She hosted storytelling events in the country for several decades, and from 1985 to 1989 she consented to have her stories recorded and transcribed by the researcher Ursula Baumgardt, contributing significantly to perpetuating this West African oral tradition.
Goggo Addi was born in 1911 or perhaps 1912 in Bibemi, in northern Cameroon, during a period of expanding German colonization and increasing resistance to this incursion.
[2][3] Addi was made to enter a forced marriage, but she left her first husband and married, by choice, the son of one of her father's friends.
She returned to settle in her birthplace of Bibemi, where she acquired a reputation as a storyteller, hosting gatherings of local women and children.
The two women worked together until 1989 to record and transcribe Addi's stories, with Baumgardt attending her evening performances and conducting interviews.