Lausanne World Pulse – International Publishing – Satisfying Africa’s Hunger for the Written Word

By Lawrence Darmani
May 2011  

Achievements in African Publishing
Despite the challenges, bright spots in Christian publishing dot the landscape. With the Church in Africa growing numerically, Christian publishers have the opportunity to produce relevant books to nurture its members. Books on ethics, evangelism, leadership, discipleship, Christian education, and other issues that adequately address practical problems confronting African Christians are needed in churches and theological institutions.

Now the world can get a feel for today’s African Church and its leaders in the ground-breaking Africa Bible Commentary. Seventy African scholars contributed to this first one-volume Bible commentary produced in Africa by African theologians. The commentary’s African publisher is WordAlive in Nairobi, Kenya. The director of WordAlive, David Waweru, sensed God’s leading to start a publishing house while attending MAI’s international publishing conference, LittWorld, in England a decade ago.

Some Christian publishers have found their niche in specialized areas. Cluster Publications in South Africa, for example, concentrates on contemporary African issues from theological perspectives. Their “Signs of the Times” series, written in non-academic style, covers topics such as spirituality, economics, gender, justice, HIV/AIDS, and same-sex attraction.

Other publishers specialize in publishing Sunday school curriculum, hymn books, Bible study manuals, and devotional books. One such publisher said, “In the midst of competition, we’ve found our small niche in the local church where we believe we are meeting a need.”

At Step Publishers in Ghana, we produce Christian novels for schools in response to the government’s needs for supplementary readers. I believe this is a wonderful opportunity to reach youth with alternative Christian storybooks instead indecent ones that are capturing their minds.

Denominational engagement in mainstream publishing has become prevalent across the West African sub-region. Over a dozen megachurches have taken advantage of their large numbers to engage in prolific publishing.

One Christian leader doubles as the managing editor of the denomination’s publishing house, which records, transcribes, and edits the sermons and teachings of the church’s lead pastor and prepares them for publication. With large branches of the church established in major cities of Africa, the church engages in continent-wide distribution of their books. In some cases, the publications are used as textbooks by the students of their Bible colleges.

International Publishers Partner Together
Two other recent initiatives to foster African Christian publishing and authorship include HippoBooks and the Dictionary of African Christian Biography.

Started through impetus from Langham Partnership International, HippoBooks is a shared imprint involving three African publishers and Zondervan. Several of Africa’s French-language publishers may also get involved. The vision is to stimulate spiritual and intellectual growth in the African Church by developing books by African Christian authors who address African realities from an evangelical perspective.

Six books have been published so far, with more in preparation. The imprint includes a broad range of serious Christian and theological publications written especially for pastors, church leaders, and academics. 

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Lawrence Darmani is the CEO of Step Publishers and Media Associate International’s Africa regional trainer. Although he combines publishing and editing in his day-to-day activities, he sees his calling and passion in Christian writing. He has authored over fiction and nonfiction books. He lives in Accra with his wife, Comfort, and two daughters.