ADEA is a pan-African forum for policy dialogue on education policies that informs and facilitates the transformation of education and training to drive sustainable development in Africa. ADEA promotes innovative policies and practices through pooling and disseminating ideas, successful strategies and innovations among governments, development agencies and civil society organizations.
APNET is a pan-African, non-profit, collaborative network that connects African publishing associations to exchange information and promote and strengthen indigenous publishing. Through networking, training and trade promotion activities, APNET aims to support publishers to meet Africa’s need for quality books that are relevant to Africa’s social, political, economic and cultural realities.
On 13 June 2019 in Nairobi, the IPA signed separate memoranda of understanding with ADEA and APNET, reaffirming the three organizations’ commitment to strengthening publishing in Africa, including by reinforcing the IPA’s Regional Seminar series and developing campaigns to promote education, literacy and reading. The MoUs also provide that the organizations will co-promote the adoption and implementation of national book and reading policies in Africa and facilitate dialogue between pan-African publishing industry actors.
Collaboration points include:
- Coordinating event programming, joint workshops and training sessions;
- Seeking logistical synergies around and promoting each other’s activities, awards and events;
- Developing national book policy, reading, literacy, copyright and freedom to publish awareness and advocacy campaigns and programs;
- Co-developing and co-funding research highlighting best practices on national book policies, literacy, copyright, and freedom to publish;
- Fostering relationships and promoting multi-sectoral partnerships within the African publishing ecosystem;
- Enhancing engagement between each other’s members and supporting the cultivation of potential members;
- Shared capacity building and technical assistance programs for publishers, government authorities, and NGOs serving the publishing industry in Africa;