In March 1962 the late Dr W. E. B. Du Bois set up under the sponsorship of the Ghana Academy of Sciences a secretariat for an Encyclopaedia Africana, and became the first director. The aim was to compile an encyclopaedia dealing exclusively with Africa, using for the work as far as possible African scholars distinguished in their own fields of study. This does not preclude the use of foreign scholars where necessary, and some are being used.