By Yomi Badejo-Okusanya (Nigeria)
President, African Public Relations Association (APRA)
Background of PR in Africa
The use of public relations techniques is not a new concept on the African continent. It can be traced back to the dawn of African civilization. According to Narty in Rensburg (2002:5), the concept of public relations was practised in Africa before colonialism. Pharaohs in ancient Egypt used word pictures on impressive monuments to proclaim their achievements. Narty goes on to explain how the role of the spokesman in traditional villages is very similar to that of a public relations practitioner. No African chief, according to tradition, ever spoke directly to a visitor who came to the chief’s seat of power. A spokesman handled all interactions and communication with the chief. These spokesmen were well-versed in the village’s customs and traditions. Such people rose to positions of prominence and were held in high regard by the general public. This, incidentally, is still the case in some of Africa’s most remote and traditional rural areas. Thus, public relations is not a foreign concept in the African context, but it has been practised in a different format and is deeply ingrained in African culture (Rensburg, 2002:6).
Many other examples can be given to illustrate the fact that PR has been present for a long time:
African marital affairs is another example where the concept of PR was found. During the initial stages and through the negotiations of the marriage contract, a mediator plays a crucial role in the success of the union.
In traditional music and dancing, drums convey messages that may announce an important event in the day-to-day activities of the people in the village.
In an attempt to explore the historical development of contemporary PR in Africa, Okereke (2002:2-3) believes that PR started in the 1940s in Africa. During this time colonial governments dominated most African countries and the key issue that was identified as a need was public information. In Nigeria, for instance, public relations practices were introduced from Britain through the vehicle of colonialism. The British decided to employ the tactics of public relations through mobile cinemas, posters, television programs, etc. These programs were aimed at sensitizing Nigerians on what they were doing for the benefit of the nation as well as what the colonialists expected of Nigerians in return.
Since that time, public relations have been recognized as a profession in Nigeria and other West Africa States. In 1963, the Nigerian Institute of Public Relation (NIPR) was established as a regulatory body for PR practice in Nigeria, and it is the first PR professional body in Africa to be recognized and regulated by law through Decree 16 of June 1990 of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
What then is Public Relations?
According to the Mexican Statement:
” Public Relations is the art and social science of analyzing trends, predicting their consequences, counselling organizational leaders and implementing programmes of action which will serve both the organization’s and the public interest.”
While The Institute of Public Relations of Britain defines PR as
“ the deliberate, planned, and sustained effort to establish and maintain mutual understanding between an organization and its publics.”
The definitions of PR presented above focus on the development of strong partnerships between an organization and its stakeholders. Several factors are consistent regardless of which definition of public relations you use. PR is a component of an organization’s overall marketing and communication function.
PR is critical in assisting an organization’s diverse public in engaging them across media platforms such as third-party and social media. PR must safeguard the reputation of an organization and, when necessary, provide crisis management.
PR aims to create and shape global conversations, improve the reputations of nations and corporations, and raise awareness of issues, causes, and initiatives. If we use these skills to create a positive perception and progressive reputation for Africa, more investors will flock to the continent, and travel and tourism will increase. These factors will spur development across the continent. Africa is set for a bright future if PR is leveraged as a key tool in enabling this to happen.
What is the role of PR in the development of society?
Reputation Management: The practice of influencing stakeholder perceptions and public conversations about an organization and its brands is known as reputation management. Monitoring perceptions and conversations, responding to reputation threats, and proactively seizing opportunities to improve reputation are all part of it. Simply put, reputation management is the proactive use of PR to safeguard or improve your reputation.
Your reputation is made up of other people’s perceptions of what you say, do, and sell.
Your employees, products, services, and even your community presence, all contribute to the development of your reputation. Every interaction a customer has with your company is an opportunity to change your company’s reputation (for better or worse).
The role of public relations in reputation management is to enhance your image in the eyes of others by utilizing PR outlets and techniques.
In the current digital climate, reputation management has become an even more pressing concern. Fake news and digital scams have made it critical for businesses to earn and maintain customer trust. Furthermore, there is a saying that bad press does not die with yesterday’s news. Because digital content can live for years, brand wounds are more difficult to heal. This is where PR is needed to build the brand, spread the organization’s message and minimize the effect of negative publicity.
Public Affairs: Public Affairs is a specialized function of PR that is critical in promoting societal development. It combines government relations, media communications, issue management, corporate and social responsibility, information dissemination and strategic communications advice. Public affairs, unlike government relations, is concerned with the impact of public policies, actions, and legislation on its constituents.
Strategic communication, like public relations, is central to public affairs. Public Affairs ensures that businesses have a channel to build relationships and communicate their point of view to relevant stakeholders, especially when new policies and regulations are being developed. It ensures that issues affecting the public are adequately identified and dealt with amicably to the satisfaction of all parties involved.
Democracy: Relationships between politicians, the media, and citizens are increasingly shaping modern democracies. PR professionals play an important role in information management, which includes mass marketing, opinion polling, and advertising. They work behind closed doors for the benefit of the public, government, and business. Public relations practitioners assist the public in understanding and appreciating the activities and motivations of the media, businesses, and government, putting the public in a much stronger position to prevent the manipulation of their opinions.
PR fosters formidable and mutually beneficial relationships. These relationships, which are essential to the advancement of democratic processes and principles, are formed through PR appurtenance such as public campaigns, public participation, image building, lobbying, etc.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): CSR can refer to a variety of initiatives and actions, but it is most commonly understood as a concept in which businesses incorporate social and environmental concerns into their day-to-day operations. It consists of an organization’s planned, active and continuing participation with and within a community to maintain and enhance its environment to the benefit of both the organization and the community. This can involve partnerships, volunteer activities, philanthropic contributions and public participation. Simply defined, this concept means giving back to the society from where the organization gets its resources thereby leading to its development.
A well-developed CSR concept automatically boosts societal growth and development. A good example is the African Public Relations Association’s (APRA) one-day FREE public relations conference for students and civil servants from various African countries. APRA’s CSR initiative has been staged in all of the countries visited by the association during its 33-year history of holding its annual conference, which is the association’s flagship event. The conference’s 34th edition will be held in Lusaka, Zambia, and APRA will once again engage Public Relations/Communications students from tertiary institutions in the Lusaka area, as well as civil servants in the corporate communications department.
Another notable example of a worthy CSR is the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program which aims to transform young people and institutions by driving inclusive and equitable socio-economic change in Africa. Since launching in 2012, the Program has supported nearly 40,000 young people in Africa to pursue secondary or tertiary education.
In conclusion, the importance of public relations in society cannot be overstated. I am a staunch supporter and proponent of “Affirmative PR.” In a nutshell, affirmative PR ensures that PR speaks for itself. It ensures that we recognize, define, and communicate the value and significance of public relations. Although many people believe that publicity is the sole purpose of PR, I hope this article will help you understand that publicity is a subfunction of the overall purpose of public relations and should not be confused with it.
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- Scholars program. Mastercard Foundation. (2022, December 12). Retrieved December 13, 2022, from https://mastercardfdn.org/all/scholars/
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