Publishing & the Book in Africa: A Literature Review for 2018 Page 1 Publishing & the Book in Africa: A Literature Review for 2018 Hans M. Zell hanszell@hanszell.co.uk Copyright © Hans Zell Publishing Consultants 2019 This is the fourth in a series of annual reviews of select new literature in English that has appeared on the topic of publishing and the book sector in sub-Saharan Africa. The previous annual literature reviews can be found as follows: 2017: https://www.academia.edu/35877629/Publishing_and_the_Book_in_Africa_A_Literature_ Review_for_2017 (pre-print version) Print/online version published in The African Book Publishing Record 44, Issue 2 (May 2018): 116-167. https://doi.org/10.1515/abpr-2018-0008 2016: https://www.academia.edu/31441110/Publishing_and_the_Book_in_Africa_A_Literature_ Review_for_2016 (pre-print version) Print/online version published in The African Book Publishing Record 43, Issue 2 (May 2017): 120-170. https://doi.org/10.1515/abpr-2017-0004 2015: https://www.academia.edu/20432811/Publishing_and_the_Book_in_Africa_- _A_Literature_Review_for_2015 (pre-print version) Print/online version published in The African Book Publishing Record 42, Issue 1 (March 2016): 11-37. https://doi.org/10.1515/abpr-2016-0003. Scope and arrangement Extensively annotated and/or with abstracts, the present list brings together new literature published during the course of 2018, a total of 141 records. Also included are a small number of articles and other documents published in 2017 or earlier, which have not hitherto been included in previous annual literature reviews, or in the Publishing, Books & Reading in Sub- Saharan Africa online database (see also update on p. 3). The literature review covers books, chapters in books and edited collections, journal articles, Internet documents and reports, theses and dissertations, interviews, audio/video recordings and podcasts, as well as a number of blog postings, with their posting dates indicated. https://www.academia.edu/35877629/Publishing_and_the_Book_in_Africa_A_Literature_Review_for_2017 https://www.academia.edu/35877629/Publishing_and_the_Book_in_Africa_A_Literature_Review_for_2017 https://doi.org/10.1515/abpr-2018-0008 https://www.academia.edu/31441110/Publishing_and_the_Book_in_Africa_A_Literature_Review_for_2016 https://www.academia.edu/31441110/Publishing_and_the_Book_in_Africa_A_Literature_Review_for_2016 https://doi.org/10.1515/abpr-2017-0004 https://www.academia.edu/20432811/Publishing_and_the_Book_in_Africa_-_A_Literature_Review_for_2015 https://www.academia.edu/20432811/Publishing_and_the_Book_in_Africa_-_A_Literature_Review_for_2015 https://doi.org/10.1515/abpr-2016-0003 Publishing & the Book in Africa: A Literature Review for 2018 Page 2 Newspaper articles and stories are not generally included, unless of substantial length or of special significance. Records are grouped under a range of regional/country and topic-specific headings. It should be noted that, for the most part, literature on particular topics, e.g. children’s book publishing, digital publishing, educational and schoolbook publishing, publishing in African languages, reading culture and reading promotion, scholarly publishing, etc. is listed under topic/subject rather than country headings. For example, an article on developments in the digital book sector in Kenya will be listed in the topics sub-section entitled ‘Digital media and electronic publishing’ rather than in the country section for ‘Kenya’. However, in the absence of a country index it is possible to search for all country-specific records by using the Ctrl+F ‘find’ function in this document. For instance, typing ‘Ghana’ in the search box will find any text/records (in titles of articles, blog postings and other documents, or if part of the annotations) containing the word ‘Ghana’. The same search function can also be used to search for names of authors. Most journal articles published online are freely accessible, but a small number are behind a paywall and subscription based. For web documents and online journal articles the date the source was accessed is indicated [in square brackets]. As always, I am aware that there are no doubt gaps in the coverage of the literature, and if I have missed any articles/papers, books, theses, or other relevant documents on the topics covered by this literature review (and published or posted in 2018), I would be grateful if these could be brought to my attention. Please email details to hanszell@hanszell.co.uk, together with an electronic file of the document, or a link to it. Guest essay Starting with the 2018 edition we are pleased to introduce a ‘Guest essay’ as a special new feature to precede this and future annual literature surveys. The first contribution is Richard Crabbe’s ‘Revitalizing the Book Chain for National and International Cooperation’, his keynote address at the opening ceremony of the 16th Ghana International Book Fair on 30 August 2018, an eloquent and timely address, and which at the same time offers a succinct summing-up of the state of publishing and the book sector in Africa today. mailto:hanszell@hanszell.co.uk Publishing & the Book in Africa: A Literature Review for 2018 Page 3 About the Publishing, Books & Reading in Sub-Saharan Africa Database. Status update as at January 2019 All the records in the four annual literature reviews thus far published are scheduled to be integrated into the online database of Publishing, Books & Reading in Sub-Saharan Africa. Unfortunately, access to the database remains temporarily unavailable. It is currently still in the process of being relaunched by its new host institution, Kwara State University Library in Nigeria (and see also the 2015 press release at http://www.hanszell.co.uk/Site/PDFs/Press%20release.pdf) Due to a number of persistent technical problems relating to metadata mapping and software functionality, as well as ongoing software development and data transfer issues, there have been serious delays in the migration of the database. However, the new hosts hope that remaining problems and issues can now be resolved shortly, and that they will be able to relaunch the database sometime early in 2019 on a more dynamic, Drupal-based open source content management platform. The first batch of updates and over 500 entirely new records will then also be added to the database. Meantime the accompanying collection of books, monograph series, journals, articles, and other documents on publishing and book development in Sub-Saharan Africa, from 1996 to 2014, donated by Hans Zell to Kwara State University Library in 2015 is now accessible at the recipient library. This is a continuation of an earlier collection and archive (for the 1960-1995 period) that was donated to the African Publishers Network/APNET in Harare in 1995. The 1996-2014 collection has now been fully catalogued and records have been created for each item and integrated in KWASU’s Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC). A complete listing and inventory of the collection (which includes unpublished and archival material) can be found at http://kwasu.edu.ng/library/pbrssa.html. This page also includes a user guide, and an online form to register for access to and use of the collection. Access is free to any bona fide scholar or researcher from around the globe. For more information about the status of the new database, or access to the physical collection, contact Teslim B. Balogun, Project Director, PB&RSSA, Kwara State University Library, PMB 1530, Malete, Kwara State, Nigeria. Email: teslim.balogun@kwasu.edu.ng This pre-print version uploaded on Academia.edu on 29 January 2019 Print version to appear in The African Book Publishing Record Volume 44, Issue 2, (May 2019) https://www.degruyter.com/view/j/abpr http://www.hanszell.co.uk/Site/PDFs/Press%20release.pdf http://kwasu.edu.ng/library/pbrssa.html mailto:teslim.balogun@kwasu.edu.ng https://www.degruyter.com/view/j/abpr Publishing & the Book in Africa: A Literature Review for 2018 Page 4 Contents Guest essay: Revitalizing the Book Chain for National and International Cooperation by Richard A.B. Crabbe 6 NEW SERIALS 14 REFERENCE & BIBLIOGRAPHY 14 GENERAL & REGIONAL STUDIES 15 Africa: General studies/Book history in Africa 15 Regional studies: Africa, East 25 Regional studies: Africa, Francophone (articles in English only) 26 Regional studies: Africa, Southern 28 COUNTRY STUDIES 29 Note: most articles or blog postings on particular topics or areas of the book trade, for example publishing for children, publishing in African languages, copyright, scholarly publishing, etc. are classified under STUDIES BY TOPIC, see below. Ethiopia 29 Ghana 29 Kenya 31 Nigeria 33 South Africa 40 Zimbabwe 45 STUDIES BY TOPIC 45 Authors and publishers/Publishing of African writers and African literature 45 (in Africa and elsewhere) Book and journals assistance and donation programmes 50 Children's book publishing 51 Copyright and legal deposit/Authors' rights/Book piracy 52 Digital media and electronic publishing 57 Journals and magazine publishing 61 Open access publishing and licensing 62 Predatory publishing 64 Publishing in African languages 67 Reading culture and reading promotion 70 Scholarly publishing (General) 72 Scientific, technical, and medical publishing 74 Women in African publishing/Publishing by and for women 75 Publishing & the Book in Africa: A Literature Review for 2018 Page 5 BOOK INDUSTRY TRAINING/SELF-PUBLISHING 78 Publishing education/Training manuals and resources 78 Handbooks for authors and self-publishing 79 Publishing & the Book in Africa: A Literature Review for 2018 Page 6 Guest essay: Revitalizing the Book Chain for National and International Cooperation Keynote Address by Richard A.B. Crabbe1 at the Opening Ceremony of the 16th Ghana International Book Fair, Accra, Ghana, August 30, 2018 It is an honour for me to stand before you today to deliver the keynote address at the Opening Ceremony of the 16th Ghana International Book Fair. So, I will speak as a Ghanaian, because this is my home industry. I will speak as an African, because this edition of the fair is building on a growing reputation of being one of the fairs in Africa that offers a forum for exchange of ideas on cutting edge issues and practical helps to improve the industry. And I will speak as a citizen of the world, one who has been privileged to work and share experience with others in the industry from around the world. A viable indigenous publishing industry is critical to the economic development of a country, as it supports progress in literacy, education, and empowerment. Publishing is also an important productive sector that provides a number of skilled jobs across the continent— writers, designers, artists, editors, publishers, printers, freighters, wholesalers, and booksellers and retailers. One very often hears the phrase, “publishing industry”, but publishing is yet to be treated or even considered as an industry. Perhaps it is because many do not understand publishing, and confuse it with printing. I have begun by talking about publishing, because it is the key part of the book chain that brings together all the productive portions of the chain. Therefore, we cannot talk about the book chain without noting that the publishing industry should be considered a strategic partner for a country’s educational and economic development, and social transformation. More on this later. Now to the book chain. It is called as such, simply because all the key actors are interlinked. 