As part of its mandate to promote and preserve African indigenous languages, the African Academy of Language (ACALAN) is setting in place to organizing a prize of Excellence in literary works in African languages to honour  erudition by African authors.

This move was necessitated by what the commission perceived as drastic shortage of production and publication of literatures in African languages, as well as the need to solve the problems of the scarcity of publication of literature in African languages.

The decision to kick start this noble and significant course precipitated ACALAN bringing together members of the jury for the ECOWAS chapter in Bamako, Mali on 22 and 23 May 2019 to deliberate on various aspects of the execution of the award of promotion of book production and publication through the organization of prize of Excellence in literature in African languages.

The event is being strategically organized has the following objectives at its focal point. This includes: Drawing the calendar for the Prize; Setting priorities in the execution of the award; Proposing measures to guide upcoming writers in African languages in order to make their works more valuable and popular;  Re-invigorating African languages by adding value that have hitherto eluded them; Helping  in the bid to foster African Cultural Renaissance, and Strengthening and developing cultural exchanges amongst Africa Union member states.

in a statement made available to our correspondent while hyping on the urgent need to promote publications in African languages, the executive secretary of the commission, Dr  Lang Fafa Dampha  expressed that indigenous or autonomous publishing is an integral part of national identity and the cultural, social, and economic development of a people.

Publishing, particularly scholarly works, and other literary publishing, preserves, enhances, and develops one society';s culture and its interaction with others. Indigenous and independent publishing in Africa, or elsewhere, is a key component of the visibility of a culture.

Hence, because it is absolutely essential to the cultural, scientific, and educational life of nations, publishing has an importance beyond its limited economic role. The production of books that directly reflect the culture, languages, history of a nation is a vital part of culture development and preservations and therefore deserves promotion.

ACALAN';s Vehicular Cross-border Language Commissions during it planning workshops have all identified the promotion of books production and publication through the organization of prize of Excellence in literature in African languages

 ACALAN, a specialised language agency of the African Union, has a reputable history of organising such events; and its landmark achievements. Recalled in December 2011, ACALAN collaborated with strategic partners and Regional Economic Communities (RECs) such as ECOWAS in promoting writing and publication of literary works in African languages through the organization of prize of Excellence for writers in Hausa, Fulfulde and Mandenkan.

This has gone a long way to boost the morale of writers and publishers in African languages in this region.