It was great to make a first visit to Accra and Ghana in mid April 2025 to contribute to a workshop on nuclear liability as part of the European Commission programme in support of Ghana’s Nuclear Regulatory Authority, led by friends and colleagues from Vienna. I did sessions on nuclear liability, and on nuclear transport.

There is always so much two way learning at events like this when they work well, exchanging ideas about treaties and conventions with other participants, and learning about the local constitution, Parliamentary process and lawmaking from local experts.

Accra is a full on African city with formidable traffic, and steamy West African heat. Everyone I met was friendly, courteous, able to speak a range of local languages, and quite amused by my animated interest in things which are everyday to them, like a Flame Tree, (possible) Chocolate-backed Kingfishers sitting on a phone wire outside our workshop, or the fine ant hill pictured above.

As an environmental lawyer, I was saddened to see open burning of rubbish at a site within the city, and the endless prevalence of plastic, especially for food and drink containers. But our visit coincided with Arsenal FC, in which Ghana is represented by midfielder and local hero Thomas Partey, beating Real Madrid 3-0. No arguing with that.