Approaches to African communication management and public relations: a case for theory-building on the continent

Most of the scholarly body of knowledge of public relations built up over the last three decades has been undertaken in Western countries. Naturally, these conceptual frameworks have been suited to those areas of the world. The focal point of the calls for a shift to a new, inclusive global economic order is the growing influence of the developing economies of the world. This, in turn, has important implications for public relations and communication management in these regions and internationally. Academic researchers could embark on building an African body of knowledge of public relations and theories based on an African philosophy and worldview. Against this background, the debate around whether a generic model of public relations in and for Africa is possible has been the subject of considerable debate. It has also been argued that shared, common African philosophical approaches can be identified, and that these have an important role in communication throughout Africa. This article describes some of the influences that might shape African theory-building and raises a number of questions along the way such as: Can there be an exclusively African public relations model? What is the balance between Western and African influences in the synthesis of a hybrid model? What has Africa to offer to Western theory? Copyright (C) 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.