The Secretary-General of the Pan-African Writers Association (PAWA), Dr Wale Okediran, has appealed to the government to reduce the tariffs on printing materials and equipment to help reduce the operational cost of publishers and make books affordable.
He mentioned the high tariffs on printing materials as a major challenge for the book industry, adding that the high cost of books also discouraged the citizenry from purchasing books.
“The first thing to do to improve Ghana’s reading culture is to make books available and accessible. Many parents complain that they cannot afford to buy books.
“But to make books affordable, we need to reduce the tariffs on printing materials, such as prints, inks and other inputs. The cost of books is high because the tariffs on the printing materials are high,” he said.
Book Fair
Dr Okediran made the appeal in an interview with the Daily Graphic at the launch of the 18th Ghana International Book Fair (GIBF) in Accra.
This year’s fair, on the theme: “Ghana: A nation of readers for development”, will be held at the National Theatre from August 26 to 29, 2021.
The event seeks to create an avenue for players and stakeholders in the book industry to interact and foster strong business relationships as well as showcase the works of authors in a bid to connect them to prospective buyers.
A former Editor of the Daily Graphic, Professor Kojo Yankah, who is also the President and Founder of the African University College of Communications (AUCC), has been named the GIBF Personality of the Year and would be honoured at the fair.
Build more libraries
Dr Okediran further appealed to the government to build more libraries, especially in under-served communities, so that persons who could not afford books could have access to read.
He also rallied the business community to support the efforts of the government by supporting needy communities and schools with reading materials as part of their corporate social responsibility.
“There is so much emphasis on the established authors and I think we need to encourage the young writers. Some of them complain that even though they have the manuscripts, they do not have the funds to publish them so we can make available some grants to support them,” he added.
In a speech read on his behalf, the Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Dr Ibrahim Mohammed Awal, entreated publishers to embrace technology and digitise their works to enable them to expand their readership and sustain their business.
Embrace technology
“The e-library has indeed come to meet us and, therefore, we must strive and put our heads together during these few days to discuss the way forward with the digitisation of our books because digitisation is a key agenda being pursued by the government,” he said.
For his part, the President of the Ghana Publishers Association, Mr Asare Konadu Yamoah, who is also the Chairman of the GIBF, appealed to the government to pay critical attention to the publishing industry and invest in the sector.
He said the sector had the potential to employ about 180,000 young Ghanaians, among other untapped opportunities.
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