The Nairobi International Book Fair 2018 opening ceremony was hosted at the Sarit Centre on September 27, 2018. The ceremony was attended by everyone who was everyone in the Kenyan publishing industry led by the Kenya Publishing Association chairperson Lawrence Njagi and Nairobi International Book Fair Chair Mary Maina. The guest of honour at the event was Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
In prepared remarks, the fair chairperson Mary Maina welcomed all who were at the event which was in its 21st year. Ms Maina promised even more from the fair with 70 local and 20 international exhibitors showcasing their work.
The guest of honour Mr Odinga in his remarks spoke about the need for publishers to produce work that would keep us so engrossed that we could stay away from social media channels.
The most remarkable statement in the afternoon came from the KPA chairman Lawrence Njagi who apart from his usual talking points on the curriculum and VAT on books being unacceptable had new information. Kenya would be hosting next year’s edition of the International Publishers Association seminar for sustainable development for African publishers 2019.
Update: An earlier version of this blog stated that the International Publishers Association will be hosting its congress in Nairobi next year. We have since established, with help from our friends at the New Publishing Standard, that Kenya will not be hosting a congress but a seminar instead. You can read more about it here.
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