MIASA was created in 2018 at the College of Humanities at the University of Ghana, Legon campus. It is based on a collaboration between the University of Ghana and a consortium of German partners – the University of Freiburg, Goethe University Frankfurt, the German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA), and the German Historical Institute Paris (DHIP).
The Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa has developed—with the support of ZIAF—into an academic center and a platform for innovative research in the humanities and social sciences, as well as for exchange about and within Africa. The Frankfurt team conducts a comprehensive workshop program to promote South-South-North cooperation, including in collaboration with other Merian centers in Tunisia, India, and Latin America.