Ethical standards essential to PR industry in Africa

Source © Christina Wocintechchat UnSplash Adhering to ethical standards remains essential for the best practices in public relations (PR) and communication in Africa

All members of African Public Relations Association (APRA) and Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA) are required to follow the APRA Code of Conduct and PRCA Professional Charter and Codes of Conduct, respectively, and are accountable for doing so.

The report on the state of ethics and public relations industry in Africa for 2023, was jointly released by the associations at the annual APRA Conference, which this year takes place from 15-19 May in Zambia.

The report is based on a survey conducted across 21 African countries with 274 respondent and highlights a shift in priorities for PR activities in the past two years.

Reputation Matters managing director Regine le Roux who undertook the research and presented the Report at tthe conference says, "Prioritising ethics is crucial within the public relations landscape, more so than ever before on our continent.”

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Crisis management

The Report found that crisis management (44%) is now the most important activity of PR professionals on the continent, taking over from digital and social media (40%) as the highest priority.

Reputation management (42%) is also considered to be a high priority. Ethics management (16%), sales promotion (14%), and event planning (14%) have decreased in importance due to the impact of COVID-19 and the shift towards digitisation.

Training and development needed for the region

The joint research also found that training and development in communication strategy development (59%), reputation management (51%), crisis management (42%), and ethics management (41%) are highly recommended in the region.

Respondents also expressed a strong interest in training sessions on the metaverse, highlighting the importance of keeping up with contemporary matters such as artificial intelligence.

Key findings

Other key findings include:

• Most respondents work within an organisation that has between two to five employees (17%), followed by 11 to 15 people (15%).

• Communications strategy development (61%) is the most common response for the main function of PR practitioners' roles.
  
• Crisis management has taken over from digital and social media as the highest priority, with a 10% decrease compared to last year.
  
• Ethics management, sales promotion, and events planning have decreased in importance.
  
• Flexible working and remote working are valued only 14% and 10% of the time, respectively.
  
• 46% of respondents reported working in a hybrid model, 34% are in the office full time, while 17% are fully remote.

"At Reputation Matters we believe that research is the springboard to success, and with this collaboration, the insights will help to build and strengthen the industry to help build individual, organisational, and country reputations. We are thrilled to play a part in quantifying value across the continent," says Le Roux.