\n The UNESCO report blamed weak polices, an absence of tax incentives, and a reliance on imported books for the lack of industry growth within Africa. It recommended the establishment of national book policies that would promote literacy, oversee book circulation, and create financial incentives for key players within the industry.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cToday, you see that most of the names of authors of literature in Africa are more known outside the continent than inside the continent. They\u2019re known in their country, but they\u2019re not circulating between the other countries, and that\u2019s an issue,\u201d Ernesto Ottone Ram\u00edrez, assistant director-general for culture at UNESCO, told CNN.\n <\/p>\n
\n Ram\u00edrez said Africa\u2019s book industry is \u201cbooming with untapped potential,\u201d which the continent could capitalize on if countries implement UNESCO\u2019s suggestions.\n <\/p>\n
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\n One area of interest is the role of public libraries. The report outlined the need to strengthen the framework of libraries across Africa, especially in rural areas, by enacting \u201cclear principles for governance and funding\u201d that prioritize the entire book ecosystem.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cIt must start from the community,\u201d Jacob Ananda, the assistant director at Nairobi City County Libraries, told CNN. He wants children to be introduced to libraries and reading at a young age so it \u201cbecomes part of their lifestyle.\u201d However, to do that, he said there must be \u201cpolicies on restoring, restocking, and preserving the libraries.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n Ananda gives a nod to the McMillan Memorial Library, which is undergoing restoration to improve the building\u2019s facilities and provide digital access to reading materials with the help of the non-profit Book Bunk<\/a> and funding from the local government.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cWe are looking forward to being among the state-of-the-art libraries and being able to meet the users\u2019 needs,\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n \n At least 70% of sub-Saharan<\/a> Africa\u2019s population is under the age of 30, making it the youngest in the world. Publishers and distributors are aiming to tap into this tech-savvy generation by leveraging Africa\u2019s budding festival circuit and embracing digital integration.\n <\/p>\n \n The UNESCO report says each year, some 270 literary festivals and book fairs are held across the continent, with many focusing on children\u2019s books. It also notes that a growing number of publishers and distributors are exploring e-book and audiobook production, including African Storybook<\/a> in South Africa, AkooBooks<\/a> in Ghana, and eKitabu<\/a> in Kenya.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThe new generation of creators today, they\u2019re looking at how to go to the future with something that belongs to them, and nobody will tell them how to tell this (Africa\u2019s) story,\u201d Ram\u00edrez said.\n <\/p>\n \n One way to uphold Africa\u2019s rich culture and diversity is by telling its stories in their native tongue and being able to translate them into more of the continent\u2019s 2,000 languages. Ram\u00edrez told CNN 90% of the content UNESCO receives from partner organizations is in English, but he believes artificial intelligence could help translate books and other reading materials into a variety of languages and local dialects, making it more accessible to communities.\n <\/p>\n \n However, he cautioned that AI needs to be handled with care. \u201cAfrica is the continent where you have less legislation on those issues (of artificial intelligence),\u201d Ram\u00edrez said. He adds that this is an opportunity for countries to create their own safeguards to regulate platforms, protect copyrights, and ensure creators receive the benefits of their work.\n <\/p>\n \n The report is part of a series of publications UNESCO is working on to map out Africa\u2019s creative economies, which Ram\u00edrez says is crucial to unlocking the continent\u2019s economic potential. \u201cThe only way to have social cohesion at the country level between all the diversity of communities is to have culture at the center of sustainable development,\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sitting on the shelves of one of Kenya\u2019s oldest libraries is a treasure trove of untapped financial opportunity…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":51156,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[288,93,61,60],"class_list":["post-51155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-books","tag-books","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51155"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51155\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Book](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/gettyimages-1239563813.jpg\")
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