ATLI was incorporated in Ghana on 14 June 2024 as a company limited by guarantee. Its founding purpose is to facilitate the establishment of the African Traditional Leaders Union (ATLU) — and, thereafter, to serve as its bureau or secretariat.
ATLI was convened by African traditional leaders and allied scholars in response to a long-standing continental gap: the absence of a legitimate, institutionalised body representing traditional authorities within the African Union architecture.
Under the leadership of Togbe Afede XIV — Agbogbomefia of Ho Asogli State and former President of the National House of Chiefs of Ghana — ATLI was formally incorporated in Ghana in June 2024. It is temporarily housed at the World Trade Center in Accra while a permanent home is secured.
ATLI's task is dual: to build itself as a credible continental institution, and to midwife a wider Union of African traditional leaders that can engage the AU as a partner in continental development.
"To translate the promise of continental vision into the daily reality of Africa's villages, districts and cities."