What happens to an African woman’s story when she dies? Does it die with her? Or does it take on a life of its own?

Our Mission

We seek to restore African women to history – all African women. Not just the ones who make it onto the cover of Time or who lead international organisations, but those women who labour daily in markets and in homes, who are teachers and traders, seamstresses and nurses, fisherwomen and many other unrecognised forms of work those who make up the majority. African women of all backgrounds are actors in their own lives and communities and are collectively agents of change. THEY ARE AFRICA and they deserve to tell their stories and have them heard.

“African women are our archives, our museums, our storytellers, our historians. Through this project, we strive to give them the recognition they deserve.”

Who We Are

We – journalist and 2022 National Geographic Explorer, Sylvia Arthur and documentary photographer, Ernest Ankomah – are travelling along the coast of West Africa, from Nigeria in the East to Senegal in the West, meeting and listening to women from all walks of life and, with their permission, documenting their stories. Beginning in Benin in 2022 before moving on to Sierra Leone, Guinea Bissau and Gambia in 2023, this two-year project will create A Women’s Oral History of West Africa, an audio archive of African women’s stories that collectively tell the history of this region of the continent from women’s perspectives.

Follow our journey along the coast of West Africa. Read about our travels here and follow us on Instagram.