The event took place on 3 July 2024 at Dartmouth House in Mayfair, London and brought together authors, industry leaders and Africa watchers to celebrate the winners of this literary award in the business and economics category.
This year’s winner is Professor David Luke for his book How Africa Trades. Specialising in African trade policy and trade negotiations, Luke has decades of experience in policy advisory services, managing and catalysing research, building partnerships, training and capacity development for private sector and government. His book was recognised for its lucid storytelling, evidence-based research and its accessible writing style. As Africa pushes through the African continental free trade agreement, this book is highly relevant and as one of the judges put it “is an excellent primer to understanding the often-tangled world of African commerce.”
The first runner-up is Dipo Faloyin for his book Africa is not a country. Lagos-born Dipo is a senior editor at VICE, where he focuses on race, culture, and identity around the world. His work was described by judges as “very well written and researched; rich in content, captivating, engaging and funny.”
The second runner-up is Jozef Mols for his book Ethiopian Airlines: the African Aviation Powerhouse, which the judges described as “being brave enough to tell the unique and fantastic story of Ethiopian Airlines.” Born in Antwerp, Jozef studied applied economics with emphasis on marketing, consular sciences and economics of developing countries.
The judges, in their deliberations, noted that African books in the business and economics category remain highly underrepresented. However, books such as Mols’ show that there are great stories to be told and that the journeys of some of these wonderful businesses are engaging and important.
“We launched the BCA Annual Africa Business Awards last year to encourage and promote serious discussion and analysis of businesses and economies in Africa. I strongly believe that it is important to have on record the stories of businesses and industries on the continent. We urge publishers and writers to take the plunge and I am sure we can have a larger array of books in this particular category; something we have seen in the world of fiction. We congratulate everyone who participated and who are contributing to telling African business stories,” said Arnold Ekpe, chairman of the Business Council for Africa.
This year’s winner of the BCA African Business Book of the Year Awards will receive $10,000 in prize money, the runner up $5,000 and the second runner up $2,500. The Awards this year received almost 30 submissions from various authors and publishers across the African continent as well as suggested books by the editorial team of African Business magazine. A shortlist of eight books was selected by the Awards Committee, from which the winners were selected. The event served as a testament to the power of business literature in inspiring and driving positive change across Africa.
The event was created by the Business Council for Africa, and supported by Brand Communications, a leading branding and communications agency, and African Business magazine.
For more information about the winners and their books, please visit the official website of the BCA African Business Book of the Year Awards at www.bcafrica.org/book-awards