1 Richard Crabbe is currently an International Communications and Publishing Consultant. He also works as a Senior Communications and Publishing Consultant at the World Bank, Washington, DC. From 2002 to 2012 he served as Head of Client Relations in the World Bank’s Office of the Publisher. Prior to joining the World Bank in 2002 he was General Manager of Africa Christian Press in Accra, Ghana (1982-2002). In his nearly 40-year career in publishing, he has also served as Chairman, African Publishers’ Network (APNET), Member, Executive Committee of the International Publishers Association (IPA); and President of the Ghana Book Publishers Association. He was lead author for the book, Textbook Development in Low Income Countries: A Guide for Policy and Practice, published in 2014, and he led the team that prepared a 12-module e-course to accompany the manual. Publishing & the Book in Africa: A Literature Review for 2018 Page 7 Writers Our writers are the ones who incubate ideas and express them in ways that cause us to pause, think, reflect, and hopefully, learn. Theirs is often a lonely task, because until the ideas are published, a writer may be unknown. As a people, Ghanaians talk a lot; some may say, too much. But we should let our writings match our talking. History is being made daily, and we need to record this for posterity. I believe that a people who do not know their history or heritage are really a lost people. It was the late Sir Winston Churchill who said, “A nation that forgets its past has no future.” So, let’s not only major on fiction, as will be recognized and rewarded by the Burt Award for African Literature on Friday2. Let us also encourage more writers to document what is happening now in Ghana and Africa. Otherwise, others will do so for us and our grandchildren, and we may not like the perspective or slant they will give to what we would have experienced in our lifetime. No more David Livingstone or Henry Stanley discovering the source of the Nile, a river that had watered Africa for centuries before they were born! If we are to revitalize the book chain, our writers need to be willing to improve their work and make it relevant to our needs today. Publishers need to encourage writing in our local languages as well, and to address the concerns writers have, for example, regarding royalty arrangements. Editors From writers we go to the editors. They scrutinize and polish the words of writers to create works of art, books that invite you to read them. Editors are in short supply, which is evident in some of the mediocre content that gets published. A recent survey of 11 African countries showed that editorial capacity was lacking across the board. We need editors who can edit to required levels for our schools; we need editors who can edit textbooks; and we need editors who can edit serious works, scientific manuals, biographies, non-fiction, and fiction—all genres. I would urge our experienced editors to consider passing on their knowledge, experience and talent to the next generation, and for the next generation of editors to learn from them, aiming to improve their craft. I am glad that the Ghana Association of Book Editors will run an editing workshop on Saturday. This is one link of the book chain that could benefit from international cooperation through capacity building. Editors are key for ensuring that high quality titles are published. Designers and illustrators They bring books to life, whether it’s the cover, layout or illustrations. Here, we need to pay close attention to gender portrayal, particularly in children’s books, because young minds shaped in childhood will be the minds that take decisions that impact society later in life. Today’s child is tomorrow’s adult. Let us also remember that Africa as a whole is rapidly becoming urbanized. In fact, according to the 2017 Drivers of Migration and Urbanization in Africa report3 by the United Nations, Sub-Saharan Africa is the world's fastest urbanizing region. Urban areas will double over the next 25 years. Therefore, our illustrations of children’s books should move away from the stereotypical village story for a child’s first day at school. Our illustrations should reflect the reality around us, help us to confidently face the future, and not imprison us in the past. 2 https://www.burtaward.org/african-young-adult-lit 3 http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/events/pdf/expert/27/papers/III/paper-Awunbila- final.pdf http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/events/pdf/expert/27/papers/III/paper-Awunbila-%20final.pdf http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/events/pdf/expert/27/papers/III/paper-Awunbila-%20final.pdf Publishing & the Book in Africa: A Literature Review for 2018 Page 8 Printers We come to our printers who actually manufacture the books in print format. There is ongoing debate about printing schoolbooks locally as a means of revitalizing the print industry. It must be noted that almost every African country imports paper and other inputs for printing. They are therefore subject to customs duties and taxes which, in turn, are passed on to the buyer. Some countries also levy some tax, such as value added tax, on locally printed as well as imported books. Ironically, the government is the largest buyer of schoolbooks. Therefore, governments end up taxing themselves! Digital production Here is where digital book production offers some promise. There is growth in digital content, particularly fiction in Nigeria, written, published, and distributed by a young cadre of publishers. But generally, across Africa digital/electronic publishing is still in a nascent stage. Many publishers have embraced the format, with 50 per cent of their catalogue available as e- publications, and it does offer promise. However, delivery on a large scale to the schools’ market might be a challenge in the near term. There’s talk about using use e-books in schools, as happening in Kenya and South Africa. But, apart from these two countries, the required infrastructure, including electricity and internet connectivity, is currently not available. As such, I believe e-books will likely not replace print versions in the near future; it is more likely that both formats will coexist in the foreseeable future. Distributors and booksellers Weak distribution networks seem prevalent within and across borders of most African countries. Bookselling has suffered from procurement practices that sideline them completely, favoring delivery by publishers (often through commercial transporters) to the point of use or collection points designated by government or donor agencies that purchase books. Weakening independent bookselling leads to the unintended consequence of limited access to books, which in turn promotes piracy. There is interest in cross-border publishing, a potential area for growth. East Africa shows strong regional market operations by publishers—especially from Kenya and Uganda and in neighboring countries such as Rwanda, South Sudan and Zambia. The reader From the bookseller, the book gets to the reader. Unless a book is in the hands of the intended reader, the writer has not succeeded in getting his or her message across. In a situation where the average reader is less likely to afford a new book, libraries could provide access to books. However, generally, libraries in Africa have an ongoing tale of woe: Government purchases of books for libraries are very little to zero. Most libraries in African countries are therefore dependent on ad hoc donor funding from NGOs or development partners, or on occasional large shipments of donated books. For many African publishers, expectations of local library sales are a thing of the past. As the bulk of library purchases tend to be supplementary readers, the combination of very low purchases of locally published materials, and influx of overseas book donation programmes which ship tens of millions of free books to African public and other libraries every year, negatively impacts the local book publishing industry. In their excellent review of book donation Publishing & the Book in Africa: A Literature Review for 2018 Page 9 schemes4, Zell and Thierry point out that “large-scale book donation schemes, and huge quantities of free books flooding their markets, have an adverse impact on the local publishing industries and the book trade, and that such donations can only be justified if they are recipient-request led, and are supportive of the local ‘book chain’ at the same time.” I read a 28th August 2018 news item on the Joy FM website that said the Africa office of The Royal Commonwealth Society has partnered with the First Lady of Ghana to promote literacy across schools in Ghana. Part of the report stated, “As part of the partnership, state of the art libraries will be built across selected areas and will be filled with amazing books.”5 My sincere desire is that those “amazing books” will include books written by Ghanaians and produced by Ghana’s publishing industry, and titles from other African writers and African countries. The publisher To get all in the chain to work together, we have the publisher who works like the conductor of the orchestra, signaling when each part is to spring into action. How are publishers faring? Brian Wafawarowa, president of the South African Publishers Association, and executive member of the International Publishers Association, has written that “more than 80% of publishing in Africa is education-related.” Today, African publishers face increasing difficulty in accessing and benefiting from the school textbook market. For educational and school book publishers, a new threat has surfaced in moves by some African governments to introduce and implement a policy of just one officially sanctioned textbook per subject and grade (Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania), or are considering doing so (South Africa), thus ending the current situation of a multiplicity of books from a variety of publishing houses, all competing in an open market. This development has the potential to squeeze out several publishers, tighten investment in supplementary readers, compromise quality and delivery, and increase per unit prices in the longer term, as happened in the 1970s and 1980s. Honorable Chairman, consider that the report of the 1968 UNESCO conference, held here in Accra, Ghana, stated: “A controversy has of late arisen as to whether the preparation and publication of books for educational purposes should be in the hands of private enterprise or the government. If in private hands, the production would be motivated by private profits which may disregard educational objectives. If in government hands, then political influences such as favoritism and undue interference may override social considerations. But it may be expedient to conserve the government capital resources, and private enterprise may be 4 Hans M. Zell and Raphaël Thierry. “Book Donation Programmes for Africa: Time for a Reappraisal? Two Perspectives.” African Research & Documentation. Journal of SCOLMA - the UK Libraries and Archives Group on Africa no. 127 (2015) [Published February 2017]: 3-137 (part I), 139-215 (part II). Pre-print online versions (freely accessible) Part I: Book Donation Programmes in English-speaking Africa, by Hans M. Zell. https://www.academia.edu/13165497/Book_Donation_Programmes_for_Africa_Time_for_a_Reappraisal_Part_I Part II: Le don de livre, mais à quel prix, et en échange de quoi? Un regard sur le don de livre en Afrique francophone, by Raphaël Thierry. https://www.academia.edu/13166294/Le_don_de_livre_mais_%C3%A0_quel_prix_et_en_%C3%A9change_de_qu oi_Book_donation_programmes_for_Africa_part_2 _ (In French, with an abstract in English) 5 https://www.myjoyonline.com/news/2018/August-28th/first-lady-partners-commonwealth-office-to-promote- literacy.php https://www.academia.edu/13165497/Book_Donation_Programmes_for_Africa_Time_for_a_Reappraisal_Part_I https://www.academia.edu/13166294/Le_don_de_livre_mais_%C3%A0_quel_prix_et_en_%C3%A9change_de_quoi_Book_donation_programmes_for_Africa_part_2 https://www.academia.edu/13166294/Le_don_de_livre_mais_%C3%A0_quel_prix_et_en_%C3%A9change_de_quoi_Book_donation_programmes_for_Africa_part_2 https://www.myjoyonline.com/news/2018/August-28th/first-lady-partners-commonwealth-office-to-promote-literacy.php https://www.myjoyonline.com/news/2018/August-28th/first-lady-partners-commonwealth-office-to-promote-literacy.php Publishing & the Book in Africa: A Literature Review for 2018 Page 10 allowed to develop rapidly to its