APNET - The Organization
APNET is the African Publishers Network - a pan-african organization established in 1992 - which brings together natinonal publishers associations and publishing communities to strengthen indigenous publishing throughout Africa. The organisation functions according to a simple and effective structure which is composed of the General Council, a Board, a Secretariat and Programme Committiees. The activities of APNET comprise training, capacity building, trade promotion, information, research and documentation, international relations. APNET's secretariat is based in Harare, Zimbabwe.
General Council
The General Council meets every two years. It is the supreme authority and the organization's decision-maker. All the members are represented. Its members are the representatives of the national publishers associations, founder members, affiliates and associates. The General Council elects the Board members and approves all questions of policy relating to APNET.
Board
The Board is the executive arm of the General Council and it is composed of the Chairman, Treasurer, Vice-Chairperson and a representative from each of the regions into which Full Members are grouped and others from Full Members present, giving regard to regional coverage. The task of the Board is to interpret and guide the implementation of the policies of APNET. To achieve that successfully, the Board depends on the Secretariat.
Chairman: Mr. Samuel Kolawole (Nigeria)
Treasurer: Mr. Lawrence Njagi (Kenya)
Vice-Chairperson: Mr. Mohamed Radi (Egypt)
Member: Mrs. Christiane Ekue (Togo)
Member: Mrs. Gaulphine Nyirenda (Malawi)
Member: Mr. Asare Yemoah Konadu (Ghana)
Member: Member: Mr. David Kibuuka (Uganda)
The strategy of the Board is to work with the amended constitution to further restructure the organization as recommended by the Task Team and the General Council.
Secretariat
The Secretariat, located in Harare, Zimbabwe, is composed of the Executive Director only at the moment. The Secretariat is the administrative arm of APNET and the executor of the policies.
Programme Committees
Lastly, there are the Programme Committees, which are in place to supervise activities in the different programmes. Each Committee is headed by a Board member. To date there is a project KAWI in progress apart from the others committees.
Membership
There are four levels of membership: Full, Founding, Affiliate, and Associate. Full membership embraces national publishers associations. Founding members constitute a group of publishers from the 9 countries, which initially founded APNET. This is to ensure that the original vision for setting up APNET remains always sharply focused.
Affiliate membership includes interested persons or organisations, which share APNET's aims and objectives and belong to the bigger family of publishing: editors, booksellers, designers, printers, etc.
Associate membership is reserved for individuals or organisations with an outstanding record of service to African publishing. Unlike the other categories, which can be applied for, Associate Membership can be conferred only by invitation from the General Council.
Who qualifies to be a member?
All national publishers associations in Africa qualify to be members. They can each elect a representative to the General Council. Where there is no publishers' association, the General Council may appoint or elect a representative for a limited period of two years. Full members are referred to as Country Representatives.