Encomium
On the 22nd of September 2019, the Zikoko team is teaming up with GIGM, Google, Leadway Assurance, Ecobank and Smoov to embark on the trip of a lifetime. The team will travel through 13 West African countries in 80 days! The trip is going to be called the one thing that binds us together, Jollof, ‘Jollof Road’.
Jollof road is a series of stories about West Africa and what it means to be West African. Every city has a story, a wealth of culture and tradition that is unique to it. The team will find these stories and tell them with pictures, videos and intricately written articles. The Zikoko team will capture stories about music, food, fashion, and even the colonial legacy — stories that speak about how the past has led to the region’s present, and how it is shaping our future.
As we know, the Chinese silk road was one of the most lucrative trade routes which connected the Eastern and Western World. In addition to the silk trade, the silk road was a conduit of religion, spices and other kinds of trade. In West Africa, Jollof, which originated from the Wolof people of Senegal travelled across West African trade routes and became widely accepted as a West African dish. Like the silk road, the Jollof Road was a conduit for more than Jollof, it was a passageway for culture, music, lifestyle, fashion, religion, and even more food!
The GIGM bus will take the Zikoko team across towns and the city capitals in these 14 West Africa countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo.
Zikoko is interested in finding and showing roads that connect us West Africans and celebrating all the similarities and differences along the Jollof Road.
For information about how you can get involved, and to follow the journey, visit jollofroad.com.
