Press Release: European and African publishers exchange at the Europe Africa Business Forum

From 14 to 18 February, the Federation of European Publishers participates at the Europe-Africa Business Forum to share publishers’ perspectives and knowledge between the two continents.

FEP will hold two online workshops during the 7th EABF, within the context of the Africa-Europe Week, on 15 and 17 February. The events aim to reflect on the challenges and opportunities of publishing both in Africa and Europe and offer suggestions on improving the cooperation between European and African publishers on translation rights, developing technology, and educational content.

On 15 February at 16:00 CET, Publishing in Africa and Europe, better together?

The speakers are Brian Wafawarowa, Chief Content and Product Officer at Juta and Co (South Africa) and Sandro Ferri, owner of the E/O Publishing house (Italy). They will exchange their experiences on promoting translation rights and the state of publishing in Europe and Africa. Jessica Sänger, Legal Counsel and Director for European and International Affairs at Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels will moderate the event.

On 17 February, at 14:00 CET, Local educational content, a building block?

Maxwell Wahome, CEO at Longhorn Publishers (Kenya) and Brian Gilsenan, Chief Executive at CJ Fallon (Ireland) will share their expertise on how locally produced educational content fits the needs of students and how can the government support their local authors and publishers. Anne Bergman, Director of the Federation of European Publishers will moderate the event.

Both the workshops are held online. Attendees can register at this link, and they will have the chance to take part in the events actively. The Federation of European Publishers organises the two seminars with the support of the International Publishers Association.

Earlier on, today (8 February), at the initiative of FEP and IPA, a Kenyan publisher, Kiarie Kamau, Managing Director & CEO at East African Educational Publishers Limited, spoke at the European Internet Forum online event EU-Africa partnership: enhancing digital learning for all . Kamau presented the realities of African publishing and how crucial it was for pupils to have access to locally published content.

The Federation of European Publishers gathers 29 national associations of publishers in Europe. Their members publish books, learned journals and educational content in all formats. FEP is the voice of European publishers.

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