ORGANISING THE PUBLISHING INDUSTRY AT THE REGIONAL LEVEL

Ruth Makotsi

Paper presented at the International Conference on the Book, Oxford Brookes University, September 2005

Challenges of East Africa’s Book Sector

The publishing sector in East Africa is beginning to expand. This is evident in the number of new publishers, both indigenous and foreign, that have come on the scene during the last 10 years. This sign of growth is due to two significant developments:

• In the late 90s, all three governments launched textbook policies liberalising book provision to schools.
• This was later followed by the adoption of Universal Primary Education through donor funding, which led to increased enrolments in schools and higher demand for learning materials.

In all the three countries of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, private publishers now supply books to schools through a tendering system. Although the multinational companies, which made a quick come-back as soon as these policies were announced, still have a monopoly it is true to say that local companies are benefiting more than before.

Unfortunately, because the education systems are exam-oriented the gains of these developments are limited to textbook publishing. Over 85% of books published in East Africa are textbooks for primary schools, and a few for secondary schools.

General books, including children’s readers, literature, tertiary and reference books are scarce. The greatest handicap to a vibrant book sector in the region therefore still remains the low readership levels. It is a problem affects all areas of the book chain; from authorship, to publishing, marketing and distribution.

Industry Intervention

In 1996, through private sector initiative, the book sector stakeholders in Kenya organised a book week festival aimed at promoting reading. The activities of the book week included author parades and readings, outdoor book exhibitions in various towns across the country, book donations to schools, literary awards, poetry readings, drama and cultural performances. Additionally, seminars were held to discuss policy issues affecting the book sector. From these discussions, the National Book Development Council of Kenya was formed.

In the following year, Ugandan publishers, who had been guests at the Kenyan book week festival, invited me, as the co-ordinator to assist in replicating the event in Uganda. In the same year, the National Book Trust of Uganda (NABOTU) was established. Tanzania followed suit to set up its National Book Development Council (BAMVITA) which organised the book week festival in 1998.
During the 1999 East African book weeks festival, regional stakeholders acknowledged the similarities in their historical backgrounds and the need for joint action in addressing common problems affecting the book sector. At the end of 2000 the East African Book Development Association was launched with three major aims:

a. To lobby for formulation of enabling policy towards book sector development and trade
b. To improve skills across the industry by organising training workshops for the various book professions
c. To promote the reading culture through book donations to schools and communities for the establishment of libraries and by organising outdoor reading and cultural activities such as children’s reading tents.

EABDA has succeeded in consolidating membership and strengthening capacity of most book sector associations in the region. To date, EABDA boasts a membership of over 33 registered associations and institutions evenly located in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

The Strategies and Benefits of the Regional Forum

a. EABDA is managed through a centralised structure by an elected executive committee of six members (two from every country). The regional secretariat is responsible for the planning of a regional book development project, co-ordination of the activities, monitoring and evaluation, consolidation of accounts, auditing and reporting to donors. This has resulted in high levels of accountability.

b. At the beginning of each project year, an equal number of stakeholders from each of the countries gather at a regional workshop to evaluate the year’s performance and to plan for the following one. The joint planning has strengthened links within the book chain e.g. between authors and publishers, publishers and booksellers and with librarians, from which intra-country professional liaisons and cross-border business partnerships have been established. This has enhanced the spirit of togetherness and also, enhanced cross-border trade in books.

c. An equal number of activities are planned in all the three countries and resources allocated uniformly. This ensures that the countries achieve similar levels of successes in all aspects. Over the years, through the synergies, Uganda’s and Tanzania’s book sectors, which were evidently weaker in terms of book quality as well as output, are beginning to catch up with Kenya.

d. Although the project is an initiative of private practitioners, close collaboration with relevant government departments is encouraged. Government officials are members of national councils and are involved in the implementation of activities. This has triggered some support from governments, especially towards during book weeks.

Shortcomings and sustainability efforts

The activities of EABDA have largely depended on donor funding. Recent changes in funding priorities by most donors have hampered fundraising efforts for the project. It is understood that many funding agencies are reducing their support towards NGOs and more specifically those in culture, including the book sector, in favour of humanitarian projects such as refugees, HIV/Aids, etc.

In order to sustain the impact of the project, EABDA is undertaking various measures to minimise the risk of reduced donor support to the project:

• Activities that have demonstrated ability to realise income are being commercialised to generate maximum income. They include book fairs and skills training workshops for stakeholders. Nairobi International Book Fair is now self-sustaining.
• National associations and councils are in the process of soliciting support from local corporate sectors. Publishers and booksellers have become sensitised to the need to support the activities and are already making donations in kind.
• Jointly with the councils, EABDA has launched an advocacy programme aimed at convincing the three governments to adopt some of the critical activities to promotion of reading such as library development in schools.

At the regional level, EABDA has applied for membership to the East African Community from where it would best advocate for attention to book sector development. Some of the issues on the agenda include:

• Harmonisation of education curricula of the three countries to enable usage of textbooks across borders and expand book markets
• Formulation of local language policies to enhance literacy especially among the rural communities
• Removal of all prohibitive fiscal policies on book production in order to lower prices
• Enactment of more comprehensive national book policies to address all areas of the book industry- from authorship to publishing, through to bookselling and readership.
  

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