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A South African publishing house, Karavan Press, has won the 2025 edition of the CANEX Book Prize for Publishing in Africa.
The Cape Town-based company received the $20,000 Book Factory Prize in recognition of exceptional contributions by African publishers and authors to the literary world.
Karavan Press was recognised for its book, In Silence My Heart Speaks, written by Thobeka Yose.
The prize, presented by Algeria’s Minister of Culture and Arts, Mr Azzedine Mihoubi, at the ongoing Intra-African Trade Fair 2025 (IATF2025) in Algiers, is a joint initiative of the Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX), a programme by Afreximbank in partnership with Narrative Landscape Press Limited.
It seeks to highlight the literary and publishing value chain in Africa and to nurture literary talent throughout the continent and the Diaspora.
Afreximbank’s Director for Intra-African Trade and Export Development (Creatives and Diaspora), Mr Temwa Gondwe, explained that the bank has continued to strengthen Africa’s creative economy through the prize by promoting publishers and amplifying African stories to international audiences.
“Besides the prize, we deliver a Pan-African writing workshop and an e-newsletter highlighting African literature to spotlight and elevate the African book value chain,” he stated.
Now in its second year, the prize received over 80 submissions from across the continent, showcasing the diversity and vibrancy of African storytelling.
Publishers submitted trade books aimed at a general audience and widely accessible through libraries and bookshops.
The entries covered fiction, nonfiction and poetry, in both hardcover and paperback editions, with a focus on works printed and published on the continent and written in indigenous languages.
Entries may be submitted in one or more of the official languages of the African Union (AU): Arabic, English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Swahili, or any other African language.
Submissions are judged based on writing, editing and production quality.
The jury, which commended the excellent quality of writing, editing and production, included Professor of History at Algiers University, Dr. Boukenna Abdelaziz; President of JVL Media, Ms Lavaille Lavette; and Professor of Literary Communication at Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology, Prof. Egara Kabaji.
The prize is part of the activities organised by the CANEX Book Factory, an annual programme of events under Afreximbank’s CANEX initiative that concludes with an awards ceremony.
Last year, Cassava Republic Press (Nigeria) won the top prize at the inaugural CANEX Book Factory Prize for Publishing in Africa for the book Female Fear Factory: Unveiling Patriarchy’s Culture of Violence by Pumla Dineo Gqola.
IATF serves as a platform for businesses to showcase their goods and services to visitors and buyers, while exploring opportunities and exchanging information.
It aims to leverage opportunities from AfCFTA’s single market, which covers more than 1.4 billion people and has a GDP surpassing US$3.5 trillion.
The IATF2025, which concludes today, is its fourth edition, with the previous three editions of the IATF cumulatively generating over $118 billion in trade and investment deals and attracting more than 70,000 visitors and 4,500 exhibitors.
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