APRA: Mahama Urges PR Practitioners to Brand Africa
Former President John Dramani Mahama of Ghana has said the emergence of new media offers Africa the opportunity to brand the continent appropriately.
Speaking at the Opening Ceremony of the Annual African Public Relations Conference in Kigali, Rwanda, 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.
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“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
