The 19th edition of Ghana International Book Fair (GIBF) 2022opened in Accra on Thursday, on the theme “Reforming the Book Industry for the Future Generation.”
The ceremony, aimed at reviving the book industry, deliberate on how to promote its relevance and patronage in order to position GIBF as a choice in sub-Saharan Africa.
The President of Ghana Publishers Association and chairman for the 19thGhana International Book Fair (GIBF)2022, Mr Asare Konadu Yamoah, in his address stated that, there were issues of social and economic inequalities and the best way to reduce that was to protect and encourage the habit of reading amongst young people.
“GIBF is our cultural heritage that offers the country an opportunity to showcase their literary works to the world and has helped the private sector to make a significant impact in the Ghanaian Book industry,” he said.
Mr Yamoah explained that the fair provided excellent opportunities for book industry stakeholders to determine the scope of interaction between the various interest groups and establish an understanding purposefully for the promotion of our cultural heritage through books.
“It is time to adjust our mindset to make meaningful changes in our societies, all stakeholders should join us discuss the strategies to make the future of good publishing meaningful and sustainable in the country,” he said.
On her part, the Executive Director of Ghana Book Development Council, Mrs Ernesticia Lartey Asuinura, expressed excitements and said the book industry was vibrant in the book.
“There have been lots of reforms in the book industry and we are hoping that the challenges that used to be in the past, if not to be eliminated would be reduced to the barest minimum,” she said.
She disclosed that, in order to promote the industry to get to the position it wanted, the industry had started exporting Ghanaian authors and books to showcase them to the outside world.
The Ghana International Book Fair is an annual event organised to celebrate the rich Ghanaian culture through books and also bring together all book industry players to exhibit books, creativity and innovations, both local and international.
The fair also aims at exposing readers to a wide array of books, thus creating literacy awareness and inculcating into the general public good reading and writing habits as well as workshops for the book industry to enhance the publishing of quality books.
BY ANITA ANKRAH AND MARYAM OMARU