maximum capacity.”6 That was 50 years ago! So why have some governments taken over textbook publishing again? In fact, for Kenya and Tanzania, issues with quality have arisen. Monopolies have a way of promoting mediocrity in quality and content, corruption in procurement. Monopolies in the educational book production and supply will end up crippling the very industry that could serve as a strategic partner to support effective learning and teaching that would produce positive educational outcomes. The way forward: Revitalize So, what is the way forward for the publishing industry? Over the past 40+ years, many pan- African or regional organizations, programmes, networks, and other initiatives in the book sector have failed, despite their best intentions. So, what can be done to breathe new life into the African book publishing industry and make it sustainable? In January 2018, participants at the Regional Workshop for African Book Industry Stakeholders in Abidjan, La Côte d’Ivoire, unanimously adopted the concept of an African Publishing Collaborative—an action plan around five pillars for advocating and establishing innovative and effective mechanisms within countries for the production, acquisition, distribution, management and use of textbooks and other reading materials in national languages. The five pillars of intervention are: (i) Advocacy, policy dialogue and reading promotion; (ii) Training and research; (iii) Local languages; (iv) Publishing partnerships; and (v) Bookselling and distribution. Moves are also underway to revive the African Publishers Network (APNET), which at one time represented national publishers’ associations from 43 African countries. National cooperation Within countries, there is the need for all aspects of the book chain to work together. Parochial interests must give way to the need to revitalize the book chain for mutual benefit, and the larger national interest of producing quality books and making them more accessible to our people. Revitalizing means we will do things differently and better. All across Africa, national book policies are generally non-existent. And where policies exist, they are routinely ignored when major decisions that affect the industry are being taken. Revitalizing means Government needs to step up to create and implement the appropriate policy environment to facilitate the growth and development of the book publishing industry. Revitalizing means every link in the book chain should strive to improve. Government and the private sector should cooperate with each other, and not compete against each other. International cooperation Since November 2017, three major conferences and workshops have been held in Africa: (i) High Level Regional Conference: The Publishing Industry in Africa and its Role in Education and Economic Growth, organized by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), and held in Yaoundé, Cameroon, November 22-23, 2017; (ii) Regional Workshop for African Book Industry Stakeholders, organized by ADEA and the Global Book Alliance (GBA), and held in Abidjan, La Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), January 22-25, 2018; and (iii) the International Publishers Association’s first ever African Regional Seminar held in Lagos, Nigeria, May 9, 2018. These high-level meetings on the African book industry point to the need for the principal actors and organizers dialogue and harmonize their efforts, since they all plan to continue engaging the industry, often represented by the same individuals, at different fora. 6 https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000059548_eng https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000059548_eng Publishing & the Book in Africa: A Literature Review for 2018 Page 11 Fresh hope has arisen due to the emergence of the Global Book Alliance, a partnership of donor agencies, multilateral institutions, and civil society organizations that are committed to bringing books to every child in the world by 2030. In its 2018-2020 strategy, the Alliance states that it recognizes that the long-term solution to the global children’s book gap is in establishing robust local markets for books. To help those markets develop, the Alliance will address challenges across the entire book chain, from title development, publication, procurement, distribution, and use. The Alliance will identify innovative ideas, test them, and replicate successful approaches within and across countries. It must be noted that the Alliance plans to work through publishing collaboratives, similar to what stakeholders agreed upon in Abidjan in January. The multiple issues mean that no single intervention can address all the elements of a functioning market. No one-size-fits-all approach will work. What is needed in Ghana, for example, might be very different from what is needed in Uganda. A holistic and country- centric approach is therefore required to address barriers across the book chain, and support a self-sustaining market that encourages a reading culture to flourish, and offers commercial opportunities for publishers beyond governments and aid organizations to sell their books. What can we do? Before concluding, I would like to take the opportunity to offer some suggestions: 1. Dialogue. Government and the book industry have to dialogue and find ways to strengthen the industry for the benefit of all concerned. It does not make sense for officials to give audience to external competitors while closing their doors to local industry players. A national forum on publishing development should involve development partners and international NGOs that have been working in a country. 2. Build and improve capacity. Quality work speaks for itself. For topics such as open educational resources and editing, seek international technical assistance. Book donation schemes should be accompanied by a clear plan to develop the local industry. Capacity building components can also be built into loans and grant agreements. 3. Develop transparent systems. Of particular concern are: (i) Evaluation and approval of manuscripts: This is seriously compromised when a Ministry of Education decides to empanel writers, evaluate and approve their output, and then also select what should be used in schools. One cannot be referee and player at the same time. (ii) Procurement: This has long been a breeding ground for corruption, because of how information is released and a lack of transparency surrounding processes and award of contracts. For example, how come a publisher, or sometimes a briefcase-toting person from another country, will find out about a tender for purchase of books long before local publishers? 4. Work across borders. This applies not only to language publishing, but also for systems that enhance cross-border trade in books. How about harmonizing curricula so that books can be used across West Africa? We have the West African Examinations Council, so it should not be so difficult to share textbooks across all the member Publishing & the Book in Africa: A Literature Review for 2018 Page 12 countries. On the larger front, the publishing industry needs to take advantage of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). This initiative of the African Union, signed by 44 of 55 heads of state and government in Kigali, Rwanda on March 21, 2018, will be one of the world’s largest free-trade areas in terms of the number of countries, covering more than 1.2 billion people, and over $4 trillion in combined consumer and business spending if all 55 countries join. 5. Collect and organize statistics on the book publishing industry. To address the chronic issue of lack of reliable data, the publishing industry needs to be part of the frontline to collect and curate data relating to the book publishing industry: number of new titles published annually; number of books sold (copies and estimated value)— disaggregated by children’s books, language, etc. Additionally, national publishers’ associations should be encouraged to establish digital repositories bringing together key articles, papers, studies, reports, statistics, training resources, and other materials on the many aspects of publishing and the book in Africa. A concerted effort over five years, for example, can assemble a wealth of knowledge that can be shared with other countries. Record-keeping at industry- and government-level is weak. In his July 2018 publication, African Book Industry Data and the State of African National Bibliographies7, Hans Zell has noted that “Book publishing data and book production statistics are important elements in measuring the growth and vitality of indigenous publishing in any part of the world, but reliable figures of book publishing output for the continent of Africa do not exist at the present time, with the exception of South Africa and, to a limited extent, for one or two other countries.” Speaking at an IPA Seminar in Lagos, Nigeria, José Borghino, Secretary General of the IPA, stated, “Without accurate data, all our stories about publishers are just anecdotes.”8 6. Develop and implement national book policies. Without a well-thought-out and effectively implemented framework, progress will be difficult. 7. Promote reading. Studies have found that children who look at books with their parents and are read to from an early age tend to know more words, have higher cognitive abilities, are more interested in books, and become better readers in the future. The benefits extend to parents too. In contexts where parents are illiterate or low literate, the pleasure of looking at books with their children helps them see value in being able to read and motivates them to improve their own literacy skills. 7 Hans M. Zell “African Book Industry Data & the State of African National Bibliographies.” Pre-print online version (freely accessible) https://www.academia.edu/37581588/African_Book_Industry_Data_and_the_State_of_African_National_Bibliogr aphies Print version in The African Book Publishing Record, Volume 44, Issue 4 (Dec 2018): 363–389. https://doi.org/10.1515/abpr-2018-0012 8 IPA Regional Seminar in Nigeria. International Publishers Association. [Online] June 5, 2018. https://www.internationalpublishers.org/images/events/IPA_Seminars/Lagos_May_2018/FINAL-IPA- REPORT.pdf https://au.int/CFTASummit2018 https://au.int/en/agenda2063 https://www.academia.edu/37581588/African_Book_Industry_Data_and_the_State_of_African_National_Bibliographies https://www.academia.edu/37581588/African_Book_Industry_Data_and_the_State_of_African_National_Bibliographies https://doi.org/10.1515/abpr-2018-0012 https://www.internationalpublishers.org/images/events/IPA_Seminars/Lagos_May_2018/FINAL-IPA-REPORT.pdf https://www.internationalpublishers.org/images/events/IPA_Seminars/Lagos_May_2018/FINAL-IPA-REPORT.pdf Publishing & the Book in Africa: A Literature Review for 2018 Page 13 Conclusion In conclusion, let us remember that books can bring peoples closer. Books can be great ambassadors; they go where no one in the book chain responsible for producing them can go. Books open our minds to know more about and relate better with each other. Working together, we can all help to revitalize the book chains in our respective countries to make quality books more available, more affordable, and more accessible to our people. Let’s start with the children and make it happen. As the title of the late Nigerian playwright James Ene Henshaw’s great drama says, “This is Our Chance.” Thank you. Publishing & the Book in Africa: A Literature Review for 2018 Page 14 NEW SERIALS BookNews issue 1, May/June 2018- Irregular Print and online [no ISSN] Edited by an editorial committee, John Mwazemba, Chair Kenya Publishers Association, PO Box 42767 Nairobi, Kenya Email: info@kenyapublishers.org Website: www.kenyapublishers.org http://www.ekitabu.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/BookNews-Issue-01-Final.pdf The Kenya Publishers Association has launched the first issue of its (free) quarterly BookNews magazine, intended to inform the public “on matters of publishing, the new curriculum developments, and various activities and projects that the publishing industry is undertaking.