Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX), an intervention by African Export–Import Bank (Afreximbank), invites African publishers of trade books to apply for the second edition of the CANEX Book Factory Prize for Publishing in Africa. The deadline to submit is April 30, 2025.

The prize is open to trade books published by Africa-domiciled publishers in the year preceding the prize, in one or more of the official languages of the African Union: Arabic, English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Swahili, and any other African language. The total prize fund is $28,000, with $20,000 awarded to the winner and $2,000 distributed to each of the four finalists. Interested publishers should visit the website to submit.

The CANEX Book Factory Prize for Publishing in Africa is designed to celebrate and recognise the outstanding contributions of African publishers and authors to the literary world. The initiative, developed in partnership with Narrative Landscape Press Limited, underscores the commitment of Afreximbank through the CANEX Book Factory to showcasing of the literary and publishing value chain in Africa, and developing literary talent across the continent and its diaspora. The inaugural edition saw Cassava Republic Press, win the Prize in 2024 for the “Female Fear Factory: Unveiling Patriarchy’s Culture of Violence,” by Pumla Dineo Gqola.

In a press release, Dr. Eghosa Imasuen, co-founder of Narrative Landscape Press Limited and Programme Manager for the CANEX Book Factory, said, “The first edition of the Prize greatly underscored the necessity of this intervention in the publishing value chain in Africa. We are grateful to Afreximbank and CANEX for their ongoing support of African publishing. We are excited to launch this second edition, and we hope to see submissions from more publishers across the continent than in the inaugural edition.”

Submission Guidelines:

To qualify for the CANEX Prize for Publishing in Africa, books must be originally published by African publishers situated in Africa. The publication date should fall within the eligibility window of the preceding calendar year, commencing on January 1 and concluding on December 31.

Publishers may submit four (4) trade books for the prize, defined as books intended for a general audience and widely accessible through libraries and bookstores. These include fiction, non-fiction, and poetry in both hardcover and paperback formats. Textbooks, academic books, and coffee-table books for niche readerships are excluded.

It is important to note that all information provided by publishers during the petitioning process will be treated confidentially, and the Prize administrators will communicate their decision directly to the publisher. No additional documentation is necessary beyond written responses exchanged via email.

Eligibility requirements:

  • Trade books in English, French, Arabic, Swahili, Portuguese, Spanish, and any African language, initially published in Africa during the eligibility year.
  • Full-length books of fiction and nonfiction.
  • Collections of short stories or essays by a single or multiple authors.
  • Collected and selected poems by a single or multiple authors.
  • Self-published books, provided the author/publisher also publishes titles by other authors. The Prize administrators may request the publisher’s catalogue for verification.

See the full guidelines and submit here!