A distribution invitation to creators and publishers beyond Africa

Somewhere in Harare right now, a teenager is queuing for a comics festival dressed as a character from a series they had to import at three times the cover price — if they could find it at all. Across Africa, the appetite for comics and manga is growing fast. The supply on local shelves has not kept up. Festivals and conventions themed around anime, manga and comic books have been growing rapidly across Africa. We would to bring your comics to Africa, making your stories a part of it.

That gap is real and it is also an opportunity. ARM Comics is the way in; we are a brand new distribution and publishing company based in Zimbabwe that has been created to cover this gap. We’re doing it for the artist and for the reader.

Who we are

ARM Comics is a comic and manga publisher and distributor based in Zimbabwe. We publish original African stories, distribute comics across Zimbabwe and the wider SADC region. Our role is to connect a young, passionate, fast-growing readership with the best of what’s being made — locally and around the world.

We know this market because we’re part of it. We participate in and work with organizers in multiple anime and comics festivals, and we sell directly to the fans who show up for it them. Zimbabwe has a small but 700 strong event on their hands. We understand what readers here want, what they can pay, and how to actually get a book into their hands.

The opportunity to Bring Your Comics to Africa

Africa’s comics and manga fandom is roughly where much of the world’s was a couple of decades ago: young, fervent, and underserved. Manga is surging among African youth. Conventions are growing. Cosplay scenes are thriving. What’s missing isn’t demand — it’s availability. International titles are hard to find, expensive to import, and rarely distributed with this market in mind.

If your work isn’t reaching African readers yet, it isn’t because they don’t want it. It’s because no one has built the road. We are building that road. Licensing restrictions already cripple access for African readers, ARM Comics is reopening that access across Africa. Starting with the sub-Saharan region and expanding to most of Africa by 2028.

What we offer

For creators and publishers outside Africa, we offer a genuine, low-friction route into a new market:

• Local distribution and printing. We print and distribute within the region, so your book reaches shelves and events without the punishing cost of importing.
• Market-appropriate pricing. We price for local readers so they can actually afford your work — turning would-be pirates into paying fans. For some creators outside Africa the prices will seem really low but this is where we are as a continent. We have interested readers but every hard earned dollar competes with so much more locally.
• Event presence. Your titles reach readers directly through Otakukon (Zimbabwe) and other festivals where the community already gathers.

As we start, we offer strictly physical as that is easy to manage. Thankfully, for those looking to grow online readership, our physical presence where the fans are can contribute to that growth as well.

The model to Bring Your Comics to Africa

Our terms are built to be fair and easy to say yes to:

• Non-exclusive. Partnering with us doesn’t affect your rights or reach anywhere else in the world.
• You keep your IP. Your work remains entirely yours.
• Profit-share. Shared costs are recovered first, then earnings are split transparently — no upfront risk to you.

We’re looking for complete comics and manga: finished volumes, completed series, or catalogues ready to meet a new audience.

Why it matters

What we are building is not just a commercial opportunity — but it’s also a cultural exchange. The readers we serve are building their tastes and their shelves right now. The creators who reach them early won’t just make sales; they’ll help shape what a generation of African fans grows up loving. You get to be part of the creators that African readers “grew up with” and entrench your IP meaningfully into people’s lives.

Let’s talk

If you’re a creator, studio, or publisher outside Africa and you’d like to extend your footprint into one of the world’s most exciting emerging comics markets, we want to hear from you.

Send a short introduction, an overview of your title or catalogue, and a way to read a sample, to partnerships@armcomics.co.zw with “Into Africa” in the subject line.

Africa’s readers are ready for your stories. Let’s put them within reach.