The 2025 CANEX Book Factory Prize is presented to Karavan Press.
Algiers, 07 September 2025 – Karavan Press, an independent publisher based in Cape Town, South Africa, is the winner of the 2025 edition of the CANEX Book Factory Prize for Publishing in Africa, which celebrates and recognises outstanding contributions of African publishers and authors to the literary world.
Karavan Press was recognised for its book In Silence My Heart Speaks by Thobeka Yose, winning the $20,000 top prize. The Prize was presented by Algeria’s Minister of Culture and Arts Azzedine Mihoubi during an award ceremony held at the Intra-African Trade Fair 2025 (IATF2025) in Algiers. Finalists received $2,000 each.
The Prize is a joint initiative of the Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX), an intervention by African Export–Import Bank (Afreximbank), in partnership with Narrative Landscape Press Limited. It aims to showcase the literary and publishing value chain in Africa and develop literary talent across the continent and the Diaspora.
“Through the CANEX Book Factory Prize for Publishing in Africa, we continue to strengthen Africa’s creative economy by elevating publishers and amplifying African narratives to global audiences. Besides the Prize, we deliver a Pan-African writing workshop, and an e-newsletter highlighting African literature, to spotlight and elevate the African book value chain,” said Afreximbank’s Director for Intra-African Trade and Export Development (Creatives and Diaspora), Temwa Gondwe.
Now in its second year, the Prize attracted over 80 submissions from across the continent, reflecting the diversity and vitality of African storytelling. Publishers submitted trade books published for a general audience and widely available through libraries and bookstores. The entries spanned fiction, non-fiction, and poetry, in hardcover and paperback, with an emphasis on works printed and published on the continent and written in indigenous languages. Entries could be in one or more of the official languages of the African Union: Arabic, English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Swahili, and other African languages. Submissions were judged on the quality of writing, editing, and production.
The jury comprised Dr. Boukenna Abdelaziz (Professor of History, Algiers University), Lavaille Lavette (President, JVL Media), and Prof. Egara Kabaji (Professor of Literary Communication, Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology). The jury lauded the outstanding quality of writing, editing, and production.
The Prize is one of the activities under the CANEX Book Factory, an annual programme of events under Afreximbank’s CANEX initiative, culminating in the awards ceremony. Last year, Cassava Republic Press (Nigeria) won the inaugural edition for the book Female Fear Factory: Unveiling Patriarchy’s Culture of Violence by Pumla Dineo Gqola.
CANEX at IATF is billed as the largest gathering of creatives from Africa and the Diaspora across diverse industries—from film, music, and fashion to culinary arts, sports, and visual arts. The weeklong summit convenes continental and global players to showcase their goods and services, and to explore business and investment opportunities within the rapidly expanding creative economy. It is held as part of IATF2025, hosted by the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria and co-convened by Afreximbank, the African Union Commission and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat. The event is projected to facilitate trade and investment deals worth over US$44 billion.
IATF provides a platform for businesses to showcase goods and services, explore opportunities, and exchange information. It aims to leverage AfCFTA’s single market of over 1.4 billion people and GDP of over US$3.5 trillion. IATF2025 is the fourth edition; the first three cumulatively generated over $118 billion in trade and investment deals and attracted more than 70,000 visitors and 4,500 exhibitors.
For more information, please visit www.intrafricantradefair.com
ENDS
Organised by African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), African Union Commission (AUC) and African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat, the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) provides a unique platform for facilitating trade and investment information exchange in support of increased intra-African trade and investment, especially in the context of AfCFTA. IATF brings together continental and global players to showcase goods and services, explore business opportunities, and share trade, investment and market information. The Trade Fair is also open to businesses and investors from non-African countries interested in supporting Africa’s transformation through industrialisation and export development.
Media contact: media@intrafricatradefair.com / press@afreximbank.com
