Karavan Press of South Africa Wins 2025 CANEX Book Prize for Publishing
South African publisher Karavan Press has been awarded the 2025 CANEX Book Prize for Publishing in Africa. The prize carries a US$20,000 award, recognising outstanding work by African publishers and authors.
The accolade was given for In Silence My Heart Speaks, a book by author Thobeka Yose.
The prize was presented at the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF 2025) in Algiers by Algeria’s Minister of Culture and Arts, Azzedine Mihoubi. CANEX (Creative Africa Nexus), a programme run by Afreximbank in collaboration with Narrative Landscape Press Ltd., sponsors the award.
Mr. Temwa Gondwe, Afreximbank’s Director for Intra-African Trade and Export Development (Creatives and Diaspora), said the institution seeks to bolster Africa’s creative economy by promoting its publishers and helping African stories reach global audiences.
This year’s edition, only the second of the CANEX Book Factory Prize for Publishing in Africa, saw over 80 entries from across the continent. The works submitted included trade books such as fiction, non-fiction, and poetry, in both hardcover and paperback. Key criteria were that the works be printed and published in Africa, and that they be written in indigenous or official Union languages including English, Arabic, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Swahili, or any African language.
The judging panel praised Karavan Press’s high standards of writing, editing, and production. Among the judges were Dr. Boukenna Abdelaziz, a history professor at Algiers University; Ms. Lavaille Lavette, President of JVL Media; and Prof. Egara Kabaji of Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology.
Last year’s inaugural prize went to Cassava Republic Press (Nigeria) for Female Fear Factory: Unveiling Patriarchy’s Culture of Violence by Pumla Dineo Gqola.
The IATF 2025, which serves as a venue for businesses to display their goods and services and to explore trade and investment opportunities under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), wraps up today. The fair has stimulated significant trade, with previous editions generating over US$118 billion in deals and attracting tens of thousands of participants.