Francis Kobia-Amanfi was born Ghana in 1936 and educated at the Kumasi Forikrome Academy, from 1952-55. He studied architecture at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), in Kumasi, from 1958-61 and began to work for an architectural and civil engineering company in Accra (1962-63). In 1963 he travelled to the UK as part of a group students selected as an exchange programme between the KNUST, and the Architectural Association (AA), London -the two institutions having entered a contract to work together to develop the architecture programme at KNUST. Akude entered the Third Year cohort of the AA five-year Diploma course and, as part of his final year’s studies in 1965-66, elected to join the programme of the AA Department of Tropical Studies. Upon graduation, he worked for four years with the Architects Department of the Greater London Council. By this time, he had completed his RIBA Part 3 professional qualification and he subsequently returned to Ghana where, together with Samuel Larbi and Walter Akude, two of his Ghanaian colleagues on the Department of Tropical Architecture course, he established Kobaku and Associates Chartered Architects (1973). The practice operated with two branches, one in Accra, led by Kobia-Amanfi and Akude, and another in Kumasi, led by Larbi. The practice developed into one of the most significant Ghanaian firms, with major projects including the Gulf House in Accra and premises in Kumasi for a number of banks, including the Bank of Ghana, the Ghana Commercial Bank, and the National Investment Bank.

Sources

• Architectural Association Student Register, 1945-71. AA Archives
• Architectural Association, Registrar’s Office student records, 1960-66. AA Archives
• Architectural Association Diploma Roll, 1966. AA Archives
• Architectural Association Council Minutes, 18th July 1966
• Architectural Association Membership Register, 1969, 1974
• Personal correspondence