PRESBOOK Plc. CAMEROON

1. Introduction

PRESBOOK Plc., was founded in the 1930s by the then Basel Mission. At that time, it was called the Basel Mission Bookshop and Printing Press. From 1957 when Basel Mission handed over its activities to the Presbyterian Church In Cameroon (PCC), the name changed to what is now known as PRESBOOK BOOKDEPOT & Printing Press. Since its creation in the 1930s, the Bookshop and the Printing Press functioned as one entity (with one General Manager, most of whom were Swiss Missionary Expatriates), until 1999 when there was the felt need to legally separate the Company into two distinct entities – namely, Presbook Plc., and Printing Press (or Presprint) Plc., respectively. The headquarters of the businesses have always been in Limbe or the then Victoria in Fako Division of the South West Province of the Republic of Cameroon, West Africa.

2. ACTIVITIES:

From its very humble beginnings, the Bookshop was meant to print and distribute Christian Literature Books such as Bibles and Church Hymnary mainly to the Christians of the PCC. As time went on, there was an increasing need for the other books especially with the coming of Primary and Secondary schools and the Cameroon Protestant College, Bali in 1949. As the wind of education expanded, there was also the need to increase the printing and distribution of school textbooks around the country. In addition, there had been the need to source and distribute didactic material including stationery, sideline and office equipment. Since then, she has devoted her expertise and specialized in sourcing from local and foreign authors/publishers, and distributes books at all levels of learning including Primary, Secondary and University Textbooks.

3. OWNERSHIP:

Presbook is owned solely by the Presbyterian Church In Cameroon with the Moderator having 99% of the Shares while the Synod Clerk owns 1% of the share capital. The highest governing board of the Church – The Synod, elects the Board of Directors. The Board members are elected once for a five-year term of office and renewable once. Board Meetings are held at least twice a year (in June mainly to examine the Audited Accounts and in December to approve the annual budget), but an extraordinary Board Meeting could be called in the event of a very urgent matter. The Moderator in consultation with Synod Executive Committee appoints the Chairperson. Recent Board Chairpersons have included HRH Chief S.M.L. Endeley, former Prime Minister – H.E. Peter Mafany and the incumbent Chair is Dr. Mrs. Dorothy Limunga Njuema. The Moderator of the PCC is the proprietor of Presbook. However, the Board is answerable to Synod through the presentation of Annual or bi-annual reports which are read on the floor of Synod meetings.

4. MANAGEMENT OF PRESBOOK

As mentioned above, Presbook is governed by a Board of Directors through Board Meetings, which are held twice a year, and if need arises, an extraordinary Board meeting may be called. However, the mundane management of Presbook falls squarely on the shoulders of the General Manager. The Chair of Presbook Board of Directors at the recommendation of Synod Executive Committee appoints the G.M. The G.M. is assisted by a number of Management Staff including – the Accountant, Books Manager, Stationery Manager, Marketing Officer and as now, there are sixteen (16) Branch Managers in the field. Presbook has a staff force of over 100 workers on its payroll. The G.M. through its management staff holds regular meetings to ensure the smooth running of the company. Twice a year, Management and Branch Managers’ meetings are held. Most recently, Presbook has been able to organize meetings for Book Authors/Publishers and Distributors and this has given birth to the creation of the South West Booksellers’ Association. An External Certified Chartered Accountant who is appointed every two years audits Presbook yearly. The Auditor reports directly to the Board of Directors during an Annual General Meeting of the Board.

5. BUSINESS TURNOVER:

For the past five years, Presbook runs on an average annual turnover of CFA 1.3 billion francs. However, as Presbook is only a book distributor, not an author or publisher of books, over 70% of the sales turnover revert to the book suppliers or authors who in collaboration with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry dictate to Presbook the price of books. As stated above, and in former times, books were sourced mainly from abroad from such publishers as Macmillan, Oxford University Press, Cambridge, Harcourt, Saint Jerome, Evans and Little Bird etc. Today, most of these publishers have representatives in Cameroon. However, most of the Primary and Secondary books are now written and published by local authors including – Anucam, Cosmos, the Cure Series, Ludacam, Pase, the Kinge series just to name a few with the majority of other books being written by individuals. In fact, Presbook deals with over 200 book suppliers with well over 2,000 titles.

6. WHY PRESBOOK

The Basel Mission Book depot or Presbook Plc., was created through a felt need of spreading the gospel through print and the distribution and sale of Christian Literature to the Christians. It was also established to encourage a reading culture not only among the Christians of the Basel Mission and later on the Presbyterians, but as a tool of evangelistic efforts. From a very humble beginning, Presbook has survived both in its evangelistic drive and the undisputable ‘one stop bookshop’ destination that has supplied books not only to the general public, but to the Secondary Schools of the Cameroon Baptist Convention (CBC), Catholic Education Authority and not least the Presbyterian Secondary Schools.

