By Barbara Kalu –
Kogi State Government in North-Central Nigeria and MacArthur Foundation, are among the winners of the Africa Public Relations Awards 2023.
The Kogi government and MacArthur Foundation won the awards for their respective roles in supporting campaigns on gender inclusion in communication practice, which recognises Superior Achievement in Branding Reputation and Engagement (SABRE).
Other recipients of the awards include the Department of State Security Service (DSS) and the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), which also bagged Certificates of Excellence of the annual award event hosted by Provoke Media in collaboration with the African Public Relations Association (APRA) to celebrate campaigns that demonstrate the highest levels of creativity, integrity, and effectiveness.
The campaigns of the four recipients were undertaken in partnership with a multi-award-winning PR agency, Image Merchants Promotion Limited (IMPR), the Publishers of PRNigeria, and Economic Confidential.
The MacArthur Foundation and Kogi State Government jointly won a Trophy and Certificate of Excellence for Employee Communication and West-African region Categories of the awards for supporting PRNigeria’s campaign on gender inclusivity titled “Nigerian Ladies in PR” where female interns and staff are trained and tasked with advocacies that promote inter-ethnic relations, national unity, good governance, and gender equality. The campaigns were executed through public speaking, press releases, article writing, social media engagement, and book publishing.
The DSS campaign was recognised under Public Sector/Government Category for tackling lingering fuel scarcity threatening the Ember Months through stakeholder engagement and effective communication.
The NITDA campaign was recognised under Public Affairs/Government Relations Category for deploying mainstream and social media, as a tech regulatory agency in countering misconceptions by educating the public on the benefits of its Code of Practice for Social Media and Online Platforms.
The campaigns for the 2023 Africa SABRE Awards were evaluated by a jury of industry leaders. The award trophies and certificates of excellence will be presented to the winners at the Africa SABRE award ceremony on May 18, as part of the 2023 African Public Relations Conference (APRA) in Lusaka, Zambia.
Apart from Image Merchants Promotion Limited based in Abuja, other PR firms from Nigeria, mostly Lagos-based also won various categories of the SABRE awards. They include CMC Connect, Chain Reactions Africa, LSF PR, Integrated Indigo Limited, 9mobile with Chenist Communications and BHM.
Leading PR firms mostly from South and East Africa also bagged multiple awards. They include APO Group, BCW, Hill+Knowlton East Africa Limited; Razor PR/M&C Saatchi Group, Ogilvy South Africa, P&L Consulting Limited, Edelman Africa, MSL, WE Communications and Retroviral PR of South-Africa.
Other award winners across the African Continent include Instinctif Partners Africa, Eclipse Communications, Tribeca Public Relations, Zethical (Mauritius), KAMuses, Clockwork and Publicis Groupe.
The winning organisations and brands whose campaigns were promoted by PR firms in Africa include Lagos State Government, Ford South Africa, Mastercard Foundation, Jack Ma Foundation, Kenya Airways, NISSAN, Hollard Insurance Ghana
In entertainment, media, and communication technology, the winning brands include: Vodacom, MTN, Airtel, 9Mobile, IBM, Microsoft, HP, Canon, Multichoice, Johnnie Walker, Warner Brothers, and BetKing Nigeria
The winning brands in the food and beverage industry include Honeywell Group Limited, Nestle, Floor Mill Nigeria, Shoprite, KFC, Nigerian Breweries, Kenya Breweries, East African Breweries, Coca Cola, and Phoenix Beverage.
(With a report by PRNigeria)