African stories and languages could unlock billions for the continent’s publishing industry if governments back local writers, a Unesco report has found. Africa’s book market, now worth $7 billion, could reach $18bn with more homegrown books in local languages.
The African book industry, from authors to distributors and publishers, represents 5.4 percent of the global publishing industry, according to a new report from Unesco – which found that African literature has a growing influence around the world.
The report – which covers the 54 Unesco member states in Africa – demonstrates that this potential is largely underexploited, and examines solutions to increase publishing on the continent.
"The African Book Industry: Trends, Challenges & Opportunities for Growth" reports that the continent has all the means to develop a lucrative sector that would create jobs.
There are 6,400 publishers in Africa, publishing 86,000 titles per year on average. The continent is home to 8,000 public libraries, 270 annual book festivals and fairs, and 200 professional publishing associations.
Current trends include an increase in formats such as comics and graphic novels, a new focus on publishing for children and young people, and African books being made into films.
Africa has also seen rapid growth in digital reading. "Over the past years, we've seen a big push on digital platforms, and particularly in young publishers going this way," Caroline Munier, culture programme specialist at Unesco, told RFI. "This can play a transformative role".
Untapped potential
The African book industry is currently worth $7 billion, but according to Unesco has the potential to reach $18bn in revenue.
This includes $13bn from school books, thanks to the continent's 329 million pupils. School publishing is already the most lucrative segment of the African market, accounting for 70 percent.
Another notable trend is the increase in publishing in local languages. "It's still weak, but over the past decades, a lot of local publishers have emerged and have tried to put the focus on the local and indigenous languages beyond the official, foreign languages like French, English and Portuguese," Munier said. "And this is growing."
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Currently the majority of books sold on the continent are imported, and written in English, French or Portuguese – even though Africans use more than 2,000 local languages.
Continental heavyweights, including Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Ghana, Egypt, Côte d'Ivoire and Senegal, are able to supply books to national and regional markets, but other countries are struggling to do so, which explains why Africa as a whole remains largely dependent on book imports, to the detriment of its linguistic diversity.
As a result, millions of children are growing up without access to books in the language they speak at home. Unesco warns this is holding back literacy, education and the telling of local stories, and is encouraging publication in local languages. The UN cultural body is also supporting efforts to build reading and community centres and public libraries, particularly in rural areas.
Unesco recommendations
However, local publishers face an uphill battle. Printing costs are high, public support is limited and global companies dominate the lucrative educational market.
The legal framework regarding copyright, which is either poorly enforced or non-existent in many countries, also ranks among the obstacles to faster growth. The situation is similar regarding the ISBN system, which allows books to be traced – and publishing houses and distributors lack the financial support to strengthen these systems.
For Souleymane Gueye, a bookseller and publisher in Senegal, who founded the Saaraba publishing house dedicated to African literature, distribution is the weakest link in the chain.
"Today, books are published here, but how do we ensure that readers who need them 200 kilometres from the publishing area can access them?" he told RFI. "Every book industry player, every point of sale, manages on their own and finds informal solutions."
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The Unesco report calls for action in three main areas: the reinforcement of institutional and legislative frameworks; building a strong domestic market in each country, including increasing the production of textbooks and children's books, and the expansion of readership and access to books.
Recommendations for achieving the latter include investing in public libraries, increasing the number of bookstores and supporting digital publishing platforms.
"Because without readers," said Munier, "you don't have a book industry."
