Diaspora Star | Lola Akinmade Åkerström: The Nigerian Storyteller Redefining Global Travel Media

Born in Nigeria, raised on curiosity, and sharpened by a world that never stopped expanding, Lola Akinmade Åkerström has built a career that proves storytelling can be both a passport and a legacy. Long before her work appeared in National Geographic, BBC, CNN, The Guardian, Travel + Leisure, and Forbes, she was a Lagos girl with a love for maps, colours, and the way people move through the world.

Her path wasn’t accidental. She earned a Master’s degree in Information Systems from the University of Maryland, pairing it with a minor in Geography, an academic foundation that quietly shaped her signature lens: culture, place, and human connection. Before she became a globally recognised travel writer and photographer, she spent 12+ years specialising in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), a discipline built on understanding how the world fits together. She didn’t just leave Nigeria, she carried it into every frame and every page.

That early precision shows in her work. Lola’s photography is defined by honest vibrancy, never poverty porn; her writing blends reportage with emotion without losing integrity. The industry noticed. She has been named a Hasselblad Heroine (2022), received the Travel Photographer of the Year Bill Muster Award, earned a Pushcart Prize nomination, and made the MIPAD 100 list for Most Influential People of African Descent in media and culture.

Her camera is represented by the National Geographic Image Collection. Her books travel wider than most people, Due North (a Lowell Thomas Award-winning travel book) and Lagom: The Swedish Secret of Living Well (published in 18 languages) reshaped how global audiences understand both movement and mindful living. She blends Nigerian grounding with Scandinavian clarity, proving you don’t have to erase your roots to build a global voice.

But Lola isn’t just a solo act. She co-founded NordicTB, a travel influencer collective shifting how the Nordics are seen. She co-founded Local Purse, a platform connecting travellers to artisans through live video shopping, supporting communities without exploitation. She runs Geotraveler Media, her Stockholm-based storytelling agency.

And through her Geotraveler Media Academy, she mentors the next wave of culturally conscious travel storytellers teaching them that representation is not an aesthetic, it’s a responsibility.

Her story matters to the diaspora because it widens the frame. She didn’t escape Nigeria to thrive, she extended it. The girl who once drew worlds now documents them, ensuring that when Africa appears in global travel media, it looks like a place of dignity, depth, and humanity.

Lola Akinmade Åkerström isn’t just a Nigerian abroad. She is what happens when talent leaves home, but identity doesn’t.