MacMillan Publishers sells Uganda unit

MacMillan Uganda has been specialising in the publication and sale of high-quality academic and scholarly, educational, fiction and non-fiction books among others. The firm was part of the UK-based MacMillan Publishing group with operations in at least 80 countries in the US, Africa, Europe and Asia.

Thomas said the sale of the Uganda unit will empower a strong and locally-oriented educational publishing business in Africa to prosper in the region.

"The Uganda market will provide a great opportunity for Moran Publishers to become a substantial presence in East Africa and we will observe their progress with great interest," she said in a statement announcing the change on Monday, 6 June 2011.

Developing local capacity

Commenting on the development, David Muita, the MD of Moran Publishers said; after three decades of publishing for Uganda schools, Moran is now well-placed to move forward under the direction of its local management and ownership.

"The move is consistent with Macmillan's' legacy of developing local capacity, through training and hands-on experience, which has produced some of the most skilled publishing executives, across Africa and beyond," he said.

"Our clients can be assured of continuity of service and a continuation of high pedagogical standards previously associated with the Macmillan brand," Muita said.

MacMillan leaves the market at a time when competition in the publishing industry is increasing on the back of new investments by local publishers and entry of new ones. Moran will face competition from local publisher including; the MK Publishers, Fountain Publishers, Netmedia Publishers among others who largely focus on publishing education text books and fiction books for the local market.