Egyptian publishers arrived at the 30th International Publishing and Book Fair in Rabat to find that much of their stock had not arrived. The fair, held from April 18 to 27, became the focus of anger among publishers, writers and cultural figures over missing shipments, lost sales and damage to Egypt’s cultural presence.
As Egyptian Culture Minister Ahmed Fouad Hanno visited with Egypt’s ambassador to Morocco, Ahmed Nihad Abdel Latif, and Moroccan Culture Minister Mohamed Mehdi Bensaid, many Egyptian stands remained largely empty. A limited air shipment—arranged to carry roughly 10% of the main consignment—reached only some publishers, including Kayan.
Images of the minister and official delegation at Kayan’s stand drew criticism from publishers whose own books were absent. Critics described the episode as a cultural embarrassment and questioned the Egyptian Publishers Association’s handling of shipping arrangements and its transparency.
In a February 15 notice, association president Farid Zahran told participating publishers that Al-Buraq Import and Export had been assigned to transport their books. The outward rate was EGP 150 per parcel, including delivery to the stand; return shipping was priced at 55 Moroccan dirhams per parcel, including delivery to the shipping company’s warehouses.
The notice required packing lists and invoices to match the contents. Parcels were not to contain banned books, material violating the fair’s rules, antiquarian books, manuscripts or old heritage volumes. A publisher breaching those conditions would bear the shipment’s resulting penalties and compensation for delays.
On April 8, secretary-general Mohamed Abdel Moneim warned that the main shipment might arrive late. An air consignment equal to approximately 10% of the main shipment would be assembled at the shipping company’s expense, with books to be delivered to Al-Buraq by April 10.
Yet delays continued through the fair’s first week. Publishers described major losses and damage to their credibility with readers and authors, prompting calls for the culture minister to intervene.
A loss that goes beyond sales
Book fairs offer publishers much more than an opportunity to sell stock, says Emad El-Din El-Akhal, general manager of the Ipidi group and publishing house. They build a publisher’s presence in a new market, bring writers together with readers through signings and discussions, and introduce new authors and reading interests.
They also help books cross borders and reach audiences with different cultural backgrounds. For El-Akhal, promoting Egyptian publishing abroad is part of maintaining Egypt’s position in the Arab cultural landscape.
El-Akhal estimates the financial losses at around EGP 10 million, but considers the damage to relationships and trust even greater. Moroccan authors could not find their Egyptian-published books at their own country’s major literary event.
He describes the disappointment of Moroccan author Youssef El-Khasoumi, whose latest work had been expected to reach the fair and, El-Akhal says, was being considered for a major historical drama adaptation. The author had announced its availability and a signing, only for the publisher to cancel and apologise to readers.
With distribution across Arab countries—and particularly the Maghreb—already difficult, El-Akhal says readers had been waiting for an opportunity that comes only once a year. The missing books undermined the relationships publishers had worked to build.
He argues that Egypt’s scale as a publishing centre makes the failure particularly serious. Similar problems have occurred before, he says, calling for a comprehensive review and new procedures to prevent a recurrence at Rabat or any other international event.
In an April 19 statement, the Culture Ministry said shipping and other logistical arrangements for publishers’ participation abroad fell within the Egyptian Publishers Association’s responsibilities. The association contracts with shipping companies and coordinates with fair organisers, the ministry said.
The ministry affirmed its support for professional associations’ independence while stressing the need to protect Egypt’s cultural image. It said Hanno had held intensive contacts over the crisis and intended to meet association officials upon his return from Morocco to examine the delay and prevent a repeat.
The statement also said he had coordinated with Moroccan authorities to facilitate the books’ release once they arrived, hoping to enable participation during the remaining days of the fair.
In an April 20 statement, Zahran expressed the board’s regret that the delay had disrupted members’ plans, prevented timely display of their publications and harmed their interests. Egyptian participation, he acknowledged, had fallen short of the standard publishers deserved.
The board promised a comprehensive investigation, accountability for those responsible and a review of shipping procedures for all fairs. It also required the exhibitions committee to report to members on each shipment under the association’s supervision.
“We displayed the books, then packed them away”
Ragaei Moussa, founder of Hun Publishing and Distribution, says this was not the first such failure. He recalls Egyptian books arriving only on the fifth day of the previous year’s fair, but describes this year’s disruption as far worse.
He holds the association responsible for its management of the crisis. Publishers were told about ten days before opening that sea freight would be late and that 10% of their books would travel by air, he says, although he understood the contract to provide for 30%. Even the air shipment arrived only near the fair’s end.
“The sea shipment reached me in Rabat after midnight on Friday, April 25,” Moussa tells Zawia3. “I could not display it at Hun’s stand until Saturday, April 26, the day before the fair ended. Twenty-four hours later, I had to pack it away.”
He accuses the association of issuing inadequate and misleading statements and then going silent for several days. Hun’s losses alone, he estimates, were about EGP 250,000, in addition to missed meetings with readers and contacts in Morocco.
Moussa doubts that promised compensation will materialise. He wants an independent inquiry to determine whether financial wrongdoing occurred and whether the board should be held responsible or removed. These are demands for an investigation, not established findings of corruption.
