Building LOATAD

I founded the Library Of Africa and The African Diaspora (LOATAD) in 2017 with 1,300 books from my personal collection and a vision to build the cultural infrastructure needed to preserve, support, and expand African literary and intellectual life.

What began as a single-room library has grown into an internationally recognised cultural institution comprising a library, archive, writing residency, research institute, and publishing platform based in Accra, Ghana. Along the way, I have built a distinctive organisation that supports writers, researchers, artists, archivists, and cultural practitioners while strengthening the ecosystems in which they work.

After personally financing LOATAD during its formative years, I secured six-figure grant funding to support its continued growth and sustainability. Today, LOATAD is powered by a dedicated team committed to ensuring that African stories, ideas, and knowledge remain accessible to present and future generations.

SELECTED impact

• Founded LOATAD, a pioneering cultural institution.
• Built a collection of thousands of books by African and Diaspora writers.
• Created residency and fellowship programmes supporting 100 writers and researchers.
• Featured in major international outlets.
• Delivered 20+ talks and keynote presentations internationally.

About LOATAD

The Library Of Africa and The African Diaspora (LOATAD) is a cultural institution dedicated to collecting, preserving, and activating African and Black literary and cultural heritage.

We believe that libraries, archives, residencies, and research centres are more than repositories of knowledge. They are cultural infrastructure: the institutions that make creativity, scholarship, memory, and public discourse possible.

Our collection includes more than 4,000 books and archival materials by writers from 44 African countries, alongside works by Black authors from the Caribbean, Europe, and the Americas. Through our programmes, partnerships, and public engagement, we create spaces where ideas are exchanged, knowledge is preserved, and new work can emerge.

LOATAD has been featured by BBC News, France 24, Al Jazeera, and Le Monde, which described it as “a magnificent library.” BBC News called it “a rich repository for present and future generations.”

Our Work

West African Writers Residency

Our residency programme brings writers from across West Africa to Ghana, providing the time, space, resources, and community needed to produce ambitious new work. In doing so, it strengthens literary networks and contributes to a more connected regional creative ecosystem.

archive

Our flagship archival initiative documents and preserves the lives of African women aged 60 and above, creating a major archive of memory, knowledge, and lived experience. By safeguarding stories often excluded from official histories, the project expands the cultural infrastructure available to future researchers, writers, artists, and communities.

Digital Residencies and Mentorship

Through mentorship, workshops, and professional development, we support emerging archivists, librarians, and writers from across Africa and the Diaspora, helping to cultivate the next generation of cultural stewards and institution-builders.

Publishing

Our publishing programme supports emerging literary voices and expands access to African writing, strengthening the pathways through which stories are produced, shared, and preserved.

Looking Ahead

LOATAD’s long-term vision is to create a purpose-built home for its library, archive, residencies, research programmes, and public engagement activities.

We are building more than an organisation.

We are building cultural infrastructure for Africa and the Diaspora: preserving memory, supporting creativity, nurturing knowledge, and creating the conditions for future generations to tell their own stories.

We welcome partnerships with individuals, foundations, institutions, and organisations that share this vision.