Africa Needs Books

 …Reflections on a 52 book international publishing journey

By Professor Robert Ebo Hinson

The Public Lecture and Subsequent inspiration

On 24th October 2025, I gave a lecture in the Department of Marketing Management at the University of Johannesburg. In my capacity as Distinguished Visiting Professor, I gave a lecture on “Curating Knowledge, Shaping Futures: The Case for Book Publication in African Academia” to colleagues in the Department and argued that as institutions push for decolonized curricula and locally grounded scholarship, book publishing presents a potent tool for curating knowledge that reflects African realities and empowers future generations of students, practitioners and policy makers.

The lecture was so well received, it forced me to conduct a critical reflection on my own book development journey and feelings of gratitude immediately began to well up in me. You see, for years, a familiar claim has echoed across African academic circles: “Africans do not write enough books about Africa.” The narrative is widespread — and deeply flawed. Over the last decade, I have had the privilege of collaborating with hundreds of scholars around the world to produce academic books designed specifically for African higher education.

In 2025, that journey reached an important milestone:
fifty-two internationally published books between 2014 and 2025, across Palgrave Macmillan/Springer Nature, Routledge Taylor & Francis, Emerald/IAP, Productivity Press, and Adonis & Abbey Publishers.

This achievement is not about personal celebration. Instead, it highlights three issues that deserve urgent attention within Africa’s knowledge ecosystem.

 The idea that African scholars do not write about Africa is simply untrue.

Across the continent, a growing community of writers, editors, and researchers is producing African-centred scholarship: textbooks, casebooks, edited volumes, monographs, and handbooks rooted in African realities. Much of this work takes place quietly — away from mainstream headlines — but its impact on classroom teaching, policy thinking, and practitioner training is profound. The 52-book catalogue I have helped shape over the past 11 years is just one example of what becomes possible when African academics work collaboratively and remain committed to the long, often demanding process of book development.

We are writing.
We are documenting.
We are shaping our own fields.

African universities must rethink the belief that only journal articles matter.

African higher education has, for too long, privileged journal output at the expense of book production. While journal articles remain indispensable, books are equally critical. They are what our undergraduate and postgraduate students read. They are what policymakers consult. They are what businesses use for strategic and operational guidance.

It is time for universities to recognise that knowledge production is plural — and that Africa needs both articles and books to build strong academic systems.

For context: I hold a Google Scholar h-index of 50 with 8,000 citations and have been ranked the number one marketing scholar in Africa by the AD Scientific Index for the last three to four years. I am fully committed to peer-reviewed journal scholarship. But relying exclusively on journal articles will not give Africa the rich, contextual, pedagogical content our institutions urgently require.

 Young African scholars must approach book publishing with courage.

Books remain one of the most powerful tools for training future researchers, building academic communities, and shaping the narratives that influence policy and practice. Yet many young scholars fear book projects, often because institutional cultures undervalue them.

We must change this mindset.

Africa needs an army of early-career academics and PhD students who are willing to write textbooks, conceptual monographs, practitioner guides, edited volumes, and casebooks tailored to the continent’s realities. This is how we train our future scientists. This is how we strengthen our universities. This is how we leave behind intellectual legacies that outlive us.

1. A Collaborative Journey

Of the fifty-two books associated with my international publishing journey:

• Thirty-one were produced under the three Palgrave/Springer series I co-edit — where my role has been to shepherd, not to author.
• The rest include titles I have authored or co-edited with colleagues across Africa and the world.

In all cases, the work has been driven by one conviction: Africa deserves its own literature — written by Africans, for African students.

As more scholars join this movement, our classrooms, public institutions, and industries will benefit from richer, more relevant knowledge. The time for African books is now.

 The Fifty-two Book Catalogue

1. Books Shepherded as Series Editor (31 International Volumes)
2. Palgrave Studies in Technology & Innovation in Africa (6 books)

1. Digital Marketing in Africa (2026) – Nyagadza (ed.)
2. AI & Digital Entrepreneurship in Africa (2026) – Rambe & Nyagadza (eds.)
3. Changing Terrain of Transport & Logistics in Zimbabwe (2026) – Kanyepe & Chirisa (eds.)
4. Digital Business Transformation in Africa Vol. II (2025) – Anning?Dorson
5. Digital Business Transformation in Africa Vol. I (2025) – Anning?Dorson
6. Future of Entrepreneurship in Southern Africa (2024) – Rambe & Hinson (eds.)

 

2. Palgrave Studies of Public Sector Management in Africa (6 books)

1. Public Sector Marketing Comms Vol. II (2023) – Adeola, Twum & Katuse (eds.)
2. Ethics & Accountable Governance Vol. II (2022) – Ogunyemi, Adisa & Hinson (eds.)
3. Public Sector Marketing Comms Vol. I (2022) – Adeola, Katuse & Twum (eds.)
4. Ethics & Accountable Governance Vol. I (2022) – Ogunyemi, Adisa & Hinson (eds.)
5. Social Media and Africa’s Public Sector (2023) – Adae, Odame, Twum, Hinson & Duh
6. New Public Management in Africa (2022) – Hinson, Madichie, Adeola & Bawole (eds.)

