Book Fair in Mogadishu Encourage Booksellers

The Mogadishu Book Fair, which seeks to improve literacy and the art of writing in Somalia, entered its third and final day Friday, attracting hundreds of book lovers who turned up to meet and greet their favourite authors.

The annual exhibition, which opened Wednesday, was attended by more than a dozen local and international authors, as well as dignitaries, including Somali President, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, and the Turkish Ambassador to Somalia, Olgan Bekar.

Mohamed Sheikh Ali Ahmed, popularly known as Diini, the brains behind the Mogadishu Book Fair, said this year’s event was bigger than the previous one. Somalia has one of the lowest literacy rates in the world with only 37.8 percent of the population being literate.

“Right now we are in the process of building the new Somalia and we really wanted one of its pillars to be books and knowledge and literature so that we can have a more tolerant, more literate and more peaceful society,” Diini, a motivational speaker said.

Both young and old jostled to find space in the main hall to listen to lectures by their favourite authors, who occasionally cracked jokes that threw their loyal fans into prolonged laughter. The authors also fielded questions from the crowd, who were eager to learn more about reading and writing.

One of the youngest authors at the fair was 21-year-old Bahja Ali Mohamud, a social science student at SIMAD University, who was elated to rub shoulders with some of Somalia’s best authors.

“Given that the majority of the Somalis are young, I wanted to be an example to them and encourage them to write and also show them that they can make an impact in writing,” Mohamud observed.

Abukar Albadri, another author at the exhibition, said the fair heralded a new beginning, adding that he was proud to be part of the crowd that turned up to celebrate literacy.
“I am feeling that we are ending the history of being an oral society. We are beginning an era of writing and I am very proud to be part of it,” Abukar said.

The Turkish Ambassador to Somalia, Olgan Bekar, hailed the book fair as a major milestone, symbolic of the positive change sweeping through the country.

“This is a great sign that normalization is taking root in the country. Over 70 percent of the population of the country is young and we can see them here. We consider them to be the real owners of this country,” Ambassador Bekar said.

Others used the golden opportunity to market their businesses, which were hitherto known by only a small section of the population.

“We are very happy with the book fair because people did not know where to find us. We have met customers here and have many books available for them. The people are happy with our products and we thank them for coming,” Mohamed-Wali Abdimanan Sheikh Rashid, an exhibitor working with Zeyla Publishing House said.

Peace and security is returning to Somalia, thanks to joint efforts by the African Union troops and Somali security forces.