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- The Story So Far

The Journey to the Accra World Book Capital, 2023

The Birth of the Idea

The idea to bid for Accra to be designated as the World Book Capital for the year 2023 was mooted sometime in 2020 by Mrs. Ernesticia Lartey Asuinura, the Executive Director of the Ghana Book Development Council (GBDC). This was after the unsuccessful first attempt at securing the 2019 title for Accra, which was also initiated by Ernesticia in 2016. Apparently, guided by the lessons learnt from the unsuccessful first attempt, Ernesticia had been strategizing since then, to lead the process once again to secure the title for Accra. Thus in 2020, she put together an internal team of five managers of the GBDC. Together with this team, they developed the Concept Note to bid for the 2023 title.

Early in January 2021, the internal GBDC team, led by Ernesticia, set out to bring on board the other stakeholders, having obtained the backing of the Ministry of Education to proceed with the bid.

Message from Mayor of Accra.

The new Chief Executive Officer of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) and Mayor of Accra, Mrs. Elizabeth Naa Kwatsoe Tawiah Sackey, has warmly embraced the Accra World Book Capital, 2023 (AWBC) title.

Mrs. Sackey said she was very excited about the Accra win and was looking forward to a successful hosting of the title in 2023. She resolved to use the opportunity to promote the Ghanaian cultural heritage and the reading and writing of books in Ghanaian languages, particularly Ga, among others. She also said she was passionate about promoting skills and creativity among the youth to generate employment opportunities in Accra and Ghana as a whole.

Message from the Coordinating Team

The Convener of the Coordinating Team for Accra’s bid for the 2023 World Book Capital, Ms. Ernesticia Lartey Asuinura, has expressed the city’s enthusiasm and anticipation of hosting the title in 2023. Ms. Asuinura, who is also the Executive Director of the Ghana Book Development Council (GBDC), said the team is putting together an exciting package of programs around books, authorship, and reading for implementation during and after the title year.