R. Malatesha Joshi is a Professor of Literacy Education and Educational Psychology at Texas A&M University, and the Editor of Reading and Writing, a high-impact journal and the monograph series Literacy Studies. Joshi is a Fellow of the International Academy for Research in Learning Disabilities and American Educational Research Association. Joshi has published extensively on literacy acquisition among monolinguals and bilinguals.Catherine McBride is Choh-Ming Li Professor Psychology at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. She is Past President of both the Society for the Scientific Study of Reading and current President of the Association of Reading and Writing in Asia (until March of 2021). McBride has authored two books on literacy development and impairment, respectively and specializes in global reading and writing.Bestern Kaani received his Ph.D.from Texas A & M University, USA and currently is a lecturer of special education at the University of Zambia. His research interests are in cross-language research and teacher preparation and has published and presented in international conferences on these topics.  Gad Elbeheri is received his Ph.D. in Linguistics & English Language, from Durham University, UK and currently works as the Managing Director, Global Educational Consultants in Cairo, Egypt. Previously, he was the dean of the Australian College of Kuwait. He has published on the assessment and intervention in Arabic.

• D. Share; Writing systems in Africa.- Anne Laaredj-Campbell; Literacy development in Algeria.- David Roberts; Literacy development in Benin.- Anna Molosiwa; Setswana Orthography for Literacy in Schools in Botswana.- Mme Béatrice Konfe; Literacy development in Burkina Faso.- Caroline Tyler; Literacy development in children in Chad.- Eunice Kua; Adult Literacy in Chad.- Kaja Jasinska; Literacy development in Côte d'Ivoire.- Stephanie Zuilkowski; Literacy development in Democratic Republic of Congo.- Gad Elbeheri; Literacy in Egypt.- Tedros Wildermichael; Literacy development in Eritrea.- Kariuki Mutiti; Literacy development in Kenya.- Youssif Omar; Literacy development in Libya.- Amos Chauma; Literacy development in Malawi.- Mohamed Dhabi; Literacy development in Morocco.- Stephanie Simmons Zuilkowski & Jeongmin Lee; Literacy development in Mozambique.- Begani Mashinja; Literacy development in Namibia.- Funke Omidire; Literacy development in Nigeria.- Cindy Trotter; Literacy development in Senegal.- Stephanie Zuilkowski; Literacy development in S. Sudan.- Rose A. Upor; Literacy development in Tanzania.- Rebecca Kirunda; Literacy development in Uganda.- Bestern Kaani & R. M. Joshi; Literacy practices in Zambia: becoming literate in a multilingual classroom.- S. Kalindi & C. McBride; Mother-child writing practices in Zambia.

“This handbook is a valuable collection of papers highlighting the complexities of tackling the problem of improving basic literacy skills in the area that on a global scale arguably needs it most. ... this volume is likely to serve as a milestone and key resource in the literature on literacy in Africa for many years to come, and is a welcome addition to any Africanist bookshelf for researchers, policy makers, linguists, teachers, literacy workers and orthography developers alike.” (Matthew Harley, Linguistique et Langues Africaines, Vol, 10 (2), 2024)