“ Contents in issue 1 also includes news about book trade events, book prizes and awards, book reviews, and a number of short articles on issues affecting publishing and the retail trade in Kenya. Publishers & Books no. 001, 2018- Monthly (in French and English) Print and online (subscription-based) [no ISSN] Yaoundé: African Observatory of Professional Publishers Editor and Publisher: Ulrich Talla Wamba Email: oape.info@gmail.com oape.market@gmail.com Web: http://www.oape-africa.org/pages/publishers-books/ For a list of recent content see http://www.oape-africa.org/pages/actualites/ Free access to issue no. 3 (viewing only) is at https://issuu.com/oape-africa/docs/publishers___books_-_august_2018_-_ The first four issues of this attractively produced new magazine – sub-titled ‘Mensuel d’Afrique-Magazine Spécialisé & Professionel-Livres et Éditions’ – contain a variety of informative news, reports about book fairs and other book promotional events, interviews, as well as short articles (primarily in French, but also some in English) about the book world and the publishing industries in Africa. In the first issue there is an insightful interview with Kenyan e-book entrepreneur Alexander Nderitu, a profile of Cameroonian publisher Editions CLE, together with a special section of contributions on the e-book in Africa, and the new opportunities now offered to African publishers keen to exploit the digital markets. Issues 2 and 3 also contain Raphaël Thierry’s two-part study “Géopolitique du livre africain francophone. 1950-1980.” REFERENCE & BIBLIOGRAPHY Higgs, Colleen, ed. Small African Publishers Catalogue. Cape Town: Modjaji Books, 4th ed. 2018. 115 pp. ISBN 9781928215721 (Distributed outside Africa by African Books Collective Ltd., Oxford) This is the fourth edition of a useful directory – now published in a small pocket book size format – that intends to provide a showcase of the variety and extent of independent and small publishing in Africa. A typical full entry includes physical and postal address, website, email, telephone number, contact information, as well as social media contacts. This is followed by a brief profile of each publisher, the nature of their list, area(s) of specialization, mailto:info@kenyapublishers.org http://www.kenyapublishers.org/ http://www.ekitabu.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/BookNews-Issue-01-Final.pdf mailto:oape.info@gmail.com mailto:oape.market@gmail.com http://www.oape-africa.org/pages/publishers-books/ http://www.oape-africa.org/pages/actualites/ https://issuu.com/oape-africa/docs/publishers___books_-_august_2018_-_ Publishing & the Book in Africa: A Literature Review for 2018 Page 15 and/or services provided, together with small images of their logo. Also included are a number of insightful short articles and interviews about the challenges of small indie publishing in Africa. It would have been helpful if the introduction to the catalogue had provided some information about the data gathering process, and the criteria for inclusion in this directory of “small independent” African publishers. As in previous editions, South African publishers still heavily dominate the listings (a total of 43), but there are also a small number of entries for publishers in 13 other African countries: (one each in Algeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mauritius, Namibia, Rwanda, Senegal and Togo; two each in Kenya and Uganda; three in Nigeria, and four in Zimbabwe), as well as listings for three publishers in Europe and the US. There are some notable lacunae though, for example just one entry for Ghana, and no publishers at all from Botswana, Cameroon, Lesotho, Malawi, Morocco, Sierra Leone, Swaziland, Tanzania, Tunisia and Zambia, as well as many francophone African countries. Their absence may be as a result of publishers’ failure in these countries to respond to the compiler’s request for information; or perhaps that they do not wish, or no longer wish, to be included in a directory of “small publishers”. This is a pity, and also points to a failure of some small African publishers to make their activities widely known, both at home and internationally. Zell, Hans M. “Publishing & the Book in Africa: A Literature Review for 2017.” The African Book Publishing Record 44, no. 2 (June 2018): 116-167. https://doi.org/10.1515/abpr-2018-0008 [10/07/18] Pre-print online version (freely accessible) https://www.academia.edu/35877629/Publishing_and_the_Book_in_Africa_A_Literature_ Review_for_2017 [18/02/18] The predecessor of the present list, this is third in a series of annual reviews of select new literature in English that has appeared on the topic of publishing and the book sector in sub- Saharan Africa. Extensively annotated and/or with abstracts, the present list brings together new literature published during the course of 2017, a total of 157 records. The literature review covers books, chapters in books and edited collections, journal articles, Internet documents and reports, theses and dissertations, interviews, audio/video recordings and podcasts, as well as a number of blog postings. Records are grouped under a range of regional/country and topic-specific headings. GENERAL & REGIONAL STUDIES Africa: General studies/Book history in Africa African Publishers Network Rights Catalogue 2018. Accra: African Publishers Network, 2018. 74 pp. (print and online) http://www.african-publishers.net/images/apnet_rights.pdf [26/10/18] This is the first new publication from the recently revived African Publishers Network/APNET http://www.african-publishers.net/ that “is intended to promote international trade and intra-African trade in publishing through the selling of rights”, and which “aims to facilitate business during international book fairs and across the continent https://doi.org/10.1515/abpr-2018-0008 https://www.academia.edu/35877629/Publishing_and_the_Book_in_Africa_A_Literature_Review_for_2017 https://www.academia.edu/35877629/Publishing_and_the_Book_in_Africa_A_Literature_Review_for_2017 http://www.african-publishers.net/images/apnet_rights.pdf http://www.african-publishers.net/ Publishing & the Book in Africa: A Literature Review for 2018 Page 16 after the fairs.” Titles in English are listed under broad subject groups or by genre (e.g. educational, children’s, fiction, poetry, etc.), and there are also listings of a small number of titles in French published by francophone African publishers, as well as a few in Arabic published in Egypt. Information provided on each book includes author, title, publisher, ISBN, page extent and price in US$ for some, together with a short description of contents and accompanied by a cover image. Although it includes books published in West, East, and Southern Africa, there is a fairly strong preponderance of books from Ghanaian and Nigerian publishers. While it includes a good number of books published in 2017 or 2018, some other titles listed are very old, a number of them published ten or more years ago. APNET states that “anyone interested in obtaining rights to these titles should contact the APNET Secretariat/representative during book fairs or the publishers directly.” However, while a useful rights-on-offer tool, inclusion of publishers’ contact details, together with their email addresses and websites, would have greatly benefitted the utility this catalogue, especially since the country of publication of the titles featured is not indicated as part of the bibliographic details provided. Al Qasimi, Bodour The Next Nollywood – Reasons Why a Strong Publishing Industry is Great for Africa. http://venturesafrica.com/the-next-nollywood-reasons-why-a-strong-publishing-industry- is-great-for-africa/ (Posted 16 May 2018) [18/07/18] Bodour Al Qasimi is the Founder and President of the Emirates Publishers Association (EPA) and the CEO and Founder of Kalimat Publishing Group http://kalimat.ae/en/, the first publishing house in the United Arab Emirates dedicated to publishing high quality children’s books. In May 2018 she addressed the International Publishers Association (IPA) seminar in Lagos to discuss, among other issues, the future of the publishing industry across Africa. She is hugely optimistic about the prospects of African publishing, but says the full potential of the continent is not being realized: “This is evidenced by the lack of integration between the African publishing industry and the global publishing market. By fostering closer cooperation, there are huge opportunities to be made. The global publishing industry is starting to change, however, and there are encouraging signs that emerging markets are starting to play more of an active role in the conversations once dominated by the traditional European publishing markets. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is one of these markets, and we continue to integrate more effectively with global markets. This integration has been hugely positive, and there are striking similarities between the development trajectories of many of the African publishing markets and the publishing market in the UAE. Indeed, together with African publishers, we aim to offer genuine diversity to the industry and promote our rich and vibrant cultures internationally.” Al Qasimi believes the globalization of the publishing industry presents an opportunity for publishers in emerging markets to meet surging global interest in more diverse, original narratives. “This trend will inevitably lead to a shift of the global publishing industry from traditional hubs in developed countries to other important secondary hubs in developed and developing countries – the UAE and Nigeria are clear examples of this. It is in these frontiers where the publishing industry will find its future readers and customers. And while I believe the present is bright for African publishers, I believe the future looks even brighter.”’ Note: see also Bodour Al Qasimi’s blog posting Can Emerging Markets be the Answer to Global Readers’ Quest for New, Fresh Content? https://nasher-news.com/can-emerging-markets-be-the-answer-to-global- readers-quest-for-new-fresh-content/ [18/10/18] http://venturesafrica.com/the-next-nollywood-reasons-why-a-strong-publishing-industry-is-great-for-africa/ http://venturesafrica.com/the-next-nollywood-reasons-why-a-strong-publishing-industry-is-great-for-africa/ http://kalimat.ae/en/ https://nasher-news.com/can-emerging-markets-be-the-answer-to-global-readers-quest-for-new-fresh-content/ https://nasher-news.com/can-emerging-markets-be-the-answer-to-global-readers-quest-for-new-fresh-content/ Publishing & the Book in Africa: A Literature Review for 2018 Page 17 Association for the Development of Education in Africa–Working Group on Books and Learning Materials, and Global Book Alliance Report. Regional Workshop for African Book Industry Stakeholders, January 22-25, 2018. Abidjan: Association for the Development of Education in Africa–Working Group on Books and Learning Materials, and Washington DC, USAID, 2018. 40 pp. http://www.adeanet.org/sites/default/files/adea_gba_workshop_report.pdf [10/04/18] In January 2018 a high level technical meeting, ADEA-USAID Global Book Alliance Partnership: Time to Eliminate Book Hunger for Children in Africa, http://www.adeanet.org/en/news/adea-usaid-global-book-alliance-partnership-time-to- eliminate-book-hunger-for-children-in was held in Abidjan, organized by the Global Book Alliance (GBA) and the Association for the Development of Education in Africa – Working Group on Books and Learning Materials (WGBLM) http://www.adeanet.org/en/working- groups/books-and-learning-materials in collaboration with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). It sought to develop “a common draft action plan around five pillars for advocating and establishing innovative and effective mechanisms within countries for the production, acquisition, distribution, management and use of textbooks and other reading materials in national languages.” The meeting attracted seventy- nine key stakeholders in the African book publishing industry from 11 Francophone, 10 Anglophone, one Lusophone countries, and 12 representatives of development partners. The workshop report and action plan was published on 29 March 2018. In its conclusion the report states that the setting up of an African Publishing Collaborative was discussed in great detail, largely within groups. The outcome of the discussions forms part of the Action Plan described under a five-point agenda, which was formally adopted at the end of the workshop. The five-point agenda, or “five pillars”, are: 1. Advocacy, policy dialogue and reading promotion: Create awareness for the need of national book and reading policy in ADEA member countries by 2020 and provide technical assistance for that purpose. 