The 18th edition of the Alger International Comics Festival (FIBDA) ended on Monday, October 5, with winners from around the world, including several African authors. The international competition, open to published professional authors, awarded the first prize to the French Émilien Cousin. The Cameroonian Mezensi Nipanko and the Tunisian Ahmed Touj ranked second and third, respectively, with their works Mirage and Rose Blanche. Two of the three top spots therefore went to African authors. The festival, held from October 1 to October 5 on the Riadh El Feth esplanade, set a record for attendance and featured the theme "Graphic Novel: Crossroads of Image and Word." Thirteen countries were represented, including Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, along with European, Japanese, American, and Palestinian creators. The festival commissioner, Salim Brahimi, praised the strong attendance and the public's interest in comics and manga. The minister of Culture and Arts, Malika Bendouda, had emphasized at the opening the festival's listing on the UNESCO platform for monitoring cultural policies. In Kinshasa, the comics industry faces challenges due to the lack of bookstores, prompting authors like Jérémie Nsingi to seek out readers in schoolyards. Nsingi, an author, illustrator, and filmmaker based in Kinshasa, described how the industry was affected by looting that forced bookstores and publishing houses to close. To make his albums more accessible, he turned to printing in China, starting in 2018 after discovering quality production possibilities at prices lower than those practiced locally. Other Congolese authors have since followed this path. Nsingi also organizes mini-festivals in schools, during recess or at the end of classes, in agreement with the responsible parties. In his book History of Congolese Comics, Christophe Cassiau-Haurie places the appearance of comics in the country's newspapers in 1921, under strong French and Belgian influence. Nsingi cites Barly Baruti and Bernard Mayo among his references, while claiming a personal graphic identity and more realistic characters. He presented a sample of his upcoming album, still unpublished, which imagines the singer Gims as a superhero. The author says he wants to rely on the artist's fame to tell the realities of the DRC rather than sign a biography. A publication is planned first in Kinshasa, then in France and Belgium, without an announced firm schedule. Other distinctions of the FIBDA 2026 included awards in the "Best Project" category, reserved for Algerian authors over 16 years old, with Slimane Ouchen (Fatma N'Summer), Sabrine Imène Mekali (Ultima Beyond the Stars), and Melissa Bounouniche (Beyond the Tide) being distinguished. Among those under 16 years old, Anya Saci and Ryad Boutmeur were rewarded. The Japanese embassy's manga competition honored Ziad Adlane, Fella Maya, and Meziane Mohamed. The cosplay competition jury was presided over by the American illustrator Alitha Martinez. A tribute was paid to the cartoonist Tayeb Arab, who died in December 2025. The testimony of Nsingi echoes difficulties regularly documented by Afrik.com. In 2010, Christophe Cassiau-Haurie highlighted the lack of visibility of African comics, despite the presence of many creators. The Afro-Bulles association, officially launched in 2002 around Alix Fuilu, aimed to promote the publication of African comics. Chaos debout in Kinshasa, by Barly Baruti and Thierry Bellefroid, revisits the context of the Ali-Foreman fight in 1974. The Mystery of the Purple Earth adapts the novel by the Congolese Tima Ouamba, which the writer presented to Afrik.com in Brazzaville in 2015.