An independent Tanzanian publisher who held out against the tide

A number of African countries boast notable independent publishing landscapes. These include South Africa, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. However, this fragile industry has long been characterised by a host of threats...These challenges are well encapsulated by the trajectory of one independent Tanzanian publishing house: Mkuki na Nyota...

Walter Bgoya, its managing director. Bgoya’s passion for reading goes back to the 1950s. But his worldview was shaped in the 1960s. This was an exhilarating period of decolonisation, Pan-Africanism and – in his country – the ideals of President Julius Nyerere’s flagship ideology, Ujamaa, or African Socialism... What followed for Bgoya and his new business was a tumultuous journey through numerous financial, political and operational constraints. It is a testimony of his vision and tenacity that he eventually gained a footing by the 1990s, and went on to thrive...