Nigerian-British journalist Emmanuel Akinwotu has been appointed The New York Times’ new West Africa correspondent, joining the newspaper’s International desk and relocating to Lagos for the role.

The appointment was announced by International editor Philip Pan, International managing editor Greg Winter, and editor Lauretta Charlton. Akinwotu joins the Times from NPR, where he has worked as an international correspondent based in Nigeria, reporting across Africa and beyond.

At NPR, Akinwotu’s reporting has taken him from hospitals strained by years of conflict in Sudan to Ghana’s “Year of Return,” which drew visitors of African descent from around the world. He has also interviewed leading African musicians, including Tems and Davido. His most recent NPR project examined the Lagos-Abidjan corridor, one of West Africa’s fastest-growing urban regions, through a multimedia report on its expanding population and the communities shaped by the route.

Akinwotu is also returning to a newsroom he already knows. Before joining NPR, he worked as a stringer for The New York Times alongside then-West Africa bureau chief Dionne Searcey. Their collaboration included a 2018 investigation into the Nigerian military’s killing of more than 40 unarmed Shiite protesters, reporting that challenged official accounts of the violence.

Searcey, who worked with Akinwotu when she managed stringers across 25 countries, recalled his early promise as a reporter, highlighting his instincts and commitment to covering the region. She also pointed to Akinwotu’s NPR story on the extortion he encountered surrounding his grandfather’s funeral as an example of the personal and systemic dimensions of his reporting.

Born in South London to Nigerian parents, Akinwotu studied at Goldsmiths, University of London. He will be based in Lagos with his wife as he begins his new role covering West Africa for The New York Times.