When books read by young black people don’t depict young black people, what is an enterprising black author/publisher to do?

Inspired to create educational resources that reflect the multicultural world of today, Chimaechi Allan established Kio Global in 2012.

ReConnect Africa spoke to Chimaechi to find out more about the challenges of entrepreneurship and Kio Global’s mission to serve schools, governments, charities and families with resources that reflect cultures and languages globally.

ReConnect Africa: What was the trigger that motivated you to set up Kio Global?

Chimaechi Allan:A funny thing happened in Lagos: while on holiday from publishing multicultural children’s books in London, I discovered a children's bookshop in Nigeria with no books depicting black children. No African languages either. I couldn't believe it. At the time I was working for Random House in the UK. Unfortunately their culturally relevant books weren't reaching a global audience. Neither were many other great, high-quality multicultural and multilingual children's books. So I founded Kio Global to join the dots.

ReConnect Africa: You were already working in publishing, what were some of the challenges you encountered in promoting diverse books and resources?

Chimaechi Allan: Unfortunately diversity and good business sense were not seen as closely related. Recent UK Census figures show that the youngest and fastest growing group in the population described themselves as dual heritage or mixed race.

This young group of potential readers remains largely unreflected in picture books. Further, the global reach that the UK cultural sector has is not fully recognized: publishers do not serve the global market with high quality resources that reflect them. The industry generally didn’t respond well to change or opportunity

ReConnect Africa: What do you see as the hurdles that writers and publishers of minority ethnicities face in bringing their work to the attention of the education sector?

Chimaechi Allan: I would not consider global majority writers and publishers to have a distinct problem when serving the education sector. This sector recognizes, albeit imperfectly, the benefits of exposing children to a range of cultures and languages. However, artists may find themselves pigeonholed into a sense of ‘otherness’: their work may be referred to in Black History Month rather than being included in mainstream literacy or art.

Authors may find that writing to ‘explain’ themselves and their differences is more in demand than free, joyful, unapologetic writing. This freedom is something that I always push for in the resources that Kio Global offers.

“A funny thing happened in Lagos: while on holiday from publishing multicultural children’s books in London, I discovered a children's bookshop in Nigeria with no books depicting black children.”

ReConnect Africa: Which markets are you primarily aiming to serve with Kio Global?

Chimaechi Allan: Currently my first picture book The Wedding Week is available on five continents and in five languages. I serve governments to allow for public schools to access diverse, high quality resources, and I serve families through platforms like independent bookshops, library suppliers and Amazon. The support of these markets will allow me to serve charities.

ReConnect Africa: What have been the challenges of moving into entrepreneurship and engaging in business within Africa?

Chimaechi Allan: Logistics such as shipping are always an interesting challenge. Encouraging African private sector educators to value their own language and culture within their curriculums has also been a challenging and powerful experience. One Lagos education conference I addressed had the theme ‘Beyond the Limits’. I pointed out that imitation of other countries poses a large limitation to Nigerian schools: when you imitate, second best is the most you can achieve.

ReConnect Africa: Where do you see the future for multicultural books and for the company?

Chimaechi Allan: I’m excited about Anilingo, a new animation teaching Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa to children. As soon as I saw it in Nigeria where it was developed, I had to bring it to a wider audience. I look forward to seeing more culturally relevant digital arts and adaptations of multicultural children’s books in theatre and film.

View at:http://kioglobal.com/collections/frontpage/products/anilingo-learn-yoruba-hausa-and-igbo-childrens-animated-dvd