The first event took place on February 15 to discuss business aspects of publishing in the two regions, under the theme “Publishing in Africa and Europe, better together?”. 

Moderated by the Chair of IPA’s Copyright Committee Jessica Sanger, Brian Wafawarowa, publisher and current president of our member Publishers Association of South Africa (PASA) and Sandro Ferri, founder of publishing houses Europa Editions, talked about what being a publisher means in their respective countries in terms of challenges and opportunities, how does the legal and regulatory framework support (or not) publishing in those regions, and the role of translators and local content producers. 

The second panel was moderated by Anne Bergman Tahon, FEP’s Director, and took place on February 17 to discuss “Local educational content, a building block?”. 

Brian Gilsenan, publisher and Vice Chair of the Educational Publishers Forum, and Maxwell Wahome, publisher and member of the Kenyan Publishers Association, started by characterizing educational publishing in their countries. The speakers discussed the importance of local educational content to further education goals in their countries, underlining the needs and conditions to ensure sustainability of educational publishing in their countries. Salient topics of discussion included the negative impacts of piracy and the importance of effectively tackling it, and the challenges and opportunities brought by the rising importance of digital education in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Don’t miss the chance to watch the recordings of these two very interesting sessions, available here:

Available with interpretation in French here: https://eu.eventscloud.com/ereg/inactive.php?eventid=200236924 

On 8 February, member of IPA’s Copyright Committee member Kiarie Kamau participated with other speakers in a debate organized by the European Internet Forum, hosted by Member of European Parliament Maria da Graça Carvalho, on how to improve the partnership between EU and Africa when it comes to education, digital learning and skills. 

Program available here: https://www.internetforum.eu/events/reports/345-eu-africa-partnership-enhancing-digital-learning-for-all.html