The Africa Prosperity Network (APN), organisers of the well-patronised annual Africa Prosperity Dialogues (APD), has filed a lawsuit against Sankofa Advisory Group, the purported owners and organisers of Africa Oil Week (AOW), to recover US$300,000 in unpaid service fees for work carried out in 2024 and 2025.
APN accuses Sankofa Advisory of bad faith in terminating its partnership agreement on AOW and falsely blaming the government of President John Mahama for pressuring the UK-based company to end its ties with APN.
According to the writ, Sankofa’s CEO, Paul Sinclair, persuaded APN in 2024 to lead the troubled AOW’s plans to relocate from Cape Town, where it had been hosted for nearly 30 years. AOW in recent years, lost ground to its more competitive rival, Africa Energy Week, which also takes place in Cape Town, just weeks apart, attracting similar sponsors and participants. With the proactive support from APN, AOW was successfully moved to Accra, Ghana. Once APN secured the necessary partnerships and endorsements, including with the Presidency, Sinclair allegedly reneged on the agreement using fabricated claims.
The suit states that Mr. Sinclair after misleading APN’s Founder and Executive Chairman, Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, went on to allege falsely that senior officials at Jubilee House had pressured him to cut ties with APN—an assertion APN describes as a “big lie,” pointing to the strong public support the Mahama government had shown for APN’s work since the new President was sworn in last January. APN enjoyed the full support of President Akufo-Addo and even organised for the President to throw his full weight behind AOW’s relocation.
APN cites APD 2025, successfully organised with the participation of President John Mahama, Vice President Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, Energy Minister John Jinapor, Majority Leader Mahama Ayariga as clear evidence of government endorsement of its activities, indicating that there could be no truth in Paul Sinclair’s claims against the Ghana government. APD 2025 was organised in partnership with the AfCFTA Secretariat, AfDB, Afreximbank, BADEA, MTN, Telecel, KGL, and others, just weeks after President Mahama assumed office. At that event attended by delegates from 46 countries, Sankofa Advisory was given prominence equivalent to a headline sponsor and used APD as its platform to announce AOW’s relocation to Accra.
The statement of claim alleges that Sankofa entered into the agreement with APN “solely to extract maximum benefit from APN’s reputation, networks, and resources, then discard the Plaintiff once relocation was secured.” It further accuses Mr Sinclair of dishonesty, citing his false assertion that NJ Ayuk, the founder of the rival Africa Energy Week, had told Ghanaian officials that the founder of APN secretly owned AOW.
APN is seeking, among other reliefs:
• Interest on the US$300,000 at prevailing commercial bank rates from May 2025 until payment;
• An order compelling Sankofa to account for all sponsorship funds from entities introduced by APN;
• Payment of 50% of sponsorship amounts from such sponsors;
• General damages for breach of contract;
• Costs, including solicitor’s fees.
Since Sankofa Advisory is incorporated in England, APN’s lawyers, Africa Legal Associates (ALA), applied for leave of the High Court to issue and serve the writ outside Ghana’s jurisdiction.
In throwing more light on the case, APN argues that AOW had become unviable in Cape Town due to legal challenges, protests, reputational damage, and declining participation, and that Sankofa sought to exploit APN’s standing as the indispensable conduit for its relocation from Cape Town, South Africa.
The abrupt termination of the 10-year partnership agreement signed in July 2024, APN claims, was not only unjustifiable but a repudiatory breach and an act of gross bad faith and dishonesty.
“APN has suffered significant financial losses, reputational harm, and loss of contractual benefits as a result of Sankofa Advisory Group’s conduct,” the statement of claim concludes.
