AUDIOBOOK PUBLISHING IN AFRICA

A YET UNHARNESSED GOLDMINE

Audiobooks are books in audio form. That is, instead of reading a book, you can now listen to
it narrated by someone who reads very well, at a pace and accent that you can understand.
The last phrase at a pace and accent you can understand, is very crucial in Audiobook
production. In creating Audiobooks, every word must be pronounced as the owners of the
language would. It will amount to a complete distortion of knowledge if a word is pronounced
wrongly in the course of narrating a book as the meaning of such words will be lost, leading
to loss in the intended knowledge that ought to be inculcated.
My foray into creating audiobooks began in 2010. I studied Physics and Astronomy in the
University of Nigeria and four years after my graduation, worked with three Software
companies developing enterprise applications for the Financial and Oil & Gas sectors of
Nigeria. It was while in my last place of employment that I discovered the audio version of
Napoleon Hills Law of Success in Seventeen Lessons produced by High Roads Media
Incorporated. I was immediately hooked and I remember I listened to it over and over again
and even had my bosses listen to it. At first I thought of reaching out to High Roads Media to
distribute this audiobook in Nigeria but I met with brick walls. One day I was sharing with my
elder brother my desire to distribute this audiobook in Nigeria and the challenges I was facing
in making that desire come true. It was then that my brother asked me to try narrating it
myself. At first it looked impossible. How could I narrate the entire Law of Success, where
would I get the money to do the studio production, and so many other questions? Well, I got
myself to do it and actually put in all my savings into the studio production, with license from
The Napoleon Hill Foundation, USA. From that time I have never looked back from audiobook
creation.
Today, I have narrated more than 30 books written by the most famous Christian Leaders in
Nigeria. I have recently concluded a deal with The Wiley Agency, UK to narrate Kojo Laings
works Search Sweet Country and Woman of the Aeroplanes. In the next couple of months
we would be launching our online audiobook publishing and distribution platform
Audiobook Africa.com. Our dream is to provide a one stop online platform where:

Any book authored by an African will be found, rented or bought as Audiobooks or

eBooks integrated with narrations.
Authors, Publishers and Narrators in Africa can meet to close book narration deals
Students can subscribe to audio and eBooks created from books in their various
Schools and Libraries just with a Library Card

As at today, most audiobook publishing companies are outside of Africa. Most African books,
of all genres, are predominantly in traditional hard copy formats, and this at a time when
Africas students and young people are online and use smart phones heavily. I am convinced
that audiobook and eBook publishing in Africa is a yet unharnessed goldmine. With the
number of Africans who are currently internet active (298 million as at June, 2014) and the

hundreds of millions that will join in the next five years, digital book publishing and
distribution is set to become a 100 billion dollar industry.
More so, the growing middle class in Africa and the explosion in smart phone usage will
further enhance the prospects of this industry. Cisco has predicted that in the next couple of
years, the world would have 50 billion connected devices.
Africas libraries need to have their contents in eBook and Audiobook formats if they will
attract the young Africans of this generation. The average young African of High school and
University age gets all his news and information on his phone. He would readily read his
textbooks if they would be delivered to him on his phone as eBooks and Audiobooks. Amazon
has succeeded in integrating audio narrations of books with their eBook counterparts such
that an Amazon Kindle user can listen as well as read the books on his Kindle. Our schools
need to embrace eLearning and Audio learning as soon as possible as a sure alternative to
information delivery. My dream for African Education is a continent where our Libraries and
Schools have all the books in their shelves in eBook and Audiobook formats and users of these
libraries will have to simply subscribe and get these books on their devices.
Today books can be put in various formats which can be read by every available eBook reader.
For devices that do not have a native way of reading the standard format for eBooks ePub,
there are free or very affordable ePub mobile applications online. With the increasing pace of
todays society, its either our Schools and libraries go electronic or they extinct.
Many schools in Europe and America have embraced OER (Open Educational Resources) and
MOOCs (Massive open Online Courses) as an innovative approach to knowledge delivery and
dissemination and it is only recently that Nigerias Open University, in collaboration with
UNESCO, has started embracing this paradigm. The OER and MOOCs paradigm is a sure way
of democratizing knowledge. The implication of this is that no student in any part of the world
should be deprived of quality knowledge because of his location. Students, from the remotest
parts of the world can learn from world class Professors in any and every discipline, read their
study materials, and attempt their examinations, without paying a dime. All they need is
internet access. The only difference is that one would not receive certificates from these
schools. The question is: do we go to school for the sake of certificates or for knowledge?
With what Facebook is doing with internet.org, including the IoE (Internet of Everything)
paradigm, I am convinced that every part of the world will soon have easy and affordable
internet access.
The urgent need in Africa is harnessing our knowledge, digitizing them and making them
accessible. There are profound things happening in Africa, in every sector; it is our
responsibility to publish them in every format. We need to ensure that our books, journals,
etc. are available in formats that make them easy to access. Our students need not buy and
read books the way they were done 100 years ago.
Overdrive Incorporated, USA has shown us that this can be done. In an article published in
2010, Kirston Hoets, Director Booktalk (PTY) LTD, South Africa, said:

Because of easy access to popular and best-selling titles and a growing list of compatible
devices, libraries around the world have seen enormous success after introducing digital book
downloads to their library users. In 2009 library users viewed more than 401 million download
web site pages, a 69% increase over 2008. Audio-book checkouts increased 70% in 2009
compared to 2008, and eBook checkouts grew 53%. OverDrives network of libraries recently
crossed the 20 million all-time checkouts mark, but it was just last year that library partners
hit 10 million all-time checkouts. It means that, in a little more than one year, libraries
accomplished what took five years since the service became available in 2004.
Now is the time for Africa to digitize her books. We need to digitize the books in all our school,
public and corporate libraries and make them available on one platform. No student, or
researcher needs to travel long distances in search of books in various libraries. Lets create
an Africa where it is easy to learn and prosper.

Tochukwu Nkwocha
Principal Partner
GENIIT-T Consulting Nigeria Limited
Lagos, Nigeria
An eBook and Audiobook Publishing Company
tochukwu@geniitconsult.com
+234 803 764 9956