ADVENT PRESS (Ghana). A publishing house with printing facilities operated by the Africa-Indian Ocean Division with a staff of 66 national workers. It prints Sabbath school lesson quarterlies, tracts, and books in Twi, English, Ga, and Hausa languages, and some tracts and books in French.

The Advent Publishing House, earlier known as the Nigerian Advent Press, West African Union Press, and Advent Press, began when W.T.B. Hyde, principal of the Ibadan Training School, West Nigeria, purchased a small hand press and began producing vernacular tracts in Ibadan. In 1935 a cylinder press, purchased with the help of the Stanborough Press in England, was erected in a converted garage, where full-time printing operations were begun by the Nigerian Advent Press (after 1937 called the Advent Press). Production included Sabbath school lessons in the Yoruba language, tracts, training booklets, and a Yoruba hymnal. Upon the recommendation of the West African Union executive committee, the press was moved from Nigeria to Accra, Gold Coast (now Ghana) about 1951. Its new building was officially opened January 3, 1954, by Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, who later became president of the Republic of Ghana.

During the period 1971-1973, the Advent Publishing House changed from letterpress machinery to litho (offset) machines. In 1993 the pressroom was equipped with the following presses: a two-color Heidelberg Speed master 102 – ZP, a one-color SOR, a one-color SORD, a one-color KORD 64, a two-color GTOZP, and a single-color GTO. The Prepress stripping department was equipped with one Kodak camera, five printing frames, one layout table, and one plate maker. The composing room had two Intertype machines, one proof press, and desktop publishing equipment. The Advent Press has the best equipped bindery in the country, with two guillotines, two folding machines, three sewing machines, two three-knife trimmers, a gathering pony, a gang-stitcher machine, a single stitcher, a pressing machine, a case-maker, a bundler, a Flow line, an end sheeting machine, a cold laminating machine, a Kolbus strawboard cutter and a Hot foil stamping machine.

In order to keep up with the demand of literature evangelists in both Anglophone and francophone countries, the Advent Publishing House has produced more than 12 subscription books over the past five-year period.
However, history of Advent Press has not always been that rosy. The Advent of computers and the proliferation of printing presses negatively affected the press. A lot of non-denominational customers we dealt with either started their own press and items like calendars, letterheads, business cards and even text books stopped coming.
We therefore were solely dependent on evangelistic materials and the printing of Sabbath School quarterlies. This situation really affected the press between the period of 1989 to 1996. The press then decided to do away with some of the old equipment to pay off debtors and reduce the numerical strength of the press. The Heidelberg SOR and SORD were sold together with the 2 colour Speed master. Later the GTO and GTOZP were also sold. It was not merely for debt repayments that these equipment were sold but also cost of maintenance and spare parts were so high due to the fact that Heidelberg had stopped the production of these equipment and so the parts we were getting were not original and equipment kept breaking down.

Further on the intertype, Kodak horizontal camera, printing frames, case maker, Flowline and end sheeting machine and the cold laminating machines were also disposed of.
The press then decided to setup a computer designing department to be abreast with modern trends at the time. In 1996, the then General Manager and Ishmael Fiifi Quainoo gradually setup the desktop publishing or design department where computers were used to design artwork and typesetting. This decision saw an improvement in client services as new clients came in for their books to be typeset, laid out and printed for them. The press then with the assistance of Stanborough Press acquired and image setter for its own colour separation, Apple Mac G3 and later a G5. A two-colour Heidelberg was also bought together with a Kolbus Flowline.

Major improvement became apparent from 2006, when a vibrant treasurer, Kingsley Kwadwo Osei from the then South Ghana Conference was called to serve in the capacity as a treasurer. In actual fact, he was asked to come and close down the printing press and run a publishing house, but with the kind of heart and feeling for the staff he met at the press, he refused to close down the press wondering what the workers to be laid off would survive on with their families.
He then resolved to use all available resources available to make the press stand on its feet again and become self-sustaining. He restructured the finances of the press, started paying off debts Advent press owed it banks and the Division to the amazement of the then WAD officials who queried him that he was supposed to close down the press and that how was he able to do what he had done.
He did not stop there, Advent Press went ahead to progress by refurbishing the two-colour Speed master and bought the four-colour speed master from Stanborough Press when they decided to close down the printing department in the UK. The press also bought another Heidelberg imagesetter which worked for some time but broke down, with a film processor. An Epson inkjet computer-to-film was purchased to replace the Heidelberg imagesetter, the old Polar 115 was sold off and replaced with a SEYPA-SP PERFECTA 115 guillotine, another Epson 9900 Computer-to-plate has been purchased to improve print quality of our prints.

The old Heidelberg 10” x 15” Platen is still around but not in working condition. The old Wohlenberg 3-knife trimmer has been replaced with Perfecta SDY-1 and SDY-2. The press also has an MBO folder that can fold 30” x 40” and a smaller one for folding evangelistic such as VOP lessons and others tracts. Pastor Kingsley Osei has resolved that he will no longer purchase second hand equipment since his visit to Brazil last year and has kept his word by purchasing a new Champion thermal laminator, a Morgana FSN II for numbering and perforation of tithe and other receipt books, an Uchida collator, a Champion Case maker which we swapped with the old Flowline and Kolbus case maker, though we had to make some addition to the cost.
Aside these equipment, the gang-stitcher, Muller Martini with eighteen collating stations with five clamps, two manual sewing machines are all in good shape but there is the hope of acquiring modern ones in the future.
We also acquired an automatic sewing machine Aster-Headop and Kluge Hot foil stamping machine from Review and Herald when they decided to fold up their printing press.
Just last week, 14th March, 2018, after our Executive Committee meeting, a brand new Heidelberg Stahlfolder was dedicated to the Lord along with the unveiling of a plaque for a two-storey, three-bedroom apartment for Advent Press officers and senior staff, an incinerator and a canteen for the staff.
The factory floor has been tiled for free movement of papers and completed jobs.
We are confident that at this period where Advent Press has taken back the ABC and should all the conferences and Unions that are owing the press pay their debts to the press, we would be in a position to write an even better history of the press.
Currently, Advent Press is rated one in Africa when it comes to Seventh-day Adventist Press Houses. We hope and pray that by the time this history would be updated, we would be second to none.