library of africa and the african diaspora (loatad): the intellectual home of Africa and its diaspora
by the numbers
- Founded in 2017
- Collection of 5,000+ books and archival materials by writers from 46/54 African countries and from across the African Diaspora
- 100+ writers and researchers from 20+ countries in residence since 2022
- 500+ applications for 12 places in the inaugural Black Atlantic Residency
- Featured by BBC, Al Jazeera, France 24, Le Monde, Essence, and others
I founded LOATAD in 2017 with 1,300 books from my personal collection and a conviction that Africa needed stronger institutions dedicated to preserving, producing, and sharing its own knowledge.
What began as a single-room library has grown into an internationally recognised cultural institution based in Accra, Ghana. Along the way, I have built a distinctive organisation that has attracted visitors, writers, researchers, artists, and cultural practitioners from around the world while helping to strengthen the ecosystems that support African intellectual and creative life.
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 talented team of researchers, programme managers, and cultural practitioners committed to preserving African literary heritage and expanding access to African knowledge.
LOATAD has been featured by BBC News, Al Jazeera, France 24, Le Monde, Essence Magazine, and numerous other international media outlets. Le Monde described it as “a magnificent library,” while BBC News called it “a rich repository for present and future generations.”
Our Philosophy
At LOATAD, everything we do is guided by three foundational pillars:
Knowledge Production
Creating the conditions for new literature, ideas, scholarship, and creative work to emerge.
Knowledge Preservation
Safeguarding African literary, cultural, and intellectual heritage for future generations.
Knowledge Dissemination
Ensuring that knowledge remains accessible, discoverable, and capable of informing public life.
These three pillars form a holistic approach to building cultural infrastructure:
Our residencies support knowledge production.
Our archive supports knowledge preservation.
Our library supports knowledge dissemination.
Together, they strengthen the ecosystems through which African literature, ideas, and histories are created, preserved, and shared.
Knowledge Production: Residencies, PUBLISHING, EVENTS
Knowledge production sits at the heart of LOATAD’s work.
We believe writers, researchers, artists, and cultural practitioners need more than talent to thrive. They need time, space, community, mentorship, and institutions that believe in the value of their work.
Since launching our residency programmes in 2022, LOATAD has hosted more than 100 writers, artists, scholars, and cultural practitioners from across Africa and the Diaspora. Residents have come from countries across West, East, Southern, and North Africa, as well as the Caribbean, Europe, the Americas, and the Middle East.
Our residency programmes include:
- The West African Writers Residency
- The Black Atlantic Residency
- The LOATAD Prof. Ian H. Munro Fellowship
- The LOATAD Digital Residency
- International residency partnerships and exchanges
In 2023 alone, the inaugural Black Atlantic Residency attracted more than 500 applications from across the world for just 12 places, underscoring both the demand for and the importance of Africa-based cultural institutions.
The impact of these programmes extends far beyond the residency period itself. Alumni have gone on to publish books, secure literary representation, gain admission to prestigious MFA programmes, participate in major international residencies and fellowships, and establish cultural initiatives of their own.
By supporting the people who create knowledge, LOATAD contributes to the future of African literature, scholarship, and cultural production.
Knowledge Preservation: Archive
If knowledge is to endure, it must be preserved.
LOATAD’s archive is dedicated to collecting, safeguarding, and preserving African literary, cultural, and intellectual heritage.
Our holdings include books, manuscripts, ephemera, photographs, recordings, and other materials that document the richness and diversity of African and Diaspora experiences.
We believe archives are more than repositories of the past. They are acts of cultural stewardship. They ensure that future generations inherit not only stories and ideas but also evidence of the people, movements, and traditions that shaped them.
At a time when many African histories remain fragmented, dispersed, or under-documented, preserving memory is itself a form of institution-building.
Knowledge Dissemination: Library
Knowledge only fulfils its potential when it is shared.
The library remains the heart of LOATAD and the public face of our commitment to making African and Diaspora knowledge accessible.
Our collection includes more than 4,000 books and cultural materials by African and African-descended writers from 46 African countries, as well as the Caribbean, Europe, and the Americas.
The collection spans literature, history, politics, philosophy, biography, culture, feminism, religion, and the arts, reflecting the breadth and depth of Black intellectual and creative traditions.
But LOATAD is more than a collection.
It is a gathering place.
A site of discovery.
A meeting point between generations, disciplines, geographies, and communities.
Through public programmes, exhibitions, screenings, conversations, workshops, and community engagement initiatives, we connect people with ideas that inspire curiosity, critical thinking, creativity, and learning.