2. Training and research: Establish an online training platform for the African book industry and enable national associations develop effective communication plans with policy makers. 3. Local languages: Facilitate efforts toward standardizing cross-border and international orthography; and encourage and support linkages and collaborations for local language development. 4. Publishing partnerships: Foster close partnerships within the publishing industry in countries, across borders and with outside agencies; and catalysing the development of a stronger, versatile, economically sustainable industry, including encouraging the creation of conducive conditions that facilitate the active exchange of skills and knowledge in the selling and buying of rights, co-publishing and co-editions across borders. http://www.adeanet.org/sites/default/files/adea_gba_workshop_report.pdf http://www.adeanet.org/en/news/adea-usaid-global-book-alliance-partnership-time-to-eliminate-book-hunger-for-children-in http://www.adeanet.org/en/news/adea-usaid-global-book-alliance-partnership-time-to-eliminate-book-hunger-for-children-in http://www.adeanet.org/en/working-groups/books-and-learning-materials http://www.adeanet.org/en/working-groups/books-and-learning-materials Publishing & the Book in Africa: A Literature Review for 2018 Page 18 5. Bookselling and distribution: Strengthen capacity building for booksellers through a standardised curriculum; and develop sustainable models for bookselling and distribution, including the use of new technology. Chorbadzhiyska, Ralitsa African Publishing Houses to Keep Your Eyes On. http://africawrites.org/blog/african-publishing-houses-to-keep-your-eyes-on/ (Posted 13 June 2018) [28/10/18] African publishing houses, like those elsewhere in the world, vary between print and digital, and those that focus on fiction or non-fiction, adult or children’s literature. What is important to them, the author says, is their individual mission and the drive behind their creation. Here she presents short profiles of the activities of six small independent publishers in Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Crabbe, Richard A.B. Revitalizing the Book Chain for National and International Cooperation. The keynote address given by Richard Crabbe at the opening ceremony of the 16th Ghana International Book Fair, held in Accra, Ghana, August 30, 2018, an eloquent and timely address, which offers a succinct summing-up of the state of publishing and the book sector in Africa today. It is reproduced in full as the Guest Essay (see p. 6) as part of the introductory section in this annual literature review. Previously Head of Client Relations in the World Bank’s Office of the Publisher, Richard Crabbe is a former Chair of the African Publishers’ Network (APNET), and also a past President of the Ghana Book Publishers Association. Note: see also this Ghana News Agency report http://www.ghananewsagency.org/social/ghana-international- book-fair-launched-137906 [03/09/18] Early Literacy Network National Language and Book Policies. http://www.earlyliteracynetwork.org/resources-by- topic/National%20language%20and%20book%20policies [25/11/18] Compiled by the Early Literacy Network http://www.earlyliteracynetwork.org/, these pages provides a useful set of resources and links to language and book policies in developing countries including Africa, as well as research on the impact of national book policies for content creators and publishers, including aspects such as language education policies and licensing. James Murua's Literature Blog http://www.jamesmurua.com/ [24/10/18] James Murua’s lively blog offers not only a steady stream of news and reviews from the African literary scene, but also reports about book awards and prizes and includes interviews, podcasts, author profiles, and more. A categories menu facilitates quick access, by country or by topic/genre. There are also regular postings about book and journal publishing, book fairs, and news about book industry-related conferences, seminars, and meetings. For example, it recently reported about the “Lettres d’Afrique: Changing the Narrative” programme held during the 2018 Frankfurt Book Fair, an extensive series of events and panel discussions designed to promote international networking between African publishers and those from elsewhere, and intended to provide visibility for the hugely diverse range of current African publishing output from throughout the continent. These posts have included: http://africawrites.org/blog/african-publishing-houses-to-keep-your-eyes-on/ http://www.ghananewsagency.org/social/ghana-international-book-fair-launched-137906 http://www.ghananewsagency.org/social/ghana-international-book-fair-launched-137906 http://www.earlyliteracynetwork.org/resources-by-topic/National%20language%20and%20book%20policies http://www.earlyliteracynetwork.org/resources-by-topic/National%20language%20and%20book%20policies http://www.earlyliteracynetwork.org/ http://www.jamesmurua.com/ http://www.jamesmurua.com/ Publishing & the Book in Africa: A Literature Review for 2018 Page 19 Frankfurt Book Fair 2018: Sights from the African Contingent. http://www.jamesmurua.com/frankfurt-book-fair-2018-sights-from-the-african- contingent-fbf18/ [24/10/18] Frankfurt Book Fair 2018: African Book Fairs and Literary Festivals. http://www.jamesmurua.com/frankfurt-book-fair-2018-african-book-fairs-and-literary- festivals-fbf18/ [24/10/18] Frankfurt Book Fair 2018: Rights in African Languages. http://www.jamesmurua.com/frankfurt-book-fair-2018-rights-in-african-languages-fbf18/ [24/10/18] Frankfurt Book Fair 2018: Tsitsi Dangarembga. (in conversation with Ilija Trojanow) http://www.jamesmurua.com/frankfurt-book-fair-2018-tsitsi-dangarembga-fbf18/ [24/10/18] Kitchen, Stephanie Interview with Ernest Oppong, Acting Executive Director of the African Publishers Network (APNET). http://www.readafricanbooks.com/opinions/interview-with-ernest-oppong (Posted 22 May 2018) [28/05/18] Stephanie Kitchen of the International African Institute in conversation with Ernest Oppong, Acting CEO of the African Publishers Network, which, after being dormant for several years has recently been revived and has launched a new website at http://www.african- publishers.net/. In this interview he talks about the ‘new’ APNET’s plans for the future and their immediate objectives, one of which is “creating a national book policy, and determining action plans to formulate those policies and to implement a legal framework within which local governments and the publishing industry can work together.” Longer term objectives include “establishing mutual collaboration among African publishers and their respective governments; strengthening and consolidating training resources in Africa; partnering with some African universities and running publishing training programmes.” African publishers, Oppong asserts, have “a number of challenges with their respective governments due to the following reasons: African government see indigenous publishers as a threat; there is non- adherence of national book policies and procedures by government; [and there is] the attempt of governments to take over textbook publishing in most countries.” He says that “the solution to these unfortunate occurrences is to establish legal backing for national book policies so that no individual in any government office can unduly manipulate the policy against publishers.” Ernest Oppong also offers his organization’s views on issues such as book donation programmes, open access and open licensing, promoting an intra-African book trade, support for publishing in African languages, and their plans to participate in international book fairs in order to provide more visibility for African book publishing output. Nordic Africa Institute Library African Street Literature Enters the Library. http://nai.uu.se/news/articles/2017/11/29/112629/index.xml (Posted 29 November 2017) [18/05/18] New forms of literature are emerging in African megacities, outside the established publishing industry. The Nordic Africa Institute Library African Street Literature project aims to make such material accessible through the NAI library, and to explore how the urban context is affecting literary form. Seeking to aim to break new ground, this innovative project covers emerging literary forms such as digital and spoken word poetry, blog fiction, street theatre and graphic novels, as well as alternative ways of publishing novels and short stories. http://www.jamesmurua.com/frankfurt-book-fair-2018-sights-from-the-african-contingent-fbf18/ http://www.jamesmurua.com/frankfurt-book-fair-2018-sights-from-the-african-contingent-fbf18/ http://www.jamesmurua.com/frankfurt-book-fair-2018-african-book-fairs-and-literary-festivals-fbf18/ http://www.jamesmurua.com/frankfurt-book-fair-2018-african-book-fairs-and-literary-festivals-fbf18/ http://www.jamesmurua.com/frankfurt-book-fair-2018-rights-in-african-languages-fbf18/ http://www.jamesmurua.com/frankfurt-book-fair-2018-tsitsi-dangarembga-fbf18/ http://www.readafricanbooks.com/opinions/interview-with-ernest-oppong http://www.african-publishers.net/ http://www.african-publishers.net/ http://nai.uu.se/news/articles/2017/11/29/112629/index.xml Publishing & the Book in Africa: A Literature Review for 2018 Page 20 The NAI library has been instrumental from the outset in developing ways of categorising and making searchable a very diverse range of material, which also includes internet links and YouTube clips. The collection ranges from small photocopied collections of poetry to foto- novelas (illustrated novels), comic books, literary magazines and plays. The NAI’s chief librarian Åsa Lund Moberg says “collecting African street literature at the NAI library creates new opportunities for literary works to reach new readers and researchers. The process is also a bibliographical challenge that could break new ground for making different kinds of literature accessible.” Notes: Find out what is already in this growing collection at this link: https://africalitplus.nai.uu.se/primo- explore/search?tab=in_the_nai&vid=46NAI_VU1&search_scope=NAI_Aleph_only&sortby=date&lang=en_US &query=lsr08,contains,%22African%20street%20literature%22. 18/05/18] See also Ashleigh Harris’s ‘A note on the African Street Literature Research Project’, in his paper “African Street Literatures and the Global Publishing Go-Slow” English Studies in Africa 61, issue 2 (2018): 1-8. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00138398.2018.1540173 [28/12/18] Nyariki, Lily Perspectives on Book Development in Africa. Riga, Latvia: Éditions Universitaires Européennes, SIA OmniScriptum Publishing, 2018. 