In 2020, Atlanta-based African Diaspora Nation met with representatives from the Akwamu state in Ghana. They agreed to secure land for the HBCU Africa Innovation City Project. The initiative will challenge participants from the African Diaspora to develop a conceptual design for a S.T.E.A.A.M (Science, Technology, Engineering, Architecture, Art, Math) hub.
Things have accelerated rapidly since that first meeting. Students will submit designs for Innovation City by the registration deadline of May 31. The unbuilt metropolis is envisioned as an anchor for the African Renaissance and a hub for the African Diaspora. If ambitious, the potential is limitless.
One of two sites in the city of Akwamufie will be chosen. The first is inland from the River Volta, the other right on it. The symbolism is unmistakable. Ghana was a springboard of the Atlantic slave trade, with roughly eighty colonial structures still littering its coast. Making Akwamufie a gathering place for the African Diaspora, then, would be poetic.
Given prompts, students from HBCUs, any African university or any global institution with African art, architecture or design programs can enter. They can work alone or in groups. While the past will be prominent, the future is as well. For the city to compete in the global economy, student entrants are asked to include the “5 Pillars of Excellence” which are medical and biotech facilities, urban agriculture and environmental science, FinTech and the crypto economy, curriculum design center and media and film.
This is far from Ghana’s first HBCU interface. Ghana’s first president, Kwame Nkrumah, attended Lincoln University. Ghana also gained independence when many HBCUs were founded during America’s 20th century civil rights struggles, giving the two a special affinity.
“Innovation City is an opportunity for students to repair, nourish and inspire the African Diaspora,” according to the contest site. “This city will act as an International hub that unites Awkwamufie and all of Ghana to HBCUs.”
For more information, visit https://www.africandiasporanation.org/.
