## Introduction  
The UNESCO General History of Africa (GHA) project consists of a three-stage process. The first stage, 'the General History of Africa' stricto-sensu, was launched in the early 1960s, the second, 'the Pedagogical Use of the General History of Africa', in 2009, and the third and last, 'Volume IX of the General History of Africa', in 2013.  
The Volume IX of the GHA project was initially shaped at the Expert Meeting held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, under the auspices of the African Union, from 20 to 22 May 2013. Some 50 experts from different parts of world were invited to share ideas and make recommendations on the best ways to proceed. The initiative was spearheaded and initially funded by the Federal Government of Brazil. The International Scientific Committee for the Preparation and Publication of Volume IX of the General History of Africa, composed of 16 members appointed by the UNESCO Director-General, met later in the year in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, to craft the project agenda and set it in motion. From 2013 to 2017, the Committee met successively in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil (November 2013), Paris, France (June 2014), São Carlos, Brazil (October 2015), Luanda, Angola (February 2016), Havana, Cuba (January 2017) and finally, in Xiamen, China (December 2017). The Committee crafted the initial structure of Volume IX in three tomes, organized the editorial teams  
and selected some 250-300 authors worldwide. During the last meeting in Xiamen, it was decided to produce three volumes (IX, X and XI) instead of one Volume IX comprising three tomes. When the last stage of the process is complete, the GHA will be an impressive eleven-volume series.