144 pp. ISBN 9786202280303 https://www.morebooks.shop/store/fr/book/perspectives-on-book-development-in- africa/isbn/978-620-2-28030-3 A collection of position papers, written over three decades, that highlight the critical role of the publishing industry. It addresses the numerous issues that hinder the development of the book industry in Africa, and offers a range of insights into ways in which the book value chain might be nurtured, strengthened, and supported to grow. Nyariki writes about the many challenges facing the book sector in Africa: “Due to lack of policy on book development, most African countries have largely remained consumers and not producers of knowledge and information”, she says. In addition to, among others, chapters on university bookselling and the distribution of academic books in Africa, poverty reduction through appropriate ICTs, the need for national book and reading policies, and the role of school libraries, two chapters are perhaps of special interest: Chapter 1: Bibliographic Control in Africa, is a good recent overview of efforts to improve bibliographic control in Africa, the role of national libraries, and the publication of national bibliographies – and the many compelling reasons why they are essential to record and disseminate a country’s publishing output. The author describes efforts in enhancing bibliographic control, and the publication of national bibliographies, in four African countries (Kenya, Mauritius, South Africa, and Tanzania), setting out the current challenges, and looking at the prospects of future development. Nyariki’s investigation found that there is a lot of room for improvement, and “not much has been achieved in bibliographic control. Africa has to wake up and begin to determine the priority actions in pursuit of its socio- economic and cultural development endeavours … without relevant information for decision- making African governments will not achieve much … it will be a never ending cycle of half successes at all our policies, because, as it is, most African countries do not even have national information and communication policies.” She concludes her study with a number of recommendations. Chapter 5, Lobby for the Book: The Politics of African Publishing and the Growth of Professional and Trade Organizations, provides an overview of the African publishing scene https://africalitplus.nai.uu.se/primo-explore/search?tab=in_the_nai&vid=46NAI_VU1&search_scope=NAI_Aleph_only&sortby=date&lang=en_US&query=lsr08,contains,%22African%20street%20literature%22 https://africalitplus.nai.uu.se/primo-explore/search?tab=in_the_nai&vid=46NAI_VU1&search_scope=NAI_Aleph_only&sortby=date&lang=en_US&query=lsr08,contains,%22African%20street%20literature%22 https://africalitplus.nai.uu.se/primo-explore/search?tab=in_the_nai&vid=46NAI_VU1&search_scope=NAI_Aleph_only&sortby=date&lang=en_US&query=lsr08,contains,%22African%20street%20literature%22 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00138398.2018.1540173 https://www.morebooks.shop/store/fr/book/perspectives-on-book-development-in-africa/isbn/978-620-2-28030-3 https://www.morebooks.shop/store/fr/book/perspectives-on-book-development-in-africa/isbn/978-620-2-28030-3 Publishing & the Book in Africa: A Literature Review for 2018 Page 21 over the past three decades or more, as well as including a general historical perspective of the publishing industries in sub-Saharan Africa. It sets out some of the main obstacles and problems facing the industry, notably the lack of government support, and the absence of robust national book policies. This is followed by a summary of the activities of the major book trade organizations and book promotional bodies in Africa, as well as organizations and initiatives outside Africa that have supported the indigenous African book industries over the years. Sadly, several of the organizations that were operating in Africa are now dormant, or have shut down altogether, “due to financial constraints”, but the author might have wished to investigate the reasons why all these organizations have failed, or currently exist in name only, once donor or other external support ceased. Is it perhaps a failure of collective will? Or are there other reasons? Throughout all chapters in this collection Nyariki writes passionately about the many challenges facing publishing and book development in Africa, and re-states what many African publishers have stated many times before, namely that a sustainable book industry can only flourish with positive government support that recognizes the strategic importance of publishing, and demonstrates this in its official commitment through policies and budgets. In a short concluding chapter, Way Forward for African Book Development, she reiterates her call on African governments to act decisively to support the publishing industry, libraries, books, and reading, and as well as once again stressing the vital need to establish viable national book policies. Sadly, on the evidence this time at least, these pleas seem to continue to fall on deaf ears, and tangible government support for the African book industries is still largely absent. Ogoti, Vincent Thoughts on Recent Trends in Book Publishing in Africa. http://vincentogoti.com/thoughts-on-recent-trends-in-book-publishing-in-africa/ (Posted 18 October 2018) [18/11/18] Also at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/recent-trends-book-publishing-africa-vincent- ogoti?articleId=6457586545221263360#comments-6457586545221263360&trk=prof-post [18/11/18] Some (rather provocative!) reflections on recent trends in publishing, notably in Kenya. The author says “although there are some research and a lot of policy reports that explore ways of developing new reading publics in Africa, most of these studies are either written from a neoliberal perspective that privileges books as commercial entities and authors as self- entrepreneurs, or from a western perspective of knowledge production. While there is nothing wrong with publishers getting returns on their investments or authors earning a livelihood from their works, it is troubling when publishers limit themselves to producing school textbooks for basic education because they are more likely to be bought by parents or governments. In my view, publishers who rely on government tenders undermine their ability to shape a reading public. Instead of producing books that engage society and issues that affect it, these publishers wander in corridors of hotel conferences conducting workshops on how to write for governments. They are forever chasing government tenders and have no time to innovate or shape the educational agenda. … If publishing houses are to develop into meaningful knowledge producing platforms, they must redefine their business models. … In most African countries, publishing industries enjoy low entry requirement and have the privilege of autonomy and lack of constant government interference or regulation. This is the kind of freedom that enables innovation and allows creativity to flourish. It then seems to me http://vincentogoti.com/thoughts-on-recent-trends-in-book-publishing-in-africa/ Publishing & the Book in Africa: A Literature Review for 2018 Page 22 that there are many opportunities for publishers to build the much-needed infrastructure for knowledge production in Africa. But if publishers participate in promoting neoliberalism, they risk being its first casualty.” Oppong, Ernest The State and Future of African Publishing: The Role of APNET. http://www.allaboutbookpublishing.com/4212/the-state-and-future-of-african-publishing- the-role-of-apnet/ (Posted 25 August 2018) [01/10/18] Ernest Oppong, Acting Executive Director of the Ghana-based African Publishers Network http://www.african-publishers.net/, sets out the background and motivation that led to the formation of APNET in 1992, its activities and achievements in past years, and its plans and programmes for the future, together with some observations about the current state of publishing on the continent. Pricewaterhouse Cooper Southern Africa Entertainment and Media Outlook: 2017-2021. An African Perspective. 8th edition. Edited by [Team Leader] Vicki Myburgh. Waterfall City, South Africa: Pricewaterhouse Cooper Southern Africa, 2017. 164 pp. [Published annually] https://www.pwc.co.za/outlook (Main page) https://www.pwc.co.za/en/assets/pdf/entertainment-and-media-outlook-2017.pdf (8th ed.) [20/11/18] Presents an in-depth analysis of the trends shaping the entertainment and media industry (including publishing) in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana and Tanzania. It aims to provide “a comprehensive source of analyses and five-year forecasts of consumer and advertising spending across five countries and 14 segments”. Among media segments covered are: Newspaper publishing, Magazine publishing, Book publishing, and Business-to- business publishing. Williams, Olatoun International Publishers Association Seminar Publishing for Sustainable Development: The Role of Publishers in Africa, Lagos 9 May 2018. Review. http://www.bordersliteratureonline.net/eventdetails/Olatoun%20Williams%20- %20Reviewer%20of%20African%20Literature [25/05/18] Also at https://www.academia.edu/36699164/International_Publishers_Association_Seminar_Publ ishing_for_Sustainable_Development_The_Role_of_Publishers_in_Africa [25/05/18] A comprehensive and informative review about the above IPA sponsored regional seminar, which brought together prominent publishers, writers, digital media entrepreneurs, and others from across Africa. Olatoun Williams reports about the discussions held during a wide range of different panel sessions, devoted to ‘The Socio-Economic Contribution of the Publishing Industry in Africa’, ‘Strengthening Educational Publishing in Africa’, ‘Bringing the Voice of African Writers, Publishers and Content Creators to the World’, ‘The Role of Technology in Overcoming Illiteracy and Promoting a Reading Culture’, 'Address Freedom to Publish Challenges in Africa’, and ‘Enhancing Enforcement of Copyright and Intellectual Property Laws’. “The key element of the 'socio-economic' discussion”, Williams says, “was for me its emphasis on government's need to measure the outputs of the creative industries and the urgency for data gathering and book sector statistics in Africa – hard data – without which our reports are mere anecdotes. An audience member who introduced the principle of output measurement http://www.allaboutbookpublishing.com/4212/the-state-and-future-of-african-publishing-the-role-of-apnet/ http://www.allaboutbookpublishing.com/4212/the-state-and-future-of-african-publishing-the-role-of-apnet/ http://www.african-publishers.net/ https://www.pwc.co.za/outlook https://www.pwc.co.za/en/assets/pdf/entertainment-and-media-outlook-2017.pdf http://www.bordersliteratureonline.net/eventdetails/Olatoun%20Williams%20-%20Reviewer%20of%20African%20Literature http://www.bordersliteratureonline.net/eventdetails/Olatoun%20Williams%20-%20Reviewer%20of%20African%20Literature https://www.academia.edu/36699164/International_Publishers_Association_Seminar_Publishing_for_Sustainable_Development_The_Role_of_Publishers_in_Africa https://www.academia.edu/36699164/International_Publishers_Association_Seminar_Publishing_for_Sustainable_Development_The_Role_of_Publishers_in_Africa Publishing & the Book in Africa: A Literature Review for 2018 Page 23 spoke passionately: if African governments won't undertake data gathering, he argued, then publishers’ associations must. He finished by proposing that a call for systematic data and information collection about the publishing industry of each African country be recorded as a concrete and urgent action in the blue print, the Lagos Action Plan 2018, that will emerge from the seminar.” Note: for more coverage about this event see also Pre-seminar IPA press release https://internationalpublishers.org/events/ipa-congresses-and-events/other-ipa-events/663-ipa-regional- seminar-an-empowerment-programme-for-africa (Posted 30 April 2018) [24/05/18] Post-seminar IPA press release https://www.internationalpublishers.org/news/press-releases/671-ipa-regional-seminar-tackles-the- challenges-of-african-publishing (Posted 10 May 2018), and this report in Publishing Perspectives. https://publishingperspectives.com/2018/05/nigeria-ipa-seminar-lagos-piracy-illiteracy-africa-markets/ (Posted 10 May 2018) [24/05/18] Among other news stories: https://guardian.ng/art/publishing-when-world-leaders-push-for-sustainable-book-development-in-africa/ [06/06/18] https://www.vanguardngr.com/2018/05/african-publishing-good-story-tell/ [22/05/18] http://www.tribuneonlineng.com/at-international-seminar-publishers-take-stock/ [27/05/18] Video recording Channels Book Club, Channels Television Nigeria, 22 May 2018, (10.14mins) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIEdTgIHCpU&feature=player_embedded [24/05/18] World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) The Publishing Industry in Africa and its Role in Education and Economic Growth Yaoundé (Republic of Cameroon), November 22 and 23, 2017. Action Plan Publishing Industry and Access to Educational Material. http://www.wipo.int/edocs/mdocs/copyright/en/wipo_hl_cr_yao_17/wipo_hl_cr_yao_17_ac tion_plan.pdf (English) [30/06/18] http://www.wipo.int/edocs/mdocs/copyright/fr/wipo_hl_cr_yao_17/wipo_hl_cr_yao_17_act ion_plan.pdf (French) [30/06/18] The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) hosted a two-day ‘High Level Regional Conference: The Publishing Industry in Africa and its Role in Education and Economic Growth’ in Yaoundé, Cameroon, in November 2017, organized in conjunction with the Ministry of Arts and Culture of the Republic of Cameroon, and which reportedly attracted 150 delegates from 40 countries. Following the conference WIPO has now issued this detailed action plan that sets out its proposed action under a range headings and sub- headings. Action Plan Publishing Industry: I. National book policy and reading culture, II. Legal framework, III. Book value chain: authors, publishers, distributors, bookshops, IV. Development factors, V. Infrastructure and organization of services; while Action Plan Access to Educational Material: covers: I. Publishing policy in the education sector, II. Legal framework, III. Development factors. World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) The Baobab Tree and the African Publishing Sector. http://www.wipo.int/edocs/mdocs/copyright/en/wipo_hl_cr_yao_17/wipo_hl_cr_yao_17_fl yer.pdf [19/11/18] An interesting analogy from the World Intellectual Property Organization. The baobab tree is a common part of the African Savanna landscape and a powerful feature in its folklore. It is the biggest and most resilient tree, known to live more than a thousand years in the most arid parts of the continent. The baobab tree can be seen as a symbol of a viable publishing sector. https://internationalpublishers.org/events/ipa-congresses-and-events/other-ipa-events/663-ipa-regional-seminar-an-empowerment-programme-for-africa https://internationalpublishers.org/events/ipa-congresses-and-events/other-ipa-events/663-ipa-regional-seminar-an-empowerment-programme-for-africa https://www.internationalpublishers.org/news/press-releases/671-ipa-regional-seminar-tackles-the-challenges-of-african-publishing https://www.internationalpublishers.org/news/press-releases/671-ipa-regional-seminar-tackles-the-challenges-of-african-publishing https://publishingperspectives.com/2018/05/nigeria-ipa-seminar-lagos-piracy-illiteracy-africa-markets/ https://guardian.ng/art/publishing-when-world-leaders-push-for-sustainable-book-development-in-africa/ https://www.vanguardngr.com/2018/05/african-publishing-good-story-tell/ http://www.tribuneonlineng.com/at-international-seminar-publishers-take-stock/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIEdTgIHCpU&feature=player_embedded http://www.wipo.int/edocs/mdocs/copyright/en/wipo_hl_cr_yao_17/wipo_hl_cr_yao_17_action_plan.pdf http://www.wipo.int/edocs/mdocs/copyright/en/wipo_hl_cr_yao_17/wipo_hl_cr_yao_17_action_plan.pdf http://www.wipo.int/edocs/mdocs/copyright/fr/wipo_hl_cr_yao_17/wipo_hl_cr_yao_17_action_plan.pdf http://www.wipo.int/edocs/mdocs/copyright/fr/wipo_hl_cr_yao_17/wipo_hl_cr_yao_17_action_plan.pdf http://www.wipo.int/edocs/mdocs/copyright/en/wipo_hl_cr_yao_17/wipo_hl_cr_yao_17_flyer.pdf http://www.wipo.int/edocs/mdocs/copyright/en/wipo_hl_cr_yao_17/wipo_hl_cr_yao_17_flyer.pdf Publishing & the Book in Africa: A Literature Review for 2018 Page 24 The roots symbolize the creative part of the book sector. This sector includes authors, rights holders, professionals like publishers, editors, proof readers, typesetters and other people that work in the sector. The trunk of the baobab anchors the baobab tree and supports the upper part, i.e. the branches, the leaves and the fruit. The trunk of the baobab represents the policy environment in the book sector. These policies link the creative sector with readers, publishers, booksellers and education, and its components include copyright, procurement policy, national book policies, and sales tax policies such as VAT. Finally, the branches, leaves and fruit, the flourishing part of the tree, can represent the industry and can represent society, education and economic development, which benefit from the efforts of the creative and policy sectors. Like the various parts of the baobab tree, the book sector has many interdependent parts. “These parts need to be coordinated through policy to ensure a thriving and sustainable book sector. Without such co-ordination, these parts can work at cross- purpose and fail to achieve reading, educational, economic and social development needs and objectives.” Zell, Hans M. African Book Industry Data & the State of African National Bibliographies. The African Book Publishing Record, Volume 44, Issue 4 (Dec 2018): 363–389. https://doi.org/10.1515/abpr-2018-0012] [01/12/18] Pre-print online version (freely accessible) https://www.academia.edu/37581588/African_Book_Industry_Data_and_the_State_of_Afri can_National_Bibliographies [14/10/18] Excerpts also at http://www.readafricanbooks.com/opinions/african-book-industry-data- the-state-of-african-national-bibliographies [28/12/18] Abstract: No less than three international meetings on publishing in Africa have taken place recently, which have been followed with detailed action plans. Among many other recommendations, calls for action to find solutions to perennial problems, as well as discussions focusing on sectorial innovation and revitalization of the African book industries, participants in all three meetings were strongly urged to start collecting and disseminating book industry data. It is true that reliable figures of book publishing output for the continent of Africa do not exist at the present time, with the exception of a very small number of countries, notably South Africa and Morocco. Meantime the state of African national bibliographies, which can form the groundwork of book industry data, presents a picture of neglect for the most part, with many national bibliographies seriously in arrears, currently dormant, or having ceased publication altogether. Only a small number are accessible in digital formats. Book publishing data and book production statistics are important elements in measuring the growth and vitality of indigenous publishing in any part of the world. In the absence of such data for most of the African continent, there is a need for research, analysis, documentation, and systematic gathering of current, reliable data and statistics on the whole book sector in Africa. However, there are huge challenges and complexities in the goal of collecting data for book industry surveys, which must not be underestimated. Many questions will need to be asked: for example, how is data going to be collected and analysed; what will be the parameters; and what are going to be the sources and the methods? Who should be responsible for undertaking the research and the compilation of such book industry data; and, [14/10/18 https://doi.org/10.1515/abpr-2018-0012 https://www.academia.edu/37581588/African_Book_Industry_Data_and_the_State_of_African_National_Bibliographies https://www.academia.edu/37581588/African_Book_Industry_Data_and_the_State_of_African_National_Bibliographies http://www.readafricanbooks.com/opinions/african-book-industry-data-the-state-of-african-national-bibliographies http://www.readafricanbooks.com/opinions/african-book-industry-data-the-state-of-african-national-bibliographies Publishing & the Book in Africa: A Literature Review for 2018 Page 25 crucially, who is going to fund the research and the data gathering process on a systematic and ongoing basis? Collecting book industry data is closely interrelated with the publication of national bibliographies and, in addition to examining the issues and challenges relating to the creation of book industry data, this paper also provides an analysis of the current state of national bibliographies in Africa, and linked matters such as legal deposit legislation, and compliance of legal deposit. Most national libraries and bibliographic agencies in Africa continue to operate under severe constraints, and have been chronically underfunded by their governments for the past four decades or more. An analysis of the current status of African national bibliographies sadly presents a dismal picture. It is unlikely that reliable data for the African book industries can be collected and published without the input and full cooperation of national libraries or bibliographic agencies. There is equally an urgent need for much more active collaboration and interaction between the agencies producing national bibliographies with publishers and book trade associations in each African country. Any attempts to revive the fortunes of African national libraries, and the resumption of publication of high quality and timely national bibliographies, will amount to a formidable task. This paper offers a range of suggestions and recommendations how the situation might be addressed and improved, but also points out that regular compilation of a national bibliography, and effective maintenance of legal deposit, necessitates adequate staff in terms of both numbers and expertise, which is not the case at this time. Regional studies: Africa, East Sävström, Johan Narrow Income Opportunities Turn Authors Into Activists. https://nai.uu.se/news/articles/2018/05/23/110123/index.xml (Posted 23 May 2018) [18/08/18] Reports about Erik Falk’s research project at the Nordic Africa Institute in Uppsala, ‘East African Literature on the Market 2000-2010’, which seeks to investigate the disjunctive relationship between literary markets for East African fiction in English. The study, which combines quantitative and qualitative methods, falls into two parts: Part one maps the production and circulation of literary fiction across the East African region with a particular focus on genre and key narrative features, while part two analyses the circulation and reception of internationally renowned East African writers on the world stage. The project seeks to investigate what kinds of books are published and how far they reach; and it also aims to provide an up-to-date picture of the status of East African literature. Through contacts with authors, publishers, and libraries in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, Falk hopes to get an overall idea of literature in the region, although obtaining data is a task of some magnitude. One way is to follow the money – how many books are sold and where they are sold – but it is difficult to get hold of sales numbers. Statistics on library loans are difficult to interpret, while weak distribution systems are one of the big challenges for literature in the region, mainly due to a lack of resources and networks. https://nai.uu.se/news/articles/2018/05/23/110123/index.xml Publishing & the Book in Africa: A Literature Review for 2018 Page 26 Regional studies: Africa, Francophone (articles in English only) Burnautzki, Sarah and Raphaël Thierry “’Stranger than Fiction’: Producing Postcolonial Inequalities in the Literary Field.” In Dealing with Authorship: Authors Between Texts, Editors and Public Discourses, edited by Sarah Burnautzki, Frederik Kiparski, Raphaël Thierry and Maria Zannini. