Reading in Ghana.

Ghana will soon have a proper book promotion strategy to integrate the overall national development agenda, the minister of education, science and sports, Papa Owusu-Ankomah, has said. The aim of the policy will be to promote a more rounded education by encouraging people to continue reading beyond school. Owusu-Ankomah made the announcement at the launch of the sixth edition of the Ghana international book fair, which will take place at the National Theatre 7-12 November on the theme Books, fuel for national development. The minister also said that his ministry together with the Ghana Book Development Council and other interested parties would organise a series of annual fairs at regional and district level to promote a culture of reading across the country. Ghana has a good literacy rate (75 per cent) compared with many other African countries, although there is a significant gap between men (82.7 per cent) and women (67.1 per cent) and between people living in rural and urban areas. For information about publishing in Africa see the African Publishers Network website www.apnet.org/home.html.