How Africa Trades, a book by Prof. David Luke, has won the Business Council for Africa (BCA) African Business Book of the Year at a ceremony on July 3 at Dartmouth House in Mayfair, London.
The BCA African Business Book of the Year Awards, which honours exceptional contributions to business literature in Africa, brought together authors, industry leaders and Africa watchers to celebrate the winners of this literary award in the business and economics category.
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.
Prof. Luke’s book was recognised for its lucid storytelling, evidence-based research and its accessible writing style, the organisers stated.
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.
“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 organiser stated.
Nigerian Dipo Faloyin, a senior editor at VICE, emerged the first runner-up for his book “Africa is not a country.”
His work was described by judges as “very well written and researched; rich in content, captivating, engaging and funny.”
Jozef Mols was the second runner-up 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.
The winner and runners up were picked by the Awards committee from a shortlist of eight books out of about 30 submissions from various authors and publishers across the African continent, as well as suggested books by the editorial team of African Business magazine.
“The event served as a testament to the power of business literature in inspiring and driving positive change across Africa,” the organisers stated.
