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

Accra Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') 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, , ...

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

, noted for his travel guides.

Biography

Cobbinah was born in

Bogoso Bogoso is a mining town and is the capital of Prestea-Huni Valley district, a district in the Western Region of Ghana.

, north of

Tarkwa Tarkwa is a town and is the capital of Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipal district, a district in the Western Region southwest of South Ghana. Tarkwa has a 2013 settlement population of 34,941 people. Economy Mining Tarkwa is noted as a centre of gold m ...

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

Cape Coast Cape Coast is a city, fishing port, and the capital of Cape Coast Metropolitan District and Central Region of Ghana. It is one of the country's most historic cities, a World Heritage Site, home to the Cape Coast Castle, with the Gulf of Guinea ...

, as well as in

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

(Ivory Coast) and

Dijon Dijon (, , ) (dated) * it, Digione * la, Diviō or * lmo, Digion is the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in northeastern France. the commune had a population of 156,920. The earlies ...

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

West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...

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'' or ''Frankfurt/Rhein-Main'', abbreviated FRM), is the second-largest metropolitan re ...

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,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 � ...

Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...

and

Madeira ) , anthem = ( en, "Anthem of the Autonomous Region of Madeira") , song_type = Regional anthem , image_map=EU-Portugal_with_Madeira_circled.svg , map_alt=Location of Madeira , map_caption=Location of Madeira , subdivision_type=Sovereign st ...

, 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 is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

committee. In cooperation with former spokesman of the

Frankfurt Book Fair The Frankfurt Book Fair (German: Frankfurter Buchmesse, FBM) is the world's largest trade fair for books, based on the number of publishing companies represented. It is considered to be the most important book fair in the world for internationa ...

, 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: ''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 wit ...

. His most recent work is ''Dr. Amo’s Lonely Planet'', a novel about

Anton Wilhelm Amo Anton Wilhelm Amo or Anthony William Amo (c. 1703 – c. 1759) was an African philosopher originally from what is now Ghana. Amo was a professor at the universities of Halle and Jena in Germany after studying there. He was brought to Germany by ...

, who was the first African from south of the Sahara Desert to study in Germany.

Bibliography

* with Holger Ehling: ''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