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The SABRE Awards are the most prestigious and important awards in the Public Relations industry due to their global reach and comprehensive coverage of diverse PR disciplines. Each year, thousands of campaigns are evaluated by a jury of industry leaders, with the most compelling selected as regional winners for the Americas, EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa), and Asia-Pacific. The very best of these winning campaigns are then put forward for the Global SABRE Awards to find the truly elite in international PR. 

Having already won an African SABRE Award in May, the Mercy Ships campaign was one of just 40 selected out of more than 5,500 entries submitted to the Global SABRE Awards competition. The ceremony to celebrate the ‘best of the best’ will take place at The Hotel Washington in Washington, D.C. from November 6-8 2023.

APO Group’s Mercy Ships campaign is the only nominee managed by a wholly African-owned agency, and the fact that it has been selected alongside campaigns from some of the most prominent PR agencies in the world is a testament to African storytelling. 

Mercy Ships is an international NGO that operates the largest civilian hospital ships in the world, delivering surgical care and medical training to underprivileged people, and bringing hope and healing to those who need it most. But, before APO Group was engaged to highlight its positive work across Africa, the Mercy Ships story remained relatively unknown.   

By leveraging its unrivalled access to African and international journalists, APO Group was able to amplify Mercy Ships’ visibility throughout the year, raising the profile of its work and bringing awareness to new audiences all over the world. In total, the campaign delivered dozens of interviews and editorial articles, more than 4,000 pieces of online coverage, and a PR value of USD$125 million.

The Global award follows an extremely successful year for APO Group as the SABRE Awards. Three further campaigns for the Jack Ma Foundation, Canon, and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) were also recognised in regional categories, reflecting APO Group’s dominant position as Africa’s leading communications consultancy. 

Uniquely, APO Group has teams working ‘on the ground’ in many African countries, meaning they can reach every corner of the continent. This deep knowledge and experience of the complex, fragmented African media landscape cannot be replicated by global agencies operating satellite African offices. For more than 15 years, APO Group has been committed to changing the narrative about Africa, challenging preconceptions and bringing inspiring stories to international audiences for the first time. 

“This is an amazing accolade from the most prestigious Awards panel in international Public Relations,” said Rania El Rafie, Group Account Director at APO Group. “It is hugely exciting to be recognised alongside some of the biggest PR Agencies in the world as it shows that positive African stories can reach the pinnacle of the PR industry. Mercy Ships was the only campaign that was conceived, built, and delivered exclusively by Africans, so in our eyes we are already winners! We are proud to be flying the flag for our continent!”