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2018, 21-27. https://www.academia.edu/36940457/_Stranger_than_Fiction_Producing_postcolonial_Ine qualities_in_literary_Field [22/12/18] Sarah Burnautzki and Raphaël Thierry “problematise classification as arbitrary and unequal in the French and Francophone literary field”, and seek to analyse “francophone African writers’ dominated position within a literary field determined by book markets mainly located in the global North, especially in France.” The authors highlight “symbolic as well as material production and naturalisation of hierarchies and cultural otherness by publishers’ policies since the postcolonial period”, as well as examining “the power of a society’s and a literary market’s hegemony discourses and their impact on (African) author’s representation.” Saric, Jasmina; Jürg Utzinger, and Bassirou Bonfoh “Research Productivity and Main Publishing Institutions in Côte d’Ivoire, 2000–2016.” Globalization and Health August 2018 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12992-018-0406-1 https://globalizationandhealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12992-018-0406-1 (free access) [22/11/18] The research productivity of countries commonly grouped within sub-Saharan Africa is as diverse as their cultural, economic, linguistic, political, and social profiles. While South Africa has been the science hub on the subcontinent for decades, publishing original research articles in the thousands, Mauritania struggles to have a single publication in international indexed journals in any given year. Detailed country-specific accounts on the co-evolution of research productivity and demographic and economic indicators from sub-Saharan Africa are lacking, and render an accurate evaluation and cross-country comparison of internal research progress challenging. The authors assessed the research productivity of Côte d’Ivoire, a francophone West African country that has gone through considerable socio-political unrest, for the period 2000–2016, and determined the main publishing institutions. They focused on original research articles extracted from PubMed and the Web of Science Core Collection, emphasizing life sciences and biomedical sciences. In their conclusion the authors state that “Since the turn of the millennium, research productivity in Côte d’Ivoire has steadily grown at an above regional and global rate despite recurring economic pressures and socio-political unrest. We have observed benefits of internationalization throughout this current analysis reaching from improved publishing standards to increasing resilience of research institutions in times of crisis.” Thierry, Raphaël “On France and Francophone African Publishing, a Game of Chess.” http://www.warscapes.com/opinion/france-and-francophone-african-publishing-game- chess (Posted 26 April 2018) [07/08/18] Originally published in French, which can be found at http://www.editafrica.com/les-editeurs-africains-sur-lechiquier-francophone/ [07/08/18] In this opinion piece, Raphaël Thierry – who edits and maintains the always lively EditAfrica portal http://www.editafrica.com/fr/ – says the current environment is particularly rich for debating and discussing the relationship between the African publishing industry and the https://www.academia.edu/36940457/_Stranger_than_Fiction_Producing_postcolonial_Inequalities_in_literary_Field https://www.academia.edu/36940457/_Stranger_than_Fiction_Producing_postcolonial_Inequalities_in_literary_Field https://doi.org/10.1186/s12992-018-0406-1 https://globalizationandhealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12992-018-0406-1 http://www.warscapes.com/opinion/france-and-francophone-african-publishing-game-chess http://www.warscapes.com/opinion/france-and-francophone-african-publishing-game-chess http://www.editafrica.com/les-editeurs-africains-sur-lechiquier-francophone/ http://www.editafrica.com/fr/ Publishing & the Book in Africa: A Literature Review for 2018 Page 27 international book markets. “Do African publishers know that they owe Caroline Broué, the radio journalist who made a massive gaffe with Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie recently, some major media coverage about the existence of a publishing industry in Africa?”1 Contrary to some of the persistent, stereotypical pronouncements about the state of publishing in Africa, Thierry says that there is indeed a flourishing publishing market in francophone Africa, albeit economically dominated by French publishers; and there are also many people who are spending a lifetime actively promoting it. However, in Europe events focusing on African publishing tend to generalize, and view the African book industry as a whole. “Do we ever speak of European publishing as a whole, American or Asian publishing as a whole? … It has been acknowledged that since the 1950’s, France has played a troubled role within the African publishing industry. The francophone institution was never quite the counter-power needed to balance the relations between France and French speaking African states … And so the cabinet of the francophone institution chant their organization’s goals for the umpteenth time despite their history of leaving only crumbs for the African publishers.” He asserts that French book promotional bodies and agencies, despite regular pious pronouncements that they seek to promote the book industries in all of the Francophonie, have never taken a stance against French publishing conglomerates who between them control 80-90% of francophone Africa’s publishing markets. Note:1 This was the controversy at a recent French cultural event held in Paris on 25 January 2018, when the celebrated Nigerian writer Chimamanda Adichie served as the Ambassador of the 2018 edition of La Nuit des Idées (The Night of Ideas). As the guest of honour for the evening, Adichie appeared in a long conversation with French journalist Caroline Broué. The video recording of this conversation includes a question posed by the interviewer, asking Chimamanda Adichie “Are there bookshops in Nigeria?“, that subsequently provoked a social media furore that went global. Williams, Mark Côte d’Ivoire: Francophone Africa Publishing Insights. https://thenewpublishingstandard.com/cote-divoire-francophone-africa-publishing- insights/ (Posted 28 August 2018) [08/09/18] A summary of a report by Stéphanie Stoll that first appeared in the French book industry journal Actualitté, (“Côte d’Ivoire : dépasser la pénurie de livres” https://www.actualitte.com/article/monde-edition/cote-d-ivoire-depasser-la-penurie-de- livres/90449) about the state of publishing in the Côte d’Ivoire. In 2015 the country’s Minister of Culture passed a bill paving the way for a national book policy, but progress has been tortuously slow. At the 2018 Geneva Book Fair the Minister said that the country “now has 20 good publishing houses, producing a hundred books of literature a year compared to just three or four a year in the 1980s.“ However, two publishers, of which the government holds a part of the capital, share most of the public contracts: namely the Centre d’édition et de diffusion africain/CEDA in partnership with French publishing conglomerate Hatier, and Nouvelles éditions ivoiriennes (NEI) in collaboration with Hachette. A few smaller Ivorian publishers are beginning to make inroads into the market, such as the independent publisher Éditions Éburnie http://www.editionseburnie.com/ and Frat Mat Éditions, a state-owned press group. Meanwhile the retail sector faces numerous challenges and suffers from the supply of free textbooks, as well as increasing competition from informal resellers. Libraries, the author reports, remain a rare commodity, and many are poorly stocked. Books are published mainly in French as the official, and unifying language, and while there are arguments to support local language education the reality is that in a country of 70 languages https://thenewpublishingstandard.com/cote-divoire-francophone-africa-publishing-insights/ https://thenewpublishingstandard.com/cote-divoire-francophone-africa-publishing-insights/ https://www.actualitte.com/article/monde-edition/cote-d-ivoire-depasser-la-penurie-de-livres/90449 https://www.actualitte.com/article/monde-edition/cote-d-ivoire-depasser-la-penurie-de-livres/90449 http://www.editionseburnie.com/ Publishing & the Book in Africa: A Literature Review for 2018 Page 28 it makes sense economically and socially to focus on the national language, “where the economies of scale can offer some price relief to those who would read.” Regional studies: Africa, Southern McCleery, Alistair “Minding Their Own Business: Penguin in Southern Africa.” Journal of Southern African Studies 44, no. 3 (2018): 507-519. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03057070.2018.1452420 [10/11/18] This very interesting account of the ‘Penguin African Library’ draws on archival evidence to highlight Penguin’s distinctive attitudes to and practices within the southern African market, particularly, but not exclusively, the major market of South Africa. The series contained not only many volumes on South Africa, but also pioneering works on Portuguese decolonisation, the Rhodesian question, and on South-West Africa. The article “adopts the framework of a three-phase development in the motivation behind publishing for Africa: tutelage, radicalism and marketisation.” The first of these phases is represented by the Penguin (Pelican) West African (later simply African) Series; while the later Penguin African Library – “intended, not for academics, nor indeed students, but for intelligent lay people” – illustrates the radicalism of what was then the editorial standpoint. These African Library mass-market paperbacks “had a double intent: to inform western readers about a region which, from the early 1960s, dominated international headlines, and to reflect back to increasing numbers of self-aware and educated Africans aspects of the region hidden from them or about which they wished to know more.” The degree of opposition to and compromise with colonial and apartheid regimes, the author says, forms the subject of discussion, as do the reactions in the UK to continuing operations in the region, particularly after the expulsion of South Africa from the Commonwealth in 1961, the adoption of UN Resolution 1761 in 1962, and the growth of the Anti-Apartheid Movement during the 1960s and 1970s. “Penguin faced not just the commercial challenge of possibly losing an important export market, but also the ethical dilemma posed by a belief in the transformational power of knowledge through the availability of good books at reasonable prices.” The article concludes with a discussion of the resolution of that challenge and dilemma subsequent to the takeover of Penguin by Longmans in 1970, and the onset of the final phase of marketisation. In 2009 Penguin Books (South Africa) announced that it was to begin publication of a Penguin African Writers Series. As a result of the purchase by the Pearson conglomerate of Harcourt Education in 2007 from Reed Elsevier, who had, in turn, taken over Heinemann and absorbed it within Harcourt in 2001, gave Pearson (and Penguin) access to the backlist of the Heinemann African Writers Series (AWS). Harcourt Education had abandoned the AWS in 2002 as an ongoing series, keeping only the titles in print that found a schools and colleges market in Africa and elsewhere. The first title in the Penguin African Writers Series in 2009 was Chinua Achebe’s Girls at War and Other Stories (originally AWS 100, issued in 1972.) However, the new series fell into abeyance soon thereafter, in late 2011, “seemingly as a result of internal politics in Johannesburg and London”, although 72 of the original AWS titles were retained by Pearson Education and are still sold as ‘a celebrated selection of literature from Africa’ to schools and further education colleges throughout the continent. “In its continuing pursuit of the formal educational market, rather than trade publishing, Pearson sold off Penguin in 2012 to Bertelsmann. The bottom line, rather than any sentiment or belief, now ruled.” https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03057070.2018.1452420 Publishing & the Book in Africa: A Literature Review for 2018 Page 29 COUNTRY STUDIES Note: most articles or blog postings on particu