Public relations practice in private sector companies in Gabon

This article examines the practice of public relations in private sector companies in Gabon. Face-to-face, semi-structured interviews were conducted with the public relations practitioners employed in 15 companies chosen from the register of the companies at the Trade Ministry of Gabon. The interviews explored themes such as position of communication departments and communication practitioners in an organisation use of research, communication practitioners’ relationship with top management, gender and education of practitioners, effect of globalisation on communication practice in Gabon as well as the description of typical activities of communication practitioners. The study revealed the public relations is a developing profession in Gabon and that public relations practice in the surveyed companies displays attributes common to PR in other countries as well as some distinctive qualities shaped by the context of Gabonese history, society and culture.

► The research indicates that the field of public relation in Gabon a developing field ► Public relation practitioners in Gabon apply all four models of public relations identified by Grunig and Hunt (1984) ► Public relations practitioners in Gabon is dominated by males ► Public relations practice in Gabon has its own unique characteristics.