Looking Back, Loolinq Ahea 
HI prospect erf a book fxttr « 
fwres, for many, a time for celebration cmo" 
an atmosphere o* conviviality, revolving 
round Hie book. Sham of it* fesliye excitement, 
a book fair is historically a marketplace, 
a tweeting point for book buyers and 
sellers. »i,» in i f e ^ dying decades of the 
twenneth cwfury, and with the advent of 
•he elecfronit media, „ has become imperci- 
•»ve to re-examine UNESCO's definition of a 
book as having at least forty-natef!) pages 
to one which take* cognisance of the digltai 
dimension* erf U» book. ConiejuenHy," it j$ 
usual at book fafrs these days, not only to 
see printed book* on display,• & r * f e 
paperless book., for example audio books, 
video tapes, CD-ROMS, computers 
GLENDORA,
In Africa there seems to be an effervescence of book fairs 
as the twentieth century draws to a close. There are seven 
notable international book fairs across the length and breddth 
of Africa. North of the Sahara, the two notable ones with strong 
Arabic flavour are the Cairo (Egypt) and the Casablanca 
(Morrocco) book fair. South of the Sahara, there are two 
important book fairs, namely the Darkar (Senegal) and the 
recently established Accra (Ghana) book fairs. While these 
two West African book fairs are biennial and designed to 
alternate with each other, the Dakar book fair has a strong 
francophone flavour, while the Accra one has a preponderance 
of anglophone participation. Farther south is the Nairobi 
(Kenya) book fair, and farther south still is the Harare (Zimbabwe) 
fair, as well as the Cape Town (South Africa) book fair. 
If we divide Africa into four zones or circuits, namely 
north, south, east and west it is obvious that the spread of book 
fairs across the continent is fairly even and strategic. Perhaps, 
considering the vastness of the African land mass, one is 
tempted to suggest that there is some room for one more fair 
at the centre, probably in Zaire. But the existing book fairs (as 
they stand now) have a fairly even geographical spread upon 
which to build a continental book fair, should the need arise in 
the future. 
The aim of this article is not to describe what all these fairs 
do but to take a broad view of the development of book fairs 
in Africa, examine successes and failures and provide leads 
towards their sustainability into the twenty-first century. 
There is no doubt that for a book fair to thrive there should 
exist in a country some degree of book infrastructure, namely 
publishing houses, printing presses, bookshops, libraries, etc. 
Next there should exist a large enough reading public to 
patronise the book fair and committed individuals who will give 
their time and energy to propel the book fair forward. Ideally 
if there exists trade associations in the book industry and a 
system of district as well as regional book fairs, culminating in 
a national book fair - all the better. The strength of the 
international book fairs in Cairo, Dakar, Accra, Nairobi and 
Harare lies in the development of book-related activities 
throughout the year which provide the impetus for the 
organisation of the big event such as an international book fair. 
It is worthy to note that some countries like Uganda, 
Namibia, Zambia, Cote d'lvoire and Nigeria, have, with 
varying successes, organised book exhibitions over the years. 
In the case of Nigeria, there could be as many as forty localised 
book exhibition' in any one year throughout the country. 
Nigeria has had the fortune (or misfortune) in the early 1 970s 
at the height of the oil boom, to organise the famous Ife Book 
Fair which drew strong participation from overseas and within 
Africa, especially West Africa. In course of time, this important 
book fair had gone the way of flesh. An important factor which 
spelled the doom of this well-meaning international event was 
because the fair owed its propulsion to a few committed 
individuals - like Hans Zell and Adegbomire - whose relocation 
to other areas of interest (Hans Zell later went to the UK while 
Adegbomire changed jobs) resulted in the collapse of the fair 
Another factor is the apathy of the Nigerian government itself. 
This raises the question of: to what degree governments 
should be involved in the organisation of book fairs in Africa. 
In an era of increasing democratisation of institutions and 
encouragement of private enterprise as an engine of growth for 
African economies, there is the strong temptation to dismiss 
government involvement as mere humbug in profit-generating 
events like book fairs. Too much government can be harmful; but 
in the same vein no government too can be equally harmful. The 
two extremes should be avoided, but the question is to what 
degree. What role can a government play in the successful 
organisation of book fairs? Careful analysis reveals that the role 
of the government should be limited to creating an enabling 
environment in which a book fair can thrive. This it can do 
through passing legislation which is favourable to the book 
trade. For example, it can remove tariffs on books and ensure 
easy and quick customs clearance at the ports. 
Sometimes the impetus for a book fair can be provided by 
an external factor. This was the case in Namibia. In 1993 the 
organisers of the Frankfurt Book Fair decided to hold a mini 
book fair in Namibia. This provided an opportunity for publishers 
in Namibia to exhibit their books. People were astounded 
at the extent and the range of locally published titles. The book 
fair proved a success. The point here is that, left to themselves 
members of the Namibian Publishers Association did not think 
of organising a book fair of their own2 until an outside catalyst 
came in the form of a German book fair agency organising a 
book fair. This made the Namibian publishers sit up and realise 
that this was something they should be doing regularly to 
showcase their publishing strength, as well as to develop local 
interest in books. 
