12th International Book Fair opens at Trade Fair Centre

The 12th Ghana International Book Fair, dubbed “E-Books: A new tool for promoting literacy and global development” opened at the Ghana International Trade Fair Centre, La, Accra, yesterday.

More than 20 local and international publishers and companies are taking part in the eight-day fair, which is being held under the auspices of the Ghana Book Publishers Association (GBPA).

The fair, a one-stop shop for all educational needs, is expected to attract schoolchildren and educational institutions from across the country.

During the period, patrons would share and learn more about Information Communication Technology (ICT) through e-commerce, the use of social networks, application of ICT in marketing and management of businesses.

A number of participating companies are expected to unveil new technologies and textbooks.

Relevance of E-books

In an address read on her behalf, the Minister of Education, Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, advised Ghanaians to not see Information Communication Technology (ICT) as a replacement of the book.

She indicated that though the present and future generations had a ready source of information in  ICT, It would not replace print reading materials or paper documents in the system.

“E-books can only be an alternative source or option for a certain category of information consumers and knowledge managers,” she said.

Professor Opoku-Agyemang, therefore, encouraged the public to patronise both print and electronic books.

She said although Ghana had a very high tele-density and an estimated 65 per cent literacy rate, the country was still lagging behind in terms of information literacy.

Role of book industry

In his welcome address, the President of the GBPA, Dr Samuel Osafo Acquaah, noted that despite the Ebola scare, which had affected foreign participation in the fair, “We have a good local representation and several innovative and educative programmes scheduled for this event.”

He said the book industry was there to educate and inform society on social, economic, scientific and technological advancements, which directly impacted on the national development agenda.

Touching on e-books as supplementaries, Dr Acquaah said they were cheap, portable and allowed easy, fast access to any page than their paper counterparts, adding, “with just a few clicks, you can have access to your book”.

“E-books can serve as a viable tool to support education, industry, agriculture, tourism and other sectors of our economy and is a topic to be seriously deliberated upon in the ensuing days of the fair,” he said.

Dialogue

Prior to the launch, the Graphic Communications Group Ltd (GCGL) and the GBPA held a dialogue to identify challenges affecting the publishing industry and the way forward.

The Head of Department of Publishing Studies at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Dr Kwesi Opoku Amankwah, who gave an overview of the GBPA, attributed the underdevelopment of the publishing industry to government’s inability to adhere to the policy of producing 60 per cent of its entire textbooks locally.