Mohamed El-Baaly, director of Sefsafa Publishing, also describes serious commercial losses and damage to Egyptian participation. He recalls a smaller delay in Rabat two years earlier and a similar problem at the Erbil book fair in 2019. In his view, shipping companies’ errors recur partly because financial penalties are insufficiently deterrent.
“The commercial losses are substantial and regrettable,” he says. While participation inevitably involves business risk, including delayed goods, he hopes the association will help publishers through the crisis and fulfil its representative role.
El-Baaly does not know whether an emergency fund exists to finance compensation. He notes that the shipping contract provides for a penalty and calls for a thorough review to prevent another failure.
Calls for an independent inquiry
On April 21, the association announced an investigation committee chaired by vice-president Ahmed Badir. Its members included Ahmed Rashad, Mohamed Abdel Moneim, Islam Abdel Moaty, Hisham Abdel Rahim, Mahmoud Abdel Nabi, Mahmoud Khalaf and Walid Mostafa.
Abdel Moaty, director of Rawafed Publishing and an association member, subsequently withdrew from the committee, whose first meeting was scheduled for April 22. He blamed both the board and the shipping company. Most members—many themselves affected publishers—then declined to attend. The meeting was limited to Badir, Rashad and association president Zahran.
Abdel Moaty tells Zawia3 that the Morocco problem has recurred twice in three years. He attributes it to poor decisions by the shipper, which he accuses of cutting corners to increase its gains, alongside inadequate follow-up by the association.
He puts the direct cost of attending a book fair at no less than US$3,000 for stand rental, flights, shipping and accommodation, regardless of whether any books are sold. A publisher, he says, would normally aim for sales of at least twice that amount.
Damage to reputation can also weaken a publisher’s relationships with authors and distributors. The extent varies by publisher and market. Abdel Moaty calls for an acknowledgement and apology, a serious inquiry distinguishing negligence from possible corruption, and full enforcement of the shipping contract.
The committee, for its part, placed responsibility on the shipping company for failing to dispatch the consignment early enough and for not fulfilling its obligation to arrange urgent air shipments carrying approximately one-third of the original consignment before opening.
It demanded EGP 35,000 in compensation stipulated by the contract, plus the cost of the second and third air shipments that it said the company had failed to carry out.
The committee instructed the association’s general manager to assemble shipping documents and correspondence and formally request a complete itinerary for the air and sea consignments. It recommended retaining the company’s security deposit and urgently summoning its legal representative with supporting documents.
Among the questions was how publishers had been chosen for the limited air consignment that reached the fair. Several members objected to being excluded and demanded disclosure of the selection criteria.
The committee also said it would discuss financing compensation with the board in accordance with governing rules, consider arrangements for returning unsold books, and review contracting procedures. Its recommendations included tighter financial and administrative controls, shipment tracking against each fair’s timetable and a blacklist of non-compliant shipping companies.
Writer Ahmed El-Khamissi describes the episode as deeply embarrassing for a country with Egypt’s cultural history and publishing experience. He questions why the association renewed its relationship with a company alleged to have failed to fulfil earlier commitments.
El-Khamissi suspects financial corruption involving the association and shipper and says the losses extend beyond money. His allegation has not been established by findings presented in this report; the association disputes claims that it evaded its responsibilities.
Compensation promised, confidence still missing
On April 23, the investigation and compensation committee announced that legal adviser Hossam Lotfi had agreed to join. It formed a working group of publishers Hisham Abdel Rahim and Reda Awad to assess affected publishers’ financial losses.
The group would contact each publisher and collect information to support compensation claims. Members were asked to submit their main costs during the remaining days of the fair: flights, accommodation, living expenses, stand rental and area, and shipping.
Ahmed Gamal, distribution manager at Diwan Al-Sharq Publishing, doubts the association will fulfil its compensation promises. He points to the continuing uncertainty and the limits of its authority.
Gamal estimates losses of US$5,000–10,000 per affected publishing house, depending on stand size, travel and accommodation costs, in addition to reputational damage. “Moroccan readers are passionate about Egyptian literature, and being absent in this way was embarrassing,” he says.
“We still have not been told the real reason,” Gamal tells Zawia3. Publishers accepted the collective arrangement because it was much cheaper than shipping individually, he says, but responsibility for what followed must be shared.
Previous fairs had seen minor delays, he adds, but nothing comparable to Rabat.
Walid Mostafa, a board member of the Egyptian and Arab publishers’ associations and director of the National Centre for Legal Publications, rejects the suggestion that publishers were forced to use a particular company.
He says the association held a formal tender with three or four bidders. Al-Buraq Import and Export won because it offered the lowest price. It had worked with the association previously, as had other bidders.
Mostafa tells Zawia3 that an inquiry involving board and general-assembly members is examining the facts. He insists the association is not disowning its responsibility and is undertaking a full assessment, even after the fair has ended.
Many publishers remain unconvinced. Without a clear crisis-management plan and transparent shipping procedures, they fear the same failure will recur. Their demands range from an explanation of why the company was selected despite earlier delays to accountability—and, for some, the board’s removal—for an organisational failure that left Egyptian books missing when readers came to find them.
