Authors from Nigeria have taken centre stage on this year’s shortlist for the Business Council for Africa (BCA) African Business Book of the Year Awards, with several female writers and a wide range of pressing African economic themes making the final cut.

The announcement, made on Thursday, in London, highlights 10 powerful works that explore topics from manufacturing, leadership and finance to skit-making, intra-Africa travel and COVID-19 response.

This is the third edition of the awards, which is organised by the BCA in partnership with BrandComms and African Business magazine.

The BCA African Business Book of the Year Awards aim to spotlight business narratives that promote socio-economic development across the continent.

This year’s shortlist features four books authored by women — a record for the awards — and includes several West African voices, particularly from Nigeria.

Chairperson of BCA and head of the judging committee, Arnold Ekpe, said Africa still struggles with effectively telling its business stories. “We have seen research that has quantified the cost of the risk premium we are paying. This is because we are simply not good at telling our stories, and more importantly our business stories,” he said.

“We are seeing more business books being published but the numbers are still tame given that many amazing businesses are emerging on the continent and that we are leading in many sectors, from tech to fashion to film to finance or mining.”

The judges include notable African business and media leaders such as Chris Ogbechie, former dean of Lagos business school; Moky Makura, CEO of AfricaNoFilter; Terhas Berhe, MD and founder of Brand Communications; Omar Ben Yedder, publisher of African Business and New African magazines; and Anver Versi, Editor of New African and African Banker magazines.

Some of the titles on this year’s shortlist include Skit Economy: How Nigeria’s Comedy Skit-Makers Are Redefining Africa’s Digital Content Landscape by Bell Ihua, Ph.D.; The Rise of Gas by Engineer Charles A. Osezua; Riding the Storm: The Untold Story of Africa’s Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic by Toni Kan; and In Her Hands: Shaping the Future of Manufacturing in Africa by Demi Samande.

Other shortlisted books include A West African Entrepreneur’s Challenging Path to Financial Freedom by Ike Onyema Obi and Janine de Nyssche; Africonomics by Bronwen Everill; Essentials of Leadership in Africa by Bella L. Galperin and Caren B. Scheepers; Africa’s Global Infrastructures by Jana Honke, Eric Cezne and Yifan Yang; The Traveller: Crossing Borders and Connecting Africa by Thebe Ikalafeng; and All Hands on Deck for Capital Markets Reform by Arunma Oteh.

Winners will be announced on July 4, at an awards ceremony to be held at the Institute of Directors, Pall Mall, London.

The first prize winner will receive $10,000, with the second and third place receiving $5,000 and $2,500 respectively.

Last year’s winners were How Africa Trades by Professor David Luke, Africa is Not a Country by Dipo Faloyin and Ethiopian Airlines: The African Aviation Powerhouse by Jozef Mols.

Further details about the awards are available at https://bcafrica.org/book-awards/.