Book fairs are becoming popular with ordinary people in 
Africa. One has only to see the long queues at the gates in 
Cairo, Harare, Nairobi, Accra etc to believe that the book 
hunger which has plagued Africa since the 1960s has not been 
assuaged. For many, a book fair is an opportunity to view books 
as well as purchase them. This is why some African book fairs 
which are patterned on models in Europeand other industrialised 
countries (where mostly books are viewed rather than bought) 
had better take a second look at this practice. To the publisher, 
a book fair is an opportunity to display one's own titles as well 
as view titles from other colleagues and take rights to publish 
them locally. He, as a businessman is looking for opportunities 
to advance his business. Not so the average African book user 
or book fair attendee. For the latter, a book fair is an opportunity, 
not only to view books but also to buy them. To h im a book 
fair is an extension ofthe bookshop, an opportunity to buy titles 
African Quarterly 
on the Arts 
Vol. 2/No. 1 GLENDORA....
that he wants, but which for one reason or the other, were not 
available in his local bookshop. To succeed, any book fair in 
African needs to take cognisance of these two interest groups 
- the publisher and the book buyer. For the book fair to be 
worthwhile, the needs of these interest groups need to be 
addressed. 
In that case, is there the need for book fairs to be 
Africanised or indigenised from the European models? The 
answer is, yes. If so what elements are germain to Africa whose 
incorporation in the organisation would make the book fair 
African? 
In recent times the cultural dimension in many world book 
fairs is becoming increasingly felt. The Frankfurt book fair 
annually focuses on a selected country and endeavours to show 
that country favourably in the cultural limelight. The Zimbabwe 
book fair is no exception in efforts to highlight the local 
Zimbabwean culture in the areas of singing, drumming and 
dancing. Africa happens to be rich in culture and nobody will 
dispute the fact that the book is an artefact of culture; therefore 
it is fitting to use the occasion of a book fair to situate the event 
properly in a cultural context. Trade visitors, as well as exhibitors 
are always curious to acquaint themselves with local cultural 
realities and visit places of historical, tourist and cultural interest. 
In this the Zimbabwe book fair is playing an active part and 
leading the way. This should be encouraged. 
The children's book fair in Kenya has successfully experimented 
with the idea of a reading tent and in no time other book 
fairs in Africa are introducing variants of the idea. A typical 
reading tent is really an improvised library where kids could 
gather and read books to their satisfaction. There are other 
outreach activities like story-telling either by the kids themselves 
or by an adult. In Tanzania, this writer saw a variant where 
parents read to their wards while other kids looked on. An 
interesting thing was that the parent who read best to his ward 
was given a prize. In Ghana, any child who volunteered to read 
his own poem or tell a story written by himself was given a book 
prize at their recent international book fair (November 1996). 
Another innovation which was introduced at the Accra book fair 
was an encounter between children and writers of children's 
books. All these child-centred activities encourage self-expression 
in children, enhance their creativity and promote selfassurance. 
How can book fairs in Africa be sustained into the next 
century? 
It is crucial that book fair organisers take more pains in 
fixing admission fees in such a way that everybody- parents and 
their wards can easily afford to attend the book fair many times 
over. There are those who argue that admission fees should be 
waived altogether. This would be unwise, for this would 
encourage vagrants to have easy access and cause mischief. 
Therefore it is reasonable that having invested so much in 
African Quarterly 
on the Arts 
Vol 2/No. 1 fiLENDORA r 
organising a book fair, efforts must be made to recoup someof 
the expenses. 
As a result of the start-up funds needed to successfully run 
a book fair, some organisers resort to donor funding. While 
such efforts can provide the much-needed financial relief, such 
funding from overseas has been noted to come with conditions. 
For example, the book fair organisers are restricted to use the 
money specifically for contingencies delineated by the overseas 
donor agency. This can be frustrating. The only way the 
organisers can have a free hand would be to look within and 
explore sponsorship (for some of the activities planned) from 
local companies. In the area of sports, some private companies 
have been known to be active sponsors. Why can this not be 
extended to book fairs? The Ghana international book fair held 
last November is on record for having successfully mobilised 
funds from local sources to the extent that it bagged the national 
television and radio in the process. 
We have already mentioned how in Africa the expectation 
is that book fairs are an occasion tobuy books. Therefore 
to ensure the future of book fairs in Africa this expectation should 
be fully met and honed even sharper. For example, exhibitors 
can be encouraged to reduce prices for books at such events in 
order to maximise sales as well as bait the general public. If they 
keep coming because of the bargains they hope to pick up at 
the book fair, this is a healthy development and would ensure 
the continuity of such events into the twentieth century. 
In this brief survey of book fairs in Africa, it is clear that 
in terms of geographical spread, Africa has a good coverage. 
The only vacuum which needs to be filled is the centre, involving 
Zaire, Central African Republic, Congo, Rwanda and Burundi, 
which areall French-speaking countries. Unfortunately this zone 
is like a boiling cauldron - very unstable politically. Therefore in 
order to organise a successful international book fair, political 
stability is very essential. We noted that book fairs have a big 
potential in Africa but they need nurturing and direction for 
healthy development. In this, the government as well as the 
private sector need to play complementary roles. APNET as a 
continental network of African publishers also has a crucial role 
to play by providing a catalyst towards the healthy growth of 
book fairs in Africa.GR 
Notes 
1. Higo, A. 'The Usefulness of Book Fairs to African Publishers. 
Paper delivered at a Bellagio Group seminar in Accra on 6 
November 1996 in Acer , Ghana. 
2. Karjavivi, Jane shared this Namibian experience with 
participants at a seminar organised in Accra on 8 
November 1996 during the international book fair in Accra, 
Ghana.