Africa, Practice of Public Relations In

Public Relations Practice

The public relations profession in Africa achieved momentum only during the last two decades. As in other parts of the world, many African practitioners enter the profession through journalism, often being trained abroad since few facilities exist locally.

African public relations practitioners have a different role than their U.S. counterparts. In the West, it is assumed that public relations practitioners will be socially responsible. In the Third World, public relations practices are designed to be consistent with political ideologies, levels of development, and sociopolitical controls. African public relations practitioners are thus expected to be team players on the side of the government. In politically unstable Africa, governmental public relations is used to present an image of a unified country.

The development of public relations on the African continent has been influenced by the availability of mass media. For example, Nigeria, with its extensive system of mass communication, has a thriving, professional public relations community. The Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) was established in 1963, and after the oil boom, public relations exploded. By 1993 the NIPR had 2,000 members as well as a constitution and a code of ethics. The NIPR's current president is Bobo Brown of Shell Petroleum Nigeria (bobo.s.brown@spdc.shell.com).

Egypt—for reasons of history, culture, and geography—has influenced public relations beyond its borders. The “godfather” of the public relations profession in Egypt, Prof. Dr. Mahmoud El Gohary, founded the Arab Public Relations Society (APRS) in 1966, first in Egypt and then in other Arab and African countries. For 28 years he was chairman of its public relations institute, editor-in-chief of its journal, and chairman of the International Academy for Public Relations and Information.

The field of public relations in Egypt is still rather misunderstood. There is confusion between public relations, marketing, and advertising; many organizations see sales as the primary goal for public relations. In many instances, publicity is paid for out-right. Public relations departments have no power to answer the questions of journalists and have to seek answers from superiors. Maybe because of a lack of formal education, only 10 percent of individuals in the public relations business are considered to be skilled professionals. If offered at universities, public relations is limited to a single course in the business or communications department.

The Zimbabwe Institute of Public Relations (ZIPR) was founded in 1957 and has made enormous progress. Among the principal players were George [Page 16]Foot (who retired from the IPRA board in 1993 and received an IPRA Gold Medal for his work on the Consultants Committee) and Helen Tinker (president of ZIPR in 1993, who received both an IPRA Golden Award and a UN Award for a public relations program on AIDS awareness). By 1993 ZIPR had 207 members, most working in the capital city, Harare. Over 75 percent were in-house practitioners in the industrial and commercial sectors, and less than 15 percent were consultants.

In other countries in southern Africa, professional organization in public relations started later than in Zimbabwe, and public relations is served by few practitioners. Swaziland has its own public relations association, and PRISA has recently formed chapters for practitioners in Namibia and Botswana.

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