External Relations and Communication

Role

The principal activities of the External Relations and Communications (ERCU) Unit are to plan, prepare and implement public relations and corporate communication programs aimed at making the Bank better known to its various publics so as to promote, establish and maintain its credibility and good reputation. The Unit enables the Bank to have a better understanding of how the Institution is perceived internally and externally.

Reporting Relationships

The unit is headed by a unit head who reports to the President.

Principal Activities

• acts as the Bank’s mouthpiece on the instruction of senior management;
• advises senior management on public relations and communication issues within and outside the Bank;
• plans, prepares and implements information programs to keep the public and specific groups (government services, business circles, NGOs, international organizations, the general public, etc.) informed of the Bank’s programs and achievements;
• prepares and implements communication programs to mobilize public opinion in favour of the cause for economic and social development of Africa, and the Bank’s activities in this area through the publication of articles and speeches, the dissemination of films, the organization of exhibitions, visits, debates, etc.;
• produces and distributes brochures, publications, press reviews, audiovisual as well as electronic documents for the media and public to enhance the Bank’s image, and maintain good and close working relations with all the medias;
• prepares and disseminates press releases, as well as organize and conduct press conferences and seminