The Great Libraries of West Africa: What We Have Forgotten

Before European contact, West Africa was home to some of the world's great centres of learning. The library of Timbuktu held an estimated 700,000 manuscripts.

Scholars from across the Islamic world travelled to Sankore University to study mathematics, astronomy, medicine, and law.

Why this matters today

The lie that Africa had no intellectual tradition before colonialism has consequences. It shapes policy, funding, and what young Africans believe is possible.

Knowing our history is not nostalgia — it is infrastructure.