Phillip Nyakpo

From Anyako to the Registry

Phillip grew up in Anyako, on the coast of Ghana’s Volta Region, within reach of weaving centres such as Agotime-Kpetoe and Agbozume. As a child he watched master weavers at work, long before he understood what their craft carried.

A career in journalism across Ghana brought Kente back into view, at ceremonies, celebrations and moments of national life. It also showed him how many of its weavers and designs had never been documented. The Registry is his answer to that gap.

A journalist’s method

Phillip has an established public profile as a journalist, author and podcaster. He is the author of Absolute Radio, the true story of the first private radio station in Ghana’s Western Region. The Registry draws directly on that training: verify the source, attribute the statement correctly, and publish only what can be stood behind. Those habits run through the Registry’s consent requirements, its attribution rules and its verification policy.

Scholarly work

He is the author of the Registry’s two founding scholarly outputs, both openly published with persistent identifiers:

• Global Kente Registry Standard (GKRS) Edition 1.0, DOI 10.5281/zenodo.19149655
• Declaration of the Kente Registry Standard v1.0, DOI 10.5281/zenodo.19371988

The company’s constitution adopts both as the Kente Registry Standard, and requires his attribution as author to be preserved wherever they are republished.

On the board

The constitution recognises Phillip as the company’s Founder, and he holds the office of Founding Director. The office recognises continuity with the Registry’s origins; it carries no additional vote or veto. He is also Company Secretary and Public Officer, and led the company’s incorporation in 2026.

As a Director, he contributes the Registry’s founding vision, its documentation method, and a journalist’s insistence that every record is sourced, attributed and consented to.

For the story behind the Registry and its founding vision, read Our Founder.