The International African Institute (IAI) was founded (as the International Institute of African Languages and Cultures [IIALC]) in 1926 in London for the study of African languages. Diedrich Hermann Westermann was co-director from 1926 to 1939.
Since 1928, the IAI has published a quarterly journal, Africa.
The IAI's mission is "to promote the education of the public in the study of Africa and its languages and cultures". Its operations includes seminars, journals, monographs, edited volumes and stimulating scholarship withn Africa.
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The archives of the International African Institute are held at the Archives Division of the Library of the London School of Economics. An online catalogue of these papers is available.
In 1928, the IAI (then IIALC) published an "Africa Alphabet" to facilitate standardization of Latin-based writing systems for African languages.
From April 1929 to 1950, the IAI offered prizes for works of literature in African languages.[1]