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The Namibian publishing industry has predominately focused on producing educational materials in the past; with global publishing company Macmillan operating in the country via Gamsberg Macmillan Publishers, which is based in Windhoek. Another educational publisher worthy of note is Zebra Publishing whose main aim is to ‘exceed the educational material development requirements of Ministry of Education’. The University of Namibia and the Polytechnic of Namibia publish scientific journals. In 2012 a new avenue was opened up in the Namibian publishing industry when Wordweaver Publishing House, the country’s first fiction publisher, was launched. The aim of Wordweaver is to highlight the talent of Namibian writers, who have largely been disregarded in the past.
Namibia’s intellectual property protection is ranked high on the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report 2012–13 being placed 43 out of 144 countries and with a score of 4.3 out of 7.0. In comparison to bordering countries, South Africa is placed 20 out of 144 countries and has an intellectual property protection score of 5.3. In contrast, Botswana is placed 45 out of 144 with a score of 4.1.
The Association of Namibian Publishers is the main sectoral body. Namibia’s first Youth Book Fair was launched in 2012 which was aimed at promoting reading for the younger generation and was organised by the Franco-Namibian Cultural Centre (FNCC), Goethe-Zentrum Windhoek (GZ) and Yambeka Children Media. As previously mentioned, educational publishing is a key part of the Namibian publishing industry with the University of Namibia and Polytechnic of Namibia being main institutions in the country. The former has a student body totalling 16,000 and the latter, 11,000, therefore creating a large publishing market for education.
There are many well-established newspapers in Namibia. Newsprint Namibia was the first newspaper printing company in the country, established in 1917, and is still in action today. John Meinert Printing is also a well-established printing company printing a wide variety of products including, office stationery, brochures, magazines and books.