African PR Awards: SABRE Partners PRCA for 2026 Edition
A significant shift in Africa’s public relations landscape is unfolding as Provoke Media, the organiser of the prestigious SABRE Awards Africa, announces a new partnership with the UK-based Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA), effectively ending its longstanding collaboration with the African Public Relations Association (APRA).
The 2026 edition of the African SABRE Awards will be held in Johannesburg, South Africa, in March, departing from its traditional slot during APRA’s annual conference, which will take place in Nigeria. This change, confirmed by Provoke Media CEO Paul Holmes in a message to past award winners, signals a strategic realignment that has stirred debate among top PR professionals across the continent.
According to Spokespersons Digest, a publication of PRNigeria, Holmes hinted at the new partnership with PRCA, describing it as a fresh chapter in celebrating Africa’s top PR work. The awards ceremony will now coincide with PRCA’s annual conference, marking a notable shift in both timing and venue.
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The move has sparked controversy, particularly among stakeholders loyal to the APRA-SABRE alliance that began in 2016. Under the leadership of APRA President Yomi Badejo-Okusanya, the partnership led to the launch of the SABRE Awards Africa in 2017, providing a dedicated platform to recognise excellence in African public relations campaigns.
Before the SABRE-APRA collaboration, the only major PR awards recognising African work were the African Excellence Awards (AEA), organised by Germany-based Quadriga Media. The emergence of SABRE Africa prompted Quadriga to suspend its African category after its event in 2017, solidifying SABRE’s dominance in the region.
The final AEA winners in 2017 were essentially global giants like Weber Shandwick, Edelman, Fleishman Hillard, Burson-Marsteller, Hill+Knowlton Strategies and Ogilvy Public Relations. Others include a few African agencies: Marco de Communication, Djembe Communications, Stratcomm Africa, Clockwork Media, Magna Carta, and Image Merchants Promotion Ltd (IMPR), the only one from Nigeria.
The APRA-SABRE initiative was widely praised for elevating African PR to global standards, spotlighting strategic, creative, and impactful campaigns. It also aimed to foster professional development and industry growth across the continent.
The Spokesperson’s Digest reports that with the new PRCA partnership, questions loom over the future of APRA’s role in continental PR recognition and whether this shift will fragment or further energise Africa’s communications industry.
As the 2026 SABRE Awards Africa prepares for its Johannesburg debut, the PR community watches closely, wondering whether this marks a reinvention or rupture in the continent’s most celebrated PR honours.
