My Journey of Reclaiming an Ancestral Throne: QueenMother Akua Kalia Adaye, QueenMother of the Royal Brong Kingdom in Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana

Her Majesty Nanan Akua Kalia Adayé, is an American-born QueenMother crowned in the Royal Brong Kingdom of Côte d’Ivoire and across into the Ghana border. As QueenMother of a 13th century throne, the Brong are the first of all Akan tribes and originated in modern-day Ghana. Nanan Akua Kalia Adayé is the first foreign woman crowned as a traditional ruler in Côte d’Ivoire and is the first known descendent to return to her ancestral village in more than 400 years.

Queen Kalia was crowned twice. First, enstooled as QueenMother of the Royal Court in Tabagne, the Northeastern Region of Côte d’Ivoire in October 2016. Then, His Majesty King Nanan Kouassi Adinkra Adjoumani, elevated QueenMother to the highest throne of the Royal Brong Kingdom encompassing nearly half a million people across two countries in January 2018.

Prof. Jibrell speaks and publishes internationally, and has a published poetry collection entitled, “Plight”.

Professionally as a global strategist and as QueenMother, Nanan works with regional, national and international leaders, in public and private sectors to advance development, and linkages to diaspora communities. Côte d’Ivoire is blessed with fertile ground producing top-quality cashew, coffee, cacao, rubber, ginger, and shea butter, which Nanan is helping to formalize in her Kingdom and across Côte d’Ivoire. Her Majesty has invested to successfully organize and train 10,000+ women shea producers to form a high-quality, large volume, organic certified co-op and was instrumental in getting shea butter in the national strategies for Côte d’Ivoire. Nanan Kalia received an United Nations association award for her works.