Public Relations Review 37 (2011) 274–280 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Public Relations Review Public relations practice in private sector companies in Gabon Anna Oksiutycz a,* , Malory Pambault Enombo b a Department of Strategic Communication, University of Johannesburg, South Africa b Gabon, South Africa a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 29 November 2010 Received in revised form 15 February 2011 Accepted 12 March 2011 Keywords: Public realtion in Gabon Global PR Interantional PR PR practice Models of PR a b s t r a c t 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 prac- titioners 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 communi- cation 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. © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Public relations (PR) in Gabon is a developing field which is becoming increasingly influential and is gaining recognition as a distinctive profession. Political, economic, cultural and social systems differ from one country to another – this affects how PR is perceived, practised and taught. At the same time, globalisation has influenced many societies, cultures and economies and the field of PR in Gabon has not been immune to this process. Global spread of management approaches, philosophies and practices by business schools and multinational companies in almost every field and industry contributes to the propagation of ideas and practices in the communication and PR sphere. At the same time some unique qualities of the profession are present in different countries. The aim of the study reported in this article was to explore the characteristics of PR practice in Gabon. 2. Brief background to public relations in Gabon Gabon is a Central African country of 258 000 km 2 with approximately 1.5 million inhabitants of whom nearly half a million live in the capital Libreville. Despite its small size, Gabon is home to more than 40 diverse ethnic groups. French is the official language of the country. The Gabonese economy rests primarily on three export products: oil, manganese and wood. Oil provides 76 per cent of all export earnings. Since the country’s independence from France in 1960, Gabon has had only three presidents. Of these three, Omar Bongo Ondimba had the longest term of office, staying in power for 33 years. Gabon, a single-party state from 1968 to 1991, was an authoritarian state in which freedom of speech and political rights were limited (Boudon, 2004). Public protests in 1990, caused by declining oil prices and political discontent, led to a new constitution in 1991. Gabon officially adopted a multi-party system that year and as a result the country experienced liberalisation and * Tel.: +27 833794979. E-mail address: aoksiutycz@uj.ac.za (A. Oksiutycz). 0363-8111/$ – see front matter © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.pubrev.2011.03.011