Kenyan poet, essayist, and travel writer Khainga O’Okwemba has been named to the three-member jury for the 2026 CANEX Prize for Publishing, organised by the CANEX Book Factory under Afreximbank’s Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX) Programme. The announcement comes ahead of CANEX WKND 2026, taking place in Lagos, Nigeria from 5–8 November.
O’Okwemba joins the panel alongside jury chair Professor Aderemi Raji-Oyelade of Nigeria and South African literary scholar Professor Polo Moji. Together, the three will review all eligible entries and select the winning publisher from a competitive longlist, with the process culminating in an award ceremony at CANEX WKND in November.
A familiar voice in Kenyan media and literary circles, O’Okwemba produces and presents The Books Café on the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation, a programme dedicated to books, writers, and ideas from across the continent and beyond. He also serves as Sub-Editor of The Mast, a Kenya Broadcasting Corporation publication, bringing years of editorial and broadcasting experience to bear on his new role as juror.
His appointment reflects the CANEX Prize’s continued commitment to drawing on judges with deep, on-the-ground knowledge of African literary culture — from the page to the airwaves. As a poet and travel writer himself, O’Okwemba brings both a practitioner’s eye and a broadcaster’s instinct for storytelling to the jury’s deliberations.
This year’s edition of the Prize also marks an expansion of its scope: now called the CANEX Prize for Publishing (formerly the CANEX Prize for Publishing in Africa), it has broadened eligibility to include publishers from Africa’s diaspora, specifically Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member states.
The jury will announce a longlist of ten publishers in September, followed by a shortlist of five finalists in October. The winning publisher will receive US$20,000, while each of the four remaining finalists will take home US$2,000.
About CANEX
Recognising the creative economy as a key driver of development and job creation, Afreximbank established the Creative Africa Nexus programme to support the growth of creative and cultural industries across Africa and its diaspora. The initiative offers a range of financing and non-financing instruments aimed at boosting Africa’s production, trade, and investment in the creative sector.
CANEX’s key strategic objectives include:
- Increasing Africa’s share of global cultural trade flows through trade and investment promotion
- Deploying specialised financial products to support the creative and cultural industries ecosystem
- Building technical capacity for export-grade production
- Facilitating access to high-value markets through strategic partnerships
- Advocating for harmonised regulatory reform, particularly around IP rights and incentives
Registration for CANEX WKND 2026 is free and available at: https://wknd.canex.africa/