“As we speak right now, there is almost nothing about Nigeria in the Holmes Report,” fumed John Ehiguese, then President of the Public Relations and Communications Association of Nigeria (PRCAN) during the public presentation of Nigeria’s PR Report in 2016.
About seven years after, that frustration, like an open sore, remains fresh and justifiably so. With the exemption of South Africa’s Clockwork, no African PR agency made the cut in the 2023 Global Top 250 PR Agency Ranking.
PR remains one of the most misconstrued professions in Africa. And it doesn’t take long to realize this. Ask the average person what PR entails, and you will be dumbfounded by the (in)excusable appreciation of the subject itself – much more, its role in shaping businesses and societies.
The average public servant – working in a parastatal or christened with the ‘media aide’ or ‘press secretary’ sobriquet – sees PR as media relations. Some employers still have a hard time understanding the difference between PR and Marketing (and Sales, even).
But we cannot deny the rising profile of African agencies, not only in terms of their global affiliations and their steady, upward trajectory within our marketing and communications scene but also in terms of how they defy the headwinds of the global economy to extend their footprints outside of the continent.
That is bold and inspiring at once.
From Black House Media’s foray into Europe to Clockwork’s recent expansion into the same market, we are on the cusp of a defining moment in the evolution of an industry. Africa is not only rising, but Africans are also embracing and living the impossible – defying centuries-long barriers, taking territories, and scaling at a level unimaginable.
Gradually, we are witnessing a shift from an era where PR agency growth depended solely on affiliations and sometimes outright acquisitions. So, you could only imagine my joy seeing the beautiful metamorphosis of the foremost Nigeria PR Report we all knew into the first-ever Africa PR and Communications Report.
A project of BHM Research and Intelligence in partnership with key associations and thought leaders across the global PR industry, it is the first international communications report from Africa.
Whether you are a researcher, investor, business executive, or professional in the sector, the Africa PR & Communications Report presents a single source of truth – distilling key data and the peculiarities of the African PR scene and highlighting opportunities for growth.
Here are 5 key takeaways from the report:
- The problem of Talent Persists
The rain of talent crisis did not fall on Africa’s roof alone. As a confirmation, the 2018 Holmes Report fingered talent as a pandemic facing the global PR industry. While the industry contends with the dearth of competent professionals, the pandemic of talent migration leaves Africa even worse off.
The African PR & Communications Report 2023 reveals the scale of that pandemic, as corroborated by 74.8% of participants who said there was a sharp decline in talent in their countries.
In fact, about 90% of respondents believe more practitioners are happy to migrate from their bases. And here is the shocker: 80% of junior employees are on the verge of leaving their countries. And nothing suggests this trend would change any soon.
For an industry where skilled professionals are a handful, the migration of some of its best hands portends enormous danger for businesses and agencies alike.
- The Age of the Triple Bottomline is Here
A few years ago, most organizations were comfortable prioritizing their bottom line over every other thing. It was the sort of capitalism advocated by Milton Friedman – where the only business of business is profit maximization.
But modern corporate capitalism has since embraced the triple bottom line – advocating a business philosophy that prioritizes people at the intersection of profit and the planet.
The Africa PR & Communications Report reveals significant diversity and inclusion gaps within the industry. While this is not peculiar to the PR sector, the growing clamor for inclusive spaces warrants PR agencies to create a level-playing field that recognizes and celebrates social differences.
African PR agencies must, as a matter of urgency, articulate and prioritize their Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) commitments. Growth now transcends the limits of a company’s balance sheet.
- Africa is the Next Big Frontier for Growth
It can be tempting to overlook Africa owing to the weight of its challenges. A disturbing history of political and economic instability, poverty, insecurity, and worsening unemployment contribute to fuel this cynicism.
“With its inherent enormous natural and human resources, it’s Africa’s time,” noted the Africa PR & Communications Report.
If anything, the Report is a reminder that Africa is shedding its messy past, birthing its newness and taking a firm foothold as a global economic power center. With an exploding consumer market and a growing youthful population, Africa could experience its highest growth yet.
- It’s Time to Count What Truly Counts
In the past, clients were easier to please, or so it seemed. You could easily sway a client with output-based efforts such as media mentions, superb copywriting and strong media relationships. While these elements constitute useful tools in the armory of PR practitioners, organizations are asking PR agencies for more.
Today, with significant PR budget cuts in the face of a volatile economy, businesses have grown largely nosy, and hard to please. As I noted in a 2018 intervention, PR professionals are required to not only demonstrate work done, but must go further to show results and impact in a way that aligns with an organization’s big bets.
The Report points to research, measurement and evaluation as some of the critical skills practitioners must embrace to remain relevant in the future.
- It’s Time for Africa’s PR Agencies Ranking
A few years ago, my employers were looking to review our PR agency partnership. I was tasked with the responsibility of sharing a list of what should be the top five (5) PR agencies in Nigeria. This was both an easy and a difficult task.
Easy, because, having began my career in a PR agency and deeply acquainted with the dynamics and players in the sector, I had a fair idea of where to turn to. It was also a difficult task because I had no empirical data to back up my list.
The Africa PR & Communications Report team may consider exploring the possibility of including key rankings in subsequent editions. I reckon this requires a lot of work, particularly gathering data for agencies who may not have their fingers on the pulse of their numbers.
