The Hargeisa International Book Fair is an annual cultural event in Hargeisa. The week-long event, which was first run in 2008, is now unarguably the biggest literary festival in the Horn of Africa with thousands attending.

This year, the festival which is themed as ‘Good neighborhood’ will run between 24th up to 29th July 2021.

This annual festival is run by Redsea Cultural Foundation.

The founder of the Hargeisa International Book Fair Dr. Jama Musse Jama officially welcoming the guests and delegates of this year said, “I would like to thank all our distinguished guests and to give special thanks to the Vice president of Somaliland who always inaugurates the opening of the book fair”. Mr. Jama is CEO of Redsea Cultural Foundation.

One of the unique features of the festival is the Guest Country, which has this year Ethiopia, where many writers, poets, and other artists from that country make an appearance and exhibit their unique culture and history.

This year, the festival’s special Guest country, Ethiopia, has a special relation with Somaliland as it’s the biggest neighbor and trade partner with Somaliland.

Dr. Jama Muse Jama  noted in his speech that, “What makes Hargeisa International Book Fair different is that we celebrate art , love , tolerance and neighborhood, and most importantly we celebrate our audience”.

The festival has in the last decade featured Special Guest countries from Djibouti (2012), the United Kingdom (2013), Malawi (2014), Nigeria (2015), Ghana (2016), South Africa (2017), Rwanda (2018), and Egypt in 2019 which was the last time the Festival was inaugurated as the 12 edition of Hargeisa International Book Fair.

The 13th Edition of the Festival was cancelled in 2020 due to the global outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic .

The VP speaking during the opening ceremony said, “First, I would like to thank all those participants from neighboring and other foreign countries who are here today attending this prestigious event”. He added “Secondly, I would to take this opportunity to laud Mr. Jama Muse Jama and his team for their relentless efforts in making this event a realty and by promoting the country through the eyes of the fair. This event brings together artists, poets and writers from all four corners of the world”.

Opposition leader Abdirahman Abdillahi Mohamed aka Irro noted his elation of attending the fair hence urged the wider readership of books, especially lauding those exhibited of Somali language.

Dr. Sa’ad Ali Shire, the Minister of Finance speaking during the opening event said, “I would start by welcoming those entire international guests to the capitol of Somaliland, a beacon of peace and democracy in Africa”.

He added, “I would like you to not only enjoy this event but also sample the country’s cultural heritage.

Even though the title of the event is the Hargeisa International Book Fair is in fact more than a book fair, gathered here are scholars, poets, artists, politicians and authors which is more than what you have in a typical book fair hence my suggestion we call it Hargeisa International Cultural and Bookfair and add an awards component to the fair such as the Booker or Pulitzer  Prizes”, he said.

Dr. Sa’ad Ali Shire said that through such prizes “we could recognize the works of the best authors and will enable to broaden the further reach and scope of the event, that is food for thought for future fairs. In my opening remarks, I did not forget to thank the organizers of the event; especially I would like to thank Mr. Jama Muse Jama for conceiving the idea behind the book fair and promoting the idea by turning it into reality that requires lots of dedication and a flexible mindset especially when you are a mathematician such as Mr. Jama Muse Jama”.

He posed, “Ladies and Gentlemen, if someone asked me today what has Somaliland contributed to the World lately, I would say it’s the Hargeisa International Book Fair which is the mother of many book fairs in the region and beyond. The theme of this year’s book fair is “Neighborhood” through cultural and literary exchange we can consolidate our good neighborly relationship with Ethiopia”.

Dr. Edna Aden speaking during the event said, “I would like to thank God for letting the Republic of Somaliland for pioneering and holding book fairs in this part of the world while recognizing the fact that all this won’t be happening without the initiative of Mr. Jama Muse Jama and his coworkers at the Red Sea Cultural Foundation”.

Mr. Abdirashid Dualeh of Dahabshiil Group of Companies speaking during the opening ceremony of 14th Hargeisa International Book Fair said, “I would like to thank the organizers and all those taking part in the 14th Hargeisa International Book Fair. We at Dahabshiil group of companies have over the past 13 years been promoting this cultural and literary event together with Somali Week which is held in the UK each year with the aim of promoting our culture, religion and values”.

Dr. Hibo Moumin Assoweh, Djiboutian Minister of Culture and Youth Affairs, speaking at the event said, “Artist, scholars, poets, youth, photographers and filmmakers from the Republic of Djibouti are taking part in this year’s Hargeisa Book Fair”.

Amb. Allen Chenhwa Lou, Taiwan Ambassador to the Republic of Somaliland said, “We are supporting Somaliland in the areas of agriculture and technology and by cooperating with the government hence we also respect cultural integration”.

Somaliland Sun