While there are common issues relating to publishing in all countries, there are a variety of special problems that affect Third World nations — among them African nations — in ways which differ from industrialised nations. Questions such as copyright, book distribution, and production problems are international in relevance but have a special meaning in the context of the Third World.

Publishing is one part of a range of book-related activities. While the problems of book publishers constitute the main focus of our discussion, a range of related issues from the role of authors to the impact of colonial-inherited systems of education — all these will from time to time enter into our discussion. As Albach and Rathgeber say, this is because publishing is a system of knowledge dissemination that is increasingly interdependent on other elements of the communications process.