Cassava Republic Press Marks 20 Years in New Al Jazeera Feature

# What the Al Jazeera feature covers

Al Jazeera released a feature tracing twenty years of Cassava Republic Press, the Nigerian independent publisher that began in Abuja in 2006. The piece focuses on Cassava's central challenge to a common publishing assumption: that African books do not sell. The press's origin story, catalogue highlights, and its argument for African control of publishing infrastructure are all presented through interviews and historical context.

# Founding motive and early resistance

Co-founder Bibi Bakare-Yusuf describes the skepticism she faced when starting the press. She says people were "mistaking the lack of infrastructure for the absence of desire," and calls the idea that Black literature has no market a "very dangerous idea." That statement frames Cassava as an effort to build infrastructure rather than accept an external narrative about market demand.

# Ownership and the means of production

Bakare-Yusuf makes a central point about ownership: "it's not enough to have African stories. We have to own the means of production, because whoever owns the means of production determines how that narrative is going to circulate in the world." The feature traces this argument back to Heinemann's African Writers Series, acknowledging its role in introducing major African writers while noting editorial and distribution decisions remained under European control.

# Editorial fluency and what gets published

# Notable titles and recent recognition

The feature uses recent successes to show what an African-led press can achieve. Marcia Hutchinson's The Mercy Step is highlighted as one of Cassava's most successful runs. The Bradford-set debut reached major award attention and sustained touring and critical notice. Abubakar Adam Ibrahim's Season of Crimson Blossoms is cited as an example of a novel enabled by Cassava's catalogue and now considered a celebrated contemporary Nigerian book.

# A cautionary conclusion

Bakare-Yusuf closes the feature with a caution: increased visibility for African and Black writers does not by itself secure control. She warns that prizes, major publishers, and festivals still mostly sit outside the continent and that this can push writers toward stories tailored for acceptance by external gatekeepers. She states plainly: "Representation without control is nothing."

# Why this matters now

Cassava's two decades as a concrete challenge to the publishing industry's long-standing assumptions. The piece links historical publishing structures to present dynamics and makes a practical argument for shifting editorial and distribution power to African hands so writers can publish in ways that reflect their realities rather than buyers' expectations.