THE AFRICAN COURIER. Reporting Africa and its Diaspora! The African Courier is an international magazine published in Germany to report on Africa and the Diaspora African experience. The first issue of the bimonthly magazine appeared on the newsstands on 15 February 1998. The African Courier is a communication forum for European-African political, economic and cultural exchanges, and a voice for Africa in Europe.
The South African Anglican cleric and theologian known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, has been voted Africa’s most reputable and ethical individual, while Gift of the Givers and Botswana were recognised as the most admired organisation and country on the continent respectively.
Gift of the Givers Foundation is a South African non-governmental organization started by Dr. Imtiaz Sooliman in 1992. It is the largest disaster relief group of African origin.
These are some of the top level results from the research conducted by the communication company Reputation Matters for African Public Relations Association (APRA) on African ethics and reputation.
The results of the survey were presented at the APRAs 30th annual conference in Gaborone, Botswana on Wednesday, 9 May 2018.
APRA assists in setting standards, creating and enabling a professional environment for accurate perception, goodwill and understanding of necessary and effective PR practices. Valuable insights were gained from the almost 120 respondents of the poll who mostly identified as CEOs and senior executives in the communication, PR and marketing industry.
These insights will be used to support the partnership between APRA and the African Union (AU) to assist them in building a prosperous image and reputation that is authentic to Africa.
Of the 12 countries represented in the survey, 71% of respondents reside in South Africa with Ghana, Nigeria, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Namibia and Angola also being represented.
Combating corruption
The AU theme for 2018 is Combating corruption – a sustainable path to Africa’s transformation. This resonates well with the data on country level where respondents indicated that the meaning of ethics mainly refers to anti-corruption in government.
Respondents cited Botswana as setting the example as the most reputable and ethical country in Africa. The research proved overwhelmingly that ethics and reputation are interwoven and one cannot exist without the other.
Respondents felt that behaviour and core values such as honesty, transparency and credibility, are the most important elements of a reputation.
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