Ayeni Adekunle
Chair, APCR Committee
Founder, BHM Holdings
A lot of predictions have been made about Africa’s potential to rival other global economies. Everywhere you look, the verdict is that the continent is a goldmine for businesses to explore growth opportunities. Yet, not enough has been said about the care and upliftment of its biggest strength: the people.
When Covid-19 hit about three years ago, a big concern globally was how Africa would fare compared to the rest of the world. Would it survive the pandemic? Would the continent and its people recover after the dust settled? Africa survived and in impressive fashion. But how? How did the continent not get overwhelmed as widely predicted? How did it emerge from the turmoil with its clout intact, and ready to attain the economic position it is widely tipped for?
Many factors are attributed to the success, but the people’s reception to genuine care and concern about their well-being stands right at the centre. This meant that they responded admirably to information and instructions provided through various communication channels, desperate to not fall victim to the tough days. It also meant the PR and Communications industry played a pivotal role in making concerted efforts by public authorities and private stakeholders to yield positive outcomes.
It is important that we continue to share the lessons from the event long after the paranoia has ebbed: that the African people, when genuinely cared for, can respond swiftly with loyalty and perform the actions required to achieve business growth and economic prosperity. It is easy to forget, as history is being written and stories are being told about the monumental global achievements happening across industries in Africa today, that the people are the first cheerleaders before global attention.
But Covid is over. The world has opened up again, and economies are singing different tunes depending on how you’re listening. Africa is again, warming up to the rather elusive opportunity to take its rightful place in the global community and add its voice to the conversations – from truth, to democracy, culture, and sustainability. So, how will PR and Communications practitioners in Africa maintain relevance and what is their role and responsibility in ensuring the continent gets to where it’s projected to be? The answer has many dynamics but is yet simple.
My view is that we must first communicate with care. We must prioritise the upliftment of the people and be willing to become useful vehicles in not only propagating positive agendas about the continent, but also working with stakeholders to make sure that actions meet words.
There are critical factors to consider and issues within the industry we must first identify, however. As such, the need for an exhaustive report that identifies, analyses and proffers solutions to the challenges facing the PR and Communications industry in Africa with quality research and verifiable data is long overdue.
When we set out to expand the Nigeria PR Report to the rest of Africa, many questions about the feasibility arose. We are not a homogeneous society, so how do we capture the essence of an extremely diverse people? Research and reports in the field of Public Relations from Africa had been unheard of. Yes, international organisations looking in have been able to capture fragments, but would we be capable of doing so from within the continent?
And so, a nearly three-year journey began – allowing us to understand and appreciate the nuances of the various cultures and practices and how it affects the practice of public relations – an aspect we are seeking to explore more of in coming editions.
This is why the maiden edition of the Africa PR & Communications Report is a momentous event in the history of PR practice on the continent. It, amongst many things, allows us to critically evaluate the journey, understand the problems, and suggest actions to explore opportunities based on verified data, facts, and experiences of practitioners across Africa.
The industry has made great strides with little guidance but the APCR can form a blueprint for how we adapt to changing realities from here on. We are already witnessing the advent of new digital technologies and how they will help us to work better. Investments in new digital tools and channels must form a core of our strategy to develop new talents in PR practice.
It is also our collective responsibility to lay a great foundation for the future of the industry by utilising real-time data to solve issues of disparity, exclusivity, brain drain and poor compensation among PR and Communications professionals. The APCR concretely highlights, with expert insights and data, action areas to embrace if we will achieve significant success.
Importantly, achieving Africa’s growth potential will largely rest on leadership commitment to truth, fairness, and justice. Practitioners in the industry must also, now more than ever, show unwavering commitment to responsible and ethical practice. It is not a myth that PR and Communications can directly transform or impact lives; our policies and attitude to practice must reflect responsibility, caution and care.
The BHM Research Intelligence team has put together a worthy material as a global reference to how we do PR in Africa over the next few years and the plethora of opportunities available. It will optimistically serve as a spring in our steps to building an environment that is beneficial to all —
PR practitioners, stakeholders, clients, investors and more importantly, the African people.