The African Public Relations Association (APRA) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Node Group to train 10,000 communications professionals across Africa through the PR Fundi Masterclass programme.
The new partnership aims to train 10,000 communications professionals over the next five years, with an initial target of 2,400 participants in the first year—equivalent to 200 professionals every month.
The programme is open to practitioners at all career stages and aligns with Node Group’s 10th anniversary theme, “Transforming What Is Next.”
“Building on the 2025 partnership, at Node, we are serious about raising the standard of communication practice on this continent. Cost cannot be a barrier. The decision to make the masterclass series completely free was deliberate and is rooted in a straightforward Sustainable Development Goal principle of leaving no one behind,” said Ian Rumanyika, CEO of Node Group.
The partnership establishes a collaborative framework through which APRA and Node Group will provide structured, accessible, and industry-relevant virtual training opportunities for communications professionals across Africa.
Under the agreement, the partners will host a high-level masterclass every month, bringing together practitioners, industry leaders, and subject matter experts to share knowledge, emerging trends, and best practices in public relations and strategic communication. APRA will lead the identification and sourcing of facilitators for each session.
“For APRA, this partnership represents the largest free skilling programme the association has ever offered. A government press secretary in Lusaka, a nonprofit communications officer in Accra, a junior PR executive in Dar es Salaam, and a senior corporate affairs director in Lagos will all find topics directly relevant to their work,” said Arik Karani, the APRA President.
Public relations remains a relatively young and rapidly evolving profession across much of Africa. Yet professional training opportunities have historically been expensive, concentrated in major cities, and often led by foreign providers who do not always fully understand the African context.
The statistics paint a clear picture of the state of the communications industry on the continent today. According to the 2025 State of the African PR Industry Report published by APRA, only 34 per cent of practising communications professionals hold a formal qualification directly related to public relations or strategic communication.
The majority have transitioned into the profession from journalism, marketing, political science, and related disciplines, acquiring their skills largely through experience.
At the same time, Africa’s public relations industry is growing at an estimated annual rate of 9.2 per cent—faster than any other region globally. However, the infrastructure needed to train practitioners at scale has not kept pace with this growth.
The 2025 State of the African PR Industry Report further found that 61 per cent of communications professionals in Sub-Saharan Africa have not attended any structured professional development training in the past three years—not because of a lack of interest, but due to cost and logistical barriers.
A separate Global Communication Report, produced in partnership with the University of Southern California Annenberg School, identified Africa as the region with the widest gap between industry growth and professional skills development.
The partners believe that training 10,000 communicators can create lasting structural change across the continent. Higher professional standards in government communications offices, stronger measurement frameworks within corporate affairs teams, more effective crisis communication, and more strategic media relations can collectively improve the quality of public discourse.
“There is a generation of African communicators who learned on the job, developed strong instincts and practical expertise, but never had the credentials or structured frameworks to support their growth. This masterclass series is for them,” said the APRA President.
“For too long, the gap between the communicators we have and the communicators we need in Africa has continued to widen. We want to close that gap from within. This partnership is not an instant solution, but training 10,000 practitioners across the continent over five years is no small achievement. It is a beginning."