Bookworld Zambia buys out Macmillan Books

Bookworld’s recent milestone is a cause for celebration in Zambia’s small publishing industry. In a rare deal Bookworld Ltd, a true Zambian entity, has acquired the rights to Macmillan’s entire Zambian titles in print.

Macmillan is a global publisher with a long standing presence in Africa. In 2012, Macmillan decided to sell its African education interests. Bookworld Ltd is Zambia’s biggest book and stationery retailer. With a motto that says “Education is our priority” it was only natural for this company to takeover the publishing rights for Macmillian’s Zambian titles.

Introducing Bookworld AfricaManaging Director of Bookworld, Mr Nayee, sees the handover as an opportunity to expand the company’s business from retail sales to publishing. Bookworld has since registered a new company under the name “Bookworld Africa.” Bookworld Africa, a sister company to Bookworld Ltd, will act as the publishing arm of the company. The company will not only publish text books for Zambia but for the entire region.

Reading culture in ZambiaA recent study on the Zambian literacy levels revealed that the country is placed second from the bottom out of the 15 countries in the sub region that were surveyed for three years. Due to the country’s poor literacy performance, this year the Government of Zambia launched a new national curriculum for all education levels. Bookworld Africa has recently published this new school curriculum to suit the needs of classrooms across Zambia. This printed curriculum is currently in stock in all of Bookworld Ltd’s ten branches.

Bookworld Ltd is committed to delivering the most effective and appropriate resources for education in Zambia today. The goal is to enhance education with a view to expand in to the region. Bookworld Africa aims to be an African publisher whose presence is locally felt. Bookworld Africa will sell their books to other booksellers in addition to their own outlets — all at the same price.

Using both its combined literary and commercial strength, Bookworld Ltd will draw on its network and knowledge of the African market, particularly that of Zambia, to publish the relevant print titles for Africa’s next generation.

Editor’s Note: The content of this post was submitted by Bookworld Ltd