had a strong network.” - Seth Asante, Managing partner
• “Very knowledgeable.” - Sophia Sena Berdie, Senior Associate
• “Consistent follow up.” - Sophia Sena Berdie, Senior Associate
• “Thorough in her approach.” - Sophia Sena Berdie, Senior Associate
• “Insightful and clear advice.” - Seyram Dzikunu, Partner
• “Clear and responsive advice.” - Godwin Nkrumah, Senior Associate