Every year, millions of people in the African diaspora living in Europe, North America, or elsewhere send parcels to the continent. Nike or Adidas clothes, Dior or Chanel luxury perfumes, gadgets, phones: the list is long and the gesture sincere. These gifts are received with joy. They symbolize success, care, and a bond maintained despite distance. But have you ever thought of slipping a book into that package? A single book can change a life, open horizons, and offer what money alone cannot buy: knowledge, imagination, and intellectual dignity.

But perfume evaporates in a few months. Clothes wear out after a few seasons. A phone is obsolete as soon as the next model is released. A book stays. It can be reread, shared, passed from hand to hand. It builds ideas, shapes dreams, and sometimes accompanies an entire life. It is an invisible but lasting investment that continues to act long after the wrapping paper is thrown away.

However you put it, it is not that simple to offer a book instead of a “classic” gift. The reaction can surprise or even hurt. The story of a Betfrika member who dared to send books to his cousin in Lomé shows it well. When they arrived, disappointment was clear, and the family even ended up saying not to send books again. The books were left aside, without special care, then damaged by humidity. This is not an isolated anecdote; it reveals a deeper fact: in many households, the book is not yet seen as a precious gift but as a school item, almost a constraint. That is precisely what we want to change.

In West Africa, owning a personal book is still exceptional. Public libraries are rare and often under-equipped, with dusty shelves holding outdated or damaged titles. Bookstores are concentrated in major cities and few in number, with prices out of reach for many families. A novel that costs 5 euros in Europe can represent several days’ salary for a Togolese teacher. As a result, without easy access to books, interest in reading struggles to emerge, and we suffer the consequences without always identifying the cause.

The idea here is not to solve every education challenge in Africa overnight, but to spark gradual change. Every African living in the diaspora should gift books to their family members, because access to books changes everything. When a child or teenager can read freely—without constraints, without shortage—something opens inside. Curiosity rises like a flame long smothered. Confidence grows gradually. Ambitions take shape, get sharper, become concrete projects. The world no longer seems unreachable but simply within reading distance.

Some journeys prove it. In Lomé, a teenager read more than 188 books in two years. Not because of school, not to impress anyone, but out of pure passion. This young explorer is only 15, but his story shows what becomes possible when books meet minds hungry for knowledge.

At Betfrika, reading and books matter immensely. If you have books forgotten on your shelves—titles you will probably never reread and that are gathering dust—give them a second life. Donate your books today and help pass on knowledge to those who only need a chance to reveal their potential.