Africa Rising: An Interview with Lawrence Njagi

With a land mass bigger than China, India, the continental U.S., and most of Europe put together, the African continent is immensely rich in natural resources. And though it remains the world’s poorest continent, Africa has seen dramatic economic growth over the past decade. From the Sahara to the Cape of Good Hope, from Senegal to Somalia, Africans are eager to make the 21st century the era of “Africa Rising.”

Stream the interview now.

https://beyondthebookcast.com/africa-rising/

In Nairobi, Kenya, on June 14 and 15, the International Publishers Association welcomed hundreds of delegates for a seminar program that aims to advance development of African publishing and to highlight achievements in literature, education, and freedom of expression.

“Educational publishing, being the mainstay of most African publishers, requires support with relevant legislation to ensure that it thrives,” Lawrence Njagi, chair of the Kenya Publisher Association, told Publishing Perspectives.

“Trade publishing require urgent promotion to ensure that Africans read for genuine acquisition of knowledge, for entertainment, and for keeping abreast of world happenings,” Ngagi said. “A lot of Africans, unfortunately, read only to pass examinations. This can only be reversed if we make available and promote more trade and general books.”

Njagi is managing director of Mountain Top Publishers and director of the National Book Development Council of Kenya.

View the full transcript here.

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Author: Christopher Kenneally

Christopher Kenneally hosts CCC's Velocity of Content podcast series, which debuted in 2006 and is the longest continuously running podcast covering the publishing industry. As CCC's Senior Director, Marketing, he is responsible for organizing and hosting programs that address the business needs of all stakeholders in publishing and research. His reporting has appeared in the New York Times, Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, The Independent (London), WBUR-FM, NPR, and WGBH-TV.
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