About Zango Uncovered
Zango Uncovered records the lives, work and stories of Zongo people and communities across Ghana, in their own words.
What is a Zongo?
“Zongo” comes from the Hausa word zango, a travellers’ camp or resting place. In Ghana it names the neighbourhoods that grew up along trade routes and around markets, settled by traders and migrants from northern Ghana and across West Africa: Hausa, Fulani, Mossi, Yoruba, Wangara and many more.
Today there are Zongo communities in towns and cities all over Ghana, from Nima and Sabon Zongo in Accra to Kumasi Zongo and Aboabo. They are places of many languages and long friendships, with busy markets, mosques at the centre of daily life, and a strong sense that neighbours look after one another.
Why we tell these stories
Zongo communities have raised traders, teachers, imams, artists, athletes, entrepreneurs and public servants whose work has shaped Ghana. Yet many of their stories live only in memory and conversation, and the Zongo is too often described from the outside.
We want to give these stories a lasting home online, told with care and in the words of the people who lived them, so that young people can see themselves in them and everyone else can understand the Zongo a little better.
What you’ll find here
- Profiles of people who shape Zongo communities, with their own account of their lives and work.
- The blog: writing on the history, culture, faith, business and everyday life of the Zongo.
- Interviews: recorded conversations, with the full script beside the video.
How we work
Every profile and interview begins with a conversation. We listen, record, and write each story up with care, keeping the speaker’s own words wherever we can. If you appear in a story and would like something corrected or removed, please get in touch.
Get involved
Do you know someone whose story should be told? Nominate them, and tell us why. Have a correction, an idea, or a story of your own? We would love to hear from you.