3. Palgrave Studies of Marketing in Emerging Economies (19 books)

1. Marketing in the Metaverse: Opportunities, Challenges, and Future Trends in Emerging Economies (2026) – Bashar, Nyagadza, Wasiq (eds.)
2. Redefining Public Relations in Emerging Markets (2025) – Bosah, Hinson, Adae (eds.)
3. Strategic Public Relations in Emerging Economies (2025) – Bosah, Hinson, Adae (eds.)
4. Sustainable Green Marketing Strategies for a Circular Economy (2025) – Muposhi, Nyagadza (eds.)
5. Sustainability Marketing in Emerging Economies (2025) – Anani?Bossman, Mudzanani, Pillay (eds.)
6. Fashion Marketing in Emerging Economies, Vol. II (2023) – Brooksworth, Mogaji, Bosah (eds.)
7. Fashion Marketing in Emerging Economies, Vol. I (2023) – Brooksworth, Mogaji, Bosah (eds.)
8. Contemporary Retail Marketing in Emerging Economies (2022) – Yawson & Yamoah
9. Digital Business in Africa: Social Media and Related Technologies (2022) – Adeola, Edeh, Hinson (eds.)
10. Marketing Communications and Brand Development in Emerging Markets, Vol. II (2022) – Adeola, Hinson, Sakkthivel (eds.)
11. Marketing Communications and Brand Development in Emerging Economies, Vol. I (2022) – Adeola, Hinson, Sakkthivel (eds.)
12. Digital Service Delivery in Africa: Platforms and Practices (2022) – Adeola, Edeh, Hinson, Netswera (eds.)
13. Green Marketing in Emerging Economies: A Communications Perspective (2022) – Mogaji, Adeola, Adisa, Hinson (eds.)
14. Marketing Communications in Emerging Economies, Vol. II (2022) – Anning?Dorson, Hinson, Coffie, Bosah (eds.)
15. Marketing Tourist Destinations in Emerging Economies (2022) – Mensah, Balasubramanian, Jamaluddin, Alcoriza (eds.)
16. Marketing Communications in Emerging Economies, Vol. I (2021) – Anning?Dorson, Hinson, Boateng, Anani?Bossman (eds.)
17. Marketing Brands in Africa (2021) – Appau S. (ed.)
18. Green Marketing in Emerging Markets: Strategic and Operational Perspectives (2021) – Mukonza, Hinson, Adeola, Adisa (eds.)
19. Green Marketing and Management in Emerging Markets (2021) – Hinson, Adeola, Adisa (eds.)

1. Book Authorship (10 International Books)

1. Customer Service Delivery in Africa (CRC Press, 2024) – Co?authored
2. Business Administration: An Introduction (CRC Press, 2023) – Co?authored
3. Social Media Marketing Management (Routledge, 2024/25) – Co?authored
4. Hospitality & Tourism Marketing (CRC Press, 2024) – Co?authored
5. B2B Marketing: How to Understand and Succeed in Emerging Africa (Productivity Press, 2021) – Co?authored
6. Creative Industries & International Business Development in Africa (Emerald/IAP, 2022) – Co?authored
7. Marketing in Healthcare?Related Industries (Emerald/IAP, 2020) – Co?authored
8. Customer Service Essentials: Lessons for Africa (Emerald/IAP, 2019) – Co?authored
9. Sales Management: A Primer for Frontier Markets (Emerald/IAP, 2018) – Co?authored
10. Service Marketing in Ghana: A CRM Approach (Adonis & Abbey, 2014) – Co?authored

1. Book Editorship (11 International Books)

1. Higher Education Marketing in Africa (Palgrave, 2020) – Co?edited
2. Re?imagining Educational Futures in Developing Countries (Palgrave, 2022) – Co?edited
3. New Frontiers in Hospitality & Tourism Management in Africa (Palgrave, 2021) – Co?edited
4. Small Business & Entrepreneurial Development in Africa (Palgrave, 2023) – Co?edited
5. Strategic Marketing of Higher Education in Africa (Routledge, 2020) – Co?edited
6. Understanding the Higher Education Market in Africa (Routledge, 2020) – Co?edited
7. Health Service Marketing Management in Africa (Routledge, 2019/20) – Co?edited
8. Customer Service Management in Africa (Routledge, 2020) – Co?edited
9. Future of Entrepreneurship in Africa (Routledge, 2023/24) – Co?edited
10. Sustainability Management and Strategy: An African Casebook (Routledge, 2025) – Co?edited
11. Contemporary Issues in Management Development in Africa (Adonis & Abbey, 2016) – Co?edited

Closing Reflection

This landmark is not simply about numbers. It is about building a body of African scholarship that speaks to African realities, empowers African students, and resonates globally. Professor Hinson noted that goal was far from met:

“We are getting closer to our hundred book goal… One international book at a time. To God be all the glory.”

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