Algiers, September 9, 2025 — South African independent publisher Karavan Press has won the 2025 edition of the CANEX Book Factory Prize for Publishing in Africa, an award that honours outstanding contributions by African publishers and authors to the global literary stage.
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The Cape Town-based publisher was recognised for In Silence My Heart Speaks by South African writer Thobeka Yose, claiming the $20,000 grand prize. Algeria’s Minister of Culture and Arts, Azzedine Mihoubi, presented the award during a ceremony at the ongoing Intra-African Trade Fair 2025 (IATF2025) in Algiers. Other finalists each received $2,000.
The prize is a joint initiative of the Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX) — an Afreximbank programme — and Narrative Landscape Press Limited. It aims to highlight Africa’s publishing ecosystem and nurture new literary talent across the continent and its diaspora.
“Through the CANEX Book Factory Prize, we continue to strengthen Africa’s creative economy by elevating publishers and amplifying African narratives to global audiences,” said Temwa Gondwe, Afreximbank’s Director for Intra-African Trade and Export Development.
Now in its second year, the prize drew over 80 entries from across the continent, reflecting the diversity and vitality of African literature. Submissions ranged from fiction, non-fiction and poetry to works written in indigenous African languages and official African Union languages including Arabic, English, French, Portuguese, Spanish and Swahili.
Entries were judged on the quality of writing, editing and production by a panel comprising Dr Boukenna Abdelaziz, Professor of History at Algiers University; Lavaille Lavette, President of JVL Media; and Prof Egara Kabaji, Professor of Literary Communication at Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology in Kenya.
In 2024, Nigeria’s Cassava Republic Press won the inaugural prize for Female Fear Factory: Unveiling Patriarchy’s Culture of Violence by Pumla Dineo Gqola, a work praised for its bold critique of gender-based violence.
The award forms part of the CANEX Book Factory programme, one of several initiatives under Afreximbank’s CANEX platform, which supports Africa’s creative industries from literature to film, music, fashion, and visual arts.
This year’s award coincides with IATF2025, a major pan-African trade and investment event hosted by Algeria, Afreximbank, the African Union Commission and the AfCFTA Secretariat. The weeklong gathering has brought together creatives, investors and policymakers to explore opportunities in Africa’s fast-growing cultural economy.
The fair is expected to generate over $44bn in trade and investment deals. Since its inception, IATF has facilitated more than $118bn in agreements and attracted 70,000 visitors and 4,500 exhibitors across its first three editions.
