Career Biography

Akua Serwaa Asomani Amenyedor is the General Counsel & Head of Corporate Services at OceanLift Subsea Ghana LTD. In March 2024, she joined the Company from private practice with Kimathi & Partners, Corporate Attorneys, where she led the Transactions and Tax Teams as Managing Counsel. At OceanLift, Akua plays a central role in shaping the legal, governance, tax, and risk architecture of a young, growing offshore energy services group operating in a highly regulated and capital-intensive environment. OceanLift Subsea is the only fully indigenous Ghanaian company operating in its segment of the offshore oil and gas services market. The Company provides subsearelated services and is expanding into oil and gas logistics support (through one of its subsidiaries), with operations and subsidiaries across countries along the Gulf of Guinea.

Akua’s role covers legal advisory work as well as the oversight and progressive development of core corporate services functions, including Legal, ESG & Compliance, Procurement, and People & Culture. When she joined the Company, these functions were newly created or taking shape. Her focus has been on establishing clear structures, basic controls, and practical processes, with an emphasis on standardisation and process automation, to support growth while meeting regulatory, commercial, and people-related expectations.

Akua reports directly to the CEO and works closely with the Board and senior management on key business and operational matters, including offshore service contracts, vessel and subsea-related arrangements, regulatory compliance, and dispute management. She also plays a leading role in corporate structuring, company financing, and tax matters, advising on shareholder funding arrangements, intercompany transactions, and engagement with banks and external advisers. In practice, Akua acts as the Company’s internal tax lead, shaping tax strategy and structuring decisions, and working closely with external advisers to assess tax risk, support commercial arrangements, and ensure alignment with regulatory and operational requirements.

A core part of Akua’s mandate is supporting the development of a strong people and performance culture within a lean organisation. She works closely with members of the senior management team on people-related risk, organisational structure, role clarity, performance management, and disciplinary processes, with an emphasis on fairness, accountability, and consistency. Her people leadership focus is on building clear expectations and credible processes early.

Akua is also closely involved in OceanLift’s regional expansion and operating model, including the establishment and governance of group subsidiaries across the Gulf of Guinea and the Company’s move into oil and gas logistics. From a legal, tax, governance, and people perspective, she supports decisions on group structure, operating models, regulatory alignment, and risk as the business expands beyond Ghana and across the energy value chain. Working within a lean organisation, Akua regularly brings together legal, tax, commercial and people considerations, to help management make clear practical decisions. She engages frequently with regulators, financial institutions, and professional advisers, translating legal and tax complexity into clear, commercially grounded guidance for non-legal stakeholders.

Looking ahead, Akua’s work is increasingly focused on enterprise-level leadership, bringing together legal judgment, governance design, tax and financial structuring, and people leadership. She is known for a calm, analytical approach and a strong understanding of how the business operates in practice in a high-risk and fastdeveloping energy environment.

What are the key projects that you have been involved in over the past twelve months?

Over the past twelve months, my work has been anchored around a major tax and regulatory structuring exercise relating to OceanLift’s core commercial partnerships, particularly those involving international service providers and vessel owners. As a fully indigenous Ghanaian company operating in a capital-intensive offshore sector, OceanLift delivers services using high-value assets that it does not own. This creates complex legal and tax questions around permanent establishment risk, withholding taxes and syndicate arrangements, VAT treatment, repatriation of profits, and local content compliance particularly where operational and commercial realities do not fit neatly within traditional regulatory categories.

I have led the internal legal and tax work on these arrangements, including structuring discussions around partnerships with non-resident vessel and remotely operated vehicle (ROV) providers. This involved framing the right tax and regulatory questions, assessing risk across multiple scenarios, and working closely with external advisers to ensure that proposed structures are defensible, commercially workable, and aligned with Ghana’s local content framework. A key part of my role has been balancing technical tax outcomes with regulatory expectations and operational practicality in areas where guidance is limited and precedent is thin.

Alongside this, I also led work on group-wide employment and people structuring as OceanLift expanded its footprint across the Gulf of Guinea. This included designing global employment arrangements that support mobility, clarity of responsibility, and compliance across jurisdictions, while remaining workable for a lean and growing organisation.

What do you think are the most important attributes for a modern in-house counsel to possess?

A modern in-house counsel must first have sound judgment. This includes the ability to prioritise risk and support decisions the business can sustain in practice. This requires a deep understanding of operations, finance, and people, and staying close enough to the business to spot issues early.

Credibility is equally important. In-house counsel must engage confidently with regulators, advisers, and counterparties, while earning the trust of internal teams, particularly in grey areas where guidance is limited. Modern in-house counsel must also use technology and AI as practical tools to support faster analysis and consistency, without substituting professional judgment. Any use of AI must remain subject to clear oversight, confidentiality safeguards, and accountability for final decisions.