Jojo Cobbinah (born 25 May 1948) is a Ghanaian author living in

Accra Accra (; or ''Gaga''; ; Ewe: Gɛ; ) is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , had a population of ...

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

, noted for his travel guides.

Biography

Cobbinah was born in

Bogoso Bogoso is the Capital town of the Prestea-Huni Valley Municipal District in the Western Region of Ghana. It's known for its rich gold mining activities and agricultural production. History Bogoso's history is tied to gold mining, which has driv ...

, north of

Tarkwa Tarkwa is a town and is the capital of Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipal District, Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipal district, a district in the Western Region, Ghana, Western Region southwest of South Ghana. Frequently dubbed as the "Golden City" by its indigenous ...

, in the Western Region of Ghana. He attended a Catholic school in his home country, studying in

Cape Coast Cape Coast is a city and the capital of the Cape Coast Metropolitan Assembly, Cape Coast Metropolitan District and the Central Region (Ghana), Central Region of Ghana, Ghana. It is located about from Sekondi-Takoradi and approximately from Ac ...

, as well as in

Abidjan Abidjan ( , ; N'Ko script, N'ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the largest city and the former capital of Ivory Coast. As of the Demographics of Ivory Coast, 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of the overall population ...

(Ivory Coast) and

Dijon Dijon (, ; ; in Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Digion'') is a city in and the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Côte-d'Or Departments of France, department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in eas ...

(France). From 1974 to 2009, he lived in Germany, initially in

West Berlin West Berlin ( or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin from 1948 until 1990, during the Cold War. Although West Berlin lacked any sovereignty and was under military occupation until German reunification in 1 ...

and later in different places in the northern part of the

Rhine-Main The Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region, often simply referred to as Frankfurt Rhine-Main, Frankfurt Rhine-Main area or Rhine-Main area (German: ''Rhein-Main-Gebiet'', ''Frankfurt/Rhein-Main'' or ''FrankfurtRheinMain'', abbreviated FRM), is the third-l ...

area. He returned to Ghana in 2010, but he still travels to Europe at regular intervals to support intercultural cooperation. He gained prestige with his travel guides for

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

Gambia The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the List of African countries by area, smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except for ...

and

Madeira Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of ...

, but most notably with his work about his home country Ghana, formerly only writing in English. All 11 editions of his Ghana travel guide have been published in German. It has become a benchmark work in German-speaking regions and was tagged one of the best travel guides for an African country in a survey by the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

committee. In cooperation with former spokesman of the

Frankfurt Book Fair The Frankfurt Book Fair (German: , FBM) is the world's largest trade fair for books, based on the number of publishing companies represented. The five-day annual event in mid-October is held at the Frankfurt Trade Fair grounds in Frankfurt am ...

, Holger Ehling, he worked on ''Westafrikanisch Kochen'', a cookbook for West African food. Cobbinah also supported his author colleague Barbi Lasar with his book about the South African

Cape Region The Cape Floral Region is a floristic region located near the southern tip of South Africa. It is the only floristic region of the Cape Floristic Kingdom, and includes only one floristic province, known as the Cape Floristic Province. The Cap ...

: ''Südafrika: Die Kapregion''. As a columnist and book reviewer Cobbinah is also part of the editorial staff of ''The African Courier'', a journal published in English. In 2003, he developed Ghana's first all-expense tour offer for

Ghana Airways Ghana Airways Limited was the flag carrier of Ghana, with its main base of operation and hub at Kotoka International Airport in Accra. The airline ceased operations in 2004, although plans were discussed to revive it in 2020 in partnership with ...

. His most recent work is ''Dr. Amo’s Lonely Planet'', a novel about Anton Wilhelm Amo, who was the first African from south of the Sahara Desert to study in Germany.

Bibliography

* with

Holger Ehling Holger may refer to: People * Holger (given name), includes name origin, plus people with the name * Hilde Holger, stage name of dancer, choreographer and dance teacher Hilde Boman-Behram (née Hilde Sofer, 1905–2001) Fictional characters * Holg ...

: ''Westafrikanisch kochen''. Edition diá, Berlin 1998, * ''Ghana: Practical Traveller's Guide to the Gold Coast of West Africa''. Peter Meyer, Frankfurt/Main 1999, * ''Madeira. Erholen und Wandern auf der Blumeninsel im Atlantik'' Peter Meyer, Frankfurt/Main 2000, * ''Senegal, Gambia. Praktischer Reiseführer an die Westspitze Afrikas''. Peter Meyer, Frankfurt/Main 2002, 4. Auflage, * ''Ghana. Praktisches Reisehandbuch für die „Goldküste“ Westafrikas''. 11. Auflage, Peter Meyer, Frankfurt/Main 2012, * ''Dr. Amo’s Lonely Planet. Novel''. E-Book. Peter Meyer, Frankfurt/Main 2013,

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cobbinah, Jojo Ghanaian writers Living people 1948 births 20th-century travel writers