DAR ES SALAAM — A healthy mix of multinational agencies, local firms and corporate PR departments will take home multiple SABRE trophies after the competition’s African event later this month. The event, which had been scheduled for Dar es Salaam, the Tanzanian capital, will be the second virtual African SABRE ceremony and will take place on May 27—the third day of the African Public Relations Association’s annual conference.

Africa’s largest retailer Shoprite Group, headquartered in Cape Town, and clients of global public relations giant FleishmanHillard and South African firm Clockwork will each receive four trophies during the event.

Other multiple winners include Africa-based firms Tribeca PR and LSF PR (three awards each) and Eclipse Communications and Oxygène Marketing Communications (two); and multinational agencies BCW (three trophies across its African network), Edelman and Hill+Knowlton Strategies (two).

In addition, there are five finalists for the Platinum SABRE Award, which will be presented to the best campaign in this year’s African SABRE competition. They are:

  • Kazi Mtaani — State Department for Housing and Urban Development with Oxygène Marketing Communications
  • Project Fabric Campaign against the ban of second-hand clothes — Mitumba Association of Kenya with Hill+Knowlton Strategies Kenya
  • Rebuilding Stakeholders' Trust in Kenya Airways — Kenya Airways with Edelman Africa
  • Shoprite Group Corporate Image — The Shoprite Group Communications Team
  • Touching Lives Through A Determined School Child - Dele Fathia — Lumos Nigeria with Modion Communications

The winner of the Platinum SABRE will be announced during the event.

“We saw tremendous work from across the African continent in 2020, despite difficult conditions in a year when public relations professionals—and the businesses it serves—were impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic,” says Paul Holmes, who chaired the SABRE jury. “It was particularly exciting to see the work from across the continent, and from Eastern and Western African nations in particular.”

A complete list of the honorees can be found here.