Mestre Akesse founded Iê Capoeira in Uppsala. Akesse was born in Guinea-Bissau in 1977. He is the oldest child in a group of 9 and he spent his first 7 years in the country. Then the family moved to Lisbon and Akesse started school there.
In Lisbon, he began practicing capoeira with his younger brother Adi, thus beginning his first professional career - as a professional capoeira.
At the age of 16, he began earning a living on capoeira with teaching and performances. In 1996, brothers Akesse and Adi Quade founded the group Escola da Capoeira Raízes de África in Lisbon, Portugal. Between 1996 and 2002, the group had a strong foothold in the city and spread the Afro-Brazilian culture around the country via the capoeira.
After about 10 years in Portugal, it was time for the next move and life's turns took him to Sweden.
Here he started Escola Raízes de África and the association Iê Capoeira together with Adi who trained with Akesse every year and shared the same career choice. The school was built up in Uppsala step by step and over the years it has had sister schools in Stockholm, Malmö, Umeå and Norrtälje. Some of their students have also started their own schools, which tradition offers in capoeira.