Founded over 50 years ago, the APRA is the umbrella body of national public relations associations across Africa.

In a statement on Thursday, the National Orientation Agency (NOA) said Arik Karani, president of the association, announced that Nigeria won the right to host next year, “having demonstrated capacity, leadership, and being the first African country to pass the national public relations Act 24 years ago”.

Representing Mohammed Idris, the minister of information and national orientation, Lanre Issa-Onilu, director-general of the National Orientation Agency, received the APRA flag, signalling acceptance of the mandate to organise the next conference.

Speaking afterwards, Issa Onilu was said to have expressed Nigeria’s readiness to preserve the high standards of the APRA conference in the coming year, promising to ensure African countries and delegates enjoy the traditional African hospitality “for which Nigeria is better known for”.

“He told the audience, especially delegates from other countries in Africa to see Nigeria and its people as some of the most hospitable people in the world,” the statement reads.

Handing over the flag, Kimani Ichung’wah, the majority leader of the Kenyan national parliament, was said to have assured that the public relations Act of Kenya will soon be enacted, having scaled the most critical stages in the parliament.

The NOA added that 24 African countries are attending the current session of the association in Mombasa, Kenya, which also coincides with the 50th anniversary of the APRA.

In 2024, the APRA Omoniyi Ibietan, a Nigerian and journalist with over 20 years of experience in media and communication practice, as its secretary-general.