Somaliland is a place ready to host major forums that the world can be a part of.
By M.A.Egge
The President of the Republic of Somaliland H.E. Musa Bihi Abdi, hosted a dinner on Friday evening at the Presidency for international guests who are participating in this year’s Hargeisa International Book Fair (HIBF), which is scheduled to open on 22nd July 2023, Saturday.
The HIBF is an event that is usually held annually hence has seen the number of international participants growing by the year.
The president was flanked by the first deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, (who is the acting Speaker), members of the cabinet, politicians, eminent community personalities, leaders and activists of the Cultural Center of Hargeisa who are the conveners of the book fair, and other guests, as he hosted a dinner for leaders from different countries of the world who were invited to the Hargeisa International Book Fair which will open on Saturday, 22nd July.
The chairman of the Hargeisa Cultural Center Dr. Jama Muse Jama elaborated on the importance of young people to the Hargeisa Book Fair, as it has become an interactive place to showcase the value of reading and writing, and thanked the president for the dignified manner in which he welcomed the international guests who attended the event.
The Kenyan eminent international lawyer Prof. PLO Lumumba, who is one of the foremost activists for the development of the African continent and one of the international guests, praised the president’s invitation to the guests.
The Head of State praised the international guests for deciding to be a part of the International Book Fair in Hargeisa, noting that Somaliland is a place ready to host major forums that the world can be a part of.
The President underscored that Somaliland is a safe platform where there is a hospitable society that respects everyone who comes to their country.
The youth and the various activists of the Hargeisa Book Fair, who came from different regions of the Republic of Somaliland, were also part of this dinner meeting.
The Hargeisa International Book Fair 2023 will be in hosted venues around Somaliland from July 22 – 27, 2023. The festival country partner is Morocco and the theme is “Resilience”.
The Hargeisa International Book Fair, first hosted in 2008, has grown to become the biggest literary extravaganza on the Horn of Africa and one of the biggest on the African continent. It has hosted some of the leading writers, journalists, academics, publishers, artists, journalists, and other professionals from dozens of nations in the last decade and a half.
The 16th edition is set to be one of the most ambitious with over fifty book launches, poetry readings and recitals, concerts, panel discussions, and loads more planned. Local artists like painters, sculptors, traditional dancers, musicians, singers, poets, and of course writers will feature in one way or another in over 130 parallel sessions between Berbera and Gebiley, while programs at the Hargeisa Cultural Centre continue. Creative Writing Training, Scriptwriting for film production, and professional photography have been running this week and the one prior to the book fair.
This is an event that has the full support of the state of Somaliland exhibited by the Head of State having received at the Presidency the notable international participants.
In the itinerary of the five-day event, the opening ceremony will include participation by among others Vice President Abdirahman Abdallahi Ismail Sayli’i, the Mayor of Hargeisa City Abdikarim Ahmed Moge, and a keynote address being delivered by Professor PLO Lumumba.