7. LOCATION:

Presbook Cameroon is one of the most renowned, acclaimed and credible Institutions of the Presbyterian Church In Cameroon (PCC). Its services cut across the national territory with 16 branches through the width and breath of four (04) Provinces of the Republic. The shops are conveniently located on the high streets of our cities. In the South West Province, we have shops in Limbe, Buea, Muyuka, Tiko, Kumba Town, Fiango (with an annex in Ekondo Titi) in Mamfe. In the North West Province, we have shops in Mankon, Nkwen, Ndop, Nso and Wum. In the Littoral Province, we have two shops in Deido and Bonaberi. In the Centre Province, we are at Melen and Nlongkak. These shops offer amazing services with highly motivated and dynamic sales professionals.

8. WE ALSO OFFER:

Presbook does not only distribute books! Alongside, its main preoccupation, PRESBOOK has also exclusively specialized in the SUPPLY OF THE MOST DURABLE, ASSORTED BUT AFFORDABLE STATIONERY including all sorts of quality ‘office paper’, ‘computer Inks’ sidelines such as High Quality Swiss Army Knives & Watches, Educational Toys as well as Games for Children. Our other areas of interest and expertise include inter alia, the supply of:



1. OFFICE AUTOMATION & EQUIPMENT
2. GENERAL MERCHANDISE
3. GENERAL MAINTENANCE WORKS &
4. SERVICE PROVIDERS.

9. THE UNIQUENESS OF PRESBOOK:

Presbook Cameroon is not only the Book Market Leader in Cameroon and in particular West of the Mungo but it is also unique in many ways



• Presbook’s prices are not only competitive and ‘down to earth’ but our prices are the same in all our shops whether you are in Wum, Nso or in Mamfe.
• We sell high quality first class books at ‘given prices’ and our stationery sell at ‘factory prices’ particularly computer inks and office papers of all sorts,
• Presbook is the only ‘one stop bookshop and stationery chain’ in the country.
• Presbook also offers the widest choice of books in any subject with all authors under one roof.
• At Presbook you can place an order for any book at a minimal cash deposit.
• Presbook is the only bookshop where ‘value for money’ merges with ‘first class services’.
• Presbook is the only place where ‘Your Money Back for Returned but Receipted Article(s)’.
• Presbook is the Bookshop Chain where you can enjoy ‘Consumer Surplus’ particularly in the stationery section

10. OUR TERMS:

PRESBOOK does not only offer VERY COMPETITIVE DOWN TO EARTH PRICES, but also provides ‘AFTER SALES SERVICE’, 30 DAYS CREDIT FACILITIES CREDITABLE CUSTOMERS AND ORGANISATIONS, PROMPT DELIVERY OF BULK ORDERS AT YOUR DOORSTEPS. WE STRIVE TO ENSURE THAT YOU WILL NEVER BE DISAPPOINTED WITH OUR SERVICES. PRESBOOK IS THE ONLY ‘ONE STOP BOOK & STATIONERY CHAIN’ IN THE COUNTRY AND THE PLACE WHERE EVERYTHING IS ‘VALUE FOR MONEY’! You will certainly be amazed by the quality of our

11. OUR NEW PACKAGE:

Presbook has recently put in place a new package called. ‘THE BOOK SAVER PROGRAMME’. This is a programme in which parents could deposit over many months paltry amounts of money and could collect books equal to their deposits especially during the ‘Book Rush’ of every year. This we consider can tremendously reduce the mental and financial stress especially for parents with many children attending school. All you have to do is to pay any amount of money in any of our shops around the country and obtain a Official Receipt and you could equally collect a book(s) of your choice from any of our 16 shops on presentation of the Receipt (s).

12. PRESBOOK’S CONTRIBUTION:

Presbook has undoubtedly made enormous contribution in nation building particularly in the area of Education in the sourcing and distribution of books through its conveniently located network of shops across the national territory. Imagine that there was no Presbook and in particular West of the Mungo in the years from the 1930s to the late 1980s. Access to books would have been extremely difficult and teaching in schools would have been even more difficult. Presbook has not only been able to supply books at affordable prices and enhanced levels of literacy in all localities but has also encouraged local authors in the art of writing books for local use and as a result laid the foundation in the sprouting of small mushroom bookshops across the country to the extent that there is increasing substitution of foreign titles with increasing effect on local earnings. Presbook has created jobs for hundreds of Cameroonian families and sustained and continue to sustain the livelihood for thousands of dependent relatives. In brief, Presbook has made immeasurable contribution in the economic growth of Cameroon.

13. PRESBOOK’S VISION:

Our motto is to SERVE, our policy is QUALITY & EXCELLENCE, our aim is FIRST CLASS SERVICES combined WITH VALUE FOR MONEY. Our vision is to continue crafting in faith the evangelistic mission of our forerunners Should you require further information or have questions to raise about Presbook Cameroon, please do not hesitate to contact us at P.O. Box 13, Limbe-South West Province, Cameroon. Email: Presbook@yahoo.com Phone/Fax: 00237 33 33 23 88 or 00237 77 40 56 42.