Shareholder Rights in a Digital Age: The Ghana Experience

Abstract

Shareholders represent an important organ in the affairs of a company. Over the years the courts have upheld the rights of shareholders in the management and running of the company. In recent times, the availability and application of technology has affected how shareholders assert and enforce their rights within the company. Recent events associated with the Covid-19 pandemic in Ghana has stretched shareholder rights and their ability to function vis-à-vis the functions of the directors of the company. This paper discusses the rights of the shareholders in the digital age and looks at how the digitalization policy of the government of Ghana as well as the events of covid -19 have affected shareholder rights in Ghana. The methodology used for this study is to analyze the current legal provisions on shareholder rights in the lights of the digitalization drive of the government of Ghana and directives issued by the Registrar of Companies during the Covid-19 pandemic. The paper finds that both the digitalization drive of the government of Ghana and the directives from the Registrar of Companies have improved shareholder rights. However, there are still a lot more reforms in the area of providing clear legislative and administrative guidelines to ensure an enhanced shareholder rights within the company.

Keywords: shareholder rights, technology, digitalization, corporate reform, Ghana, Covid-19.

DOI: 10.7176/JLPG/147-03

Publication date: March 28^th 2025