Arcay Burson-Marsteller, which celebrates 25 years in Africa this year, and became a majority owned subsidiary of Burson-Marsteller in September 2011, has been renamed Burson-Marsteller with immediate effect. In addition 12 of the company's long-standing exclusive affiliates across the continent have entered into new partner agreements, bringing them even closer to the network by now using the name Burson-Marsteller in a total of 27 countries across the continent.
The Burson-Marsteller Africa network is headquartered in Johannesburg and continues to be run by chairman and CEO for Africa, Robyn de Villiers, who founded the network 25 years ago.
Partner agencies include Infocus Burson-Marsteller in Ghana and Sierra Leone, Mali, Gabon and Burkina Faso; Prime Media Burson-Marsteller in Senegal and Guinea-Bissau; Prime Media Burson-Marsteller in Benin; Media Link Burson-Marsteller in Liberia; Premium Burson-Marsteller in Cote d'Ivoire and Guinea-Conakry; Icon Burson-Marsteller in Cameroon and Niger; Optimum Burson-Marsteller in the DRC and Congo Brazzaville; Digital One Burson-Marsteller in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia; Cactus Burson-Marsteller in Ethiopia and Djibouti, Majestic Ventures Burson-Marsteller in Rwanda and Burundi; Vivid Burson-Marsteller in Zimbabwe and Rikhozi Burson-Marsteller in Mozambique. In addition, Engage Burson-Marsteller was launched in July 2013 covering Kenya and Tanzania.
"When we announced the acquisition of a majority stake in Arcay Communications in 2011, I said that the next decade would bring immense growth in the PR industry across Africa and that we were committed to growing our business there. Two years on, with Arcay Burson-Marsteller having increased revenue by over a third, referred more than 35% in additional revenue to our network partners in Africa and having doubled profit in 2013 in the midst of one of the worst ever global economic downturns I am more than ever convinced of this view. Robyn's leadership of our Africa hub office, our business in South Africa and our network of partners across the continent continues to prove a winning formula, allowing us to focus on Being More for our clients across our sixth continent," says Jeremy Galbraith, CEO Burson-Marsteller Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA).
