APRA: Mahama Urges
APRA: Mahama Urges PR Practitioners to Brand
Africa
African Military Spokespersons with
President of APRA at the Africa PR Conference in Kigali
Former President John Dramani Mahama has said the emergence of
new media offers Africa the opportunity to brand the continent
appropriately.
Speaking at the Annual African Public Relations Conference in
Kigali, Rwanda on Tuesday, Mahama said with the use of smartphones
practitioners could tell stories that will change the narrative
about Africa.
“New media and the knowledge feast it has engendered offers us
the opportunity to brand our continent appropriately, to establish
a different narrative of our beautiful continent. Today, just armed
with a smartphone, one can tell the story of Africa, the story of
our community, the story of our family to millions across the
world,” he said.
He said stories about Africa can be best told by Africans to
strengthen the sense of identity and pride of the continent.
“We can best tell our stories when we gain control over
ourselves; when we ground our identities in a sense of pride of who
we are and where we have come from.”
“But we need an admission as Africans that we have often-times
not been true to ourselves; that we have not paid sufficient
attention to who we are. We have easily discarded our traditions
and embraced foreign cultures that have eroded the high moral
values bequeathed us by our forebears,” he said.
Mahama who Chaired the opening of the 31st Annual African Public
Relations Conference in Kigali,
is a Communications Practitioner and Honorary Fellow of the
Institute of Public Relations (IPR) Ghana and was also inducted as
an Honorary Fellow of the African Public Relations Association
(APRA).
His investiture was conducted by the President of APRA, Yomi
Badejo-Okusanya, assisted by the Vice President, Robyn de Villars
and the Secretary General of APRA Jane Gitau.
The three-day meeting is on the theme “Africa and Storytelling,
changing the narratives” and will discuss among others, New trends
in PR, the influence of New Media and Technology on the practice of
PR, creativity and storytelling, false narratives about Africa: an
evidential rebuttal and a review of a Reputation Matters
Survey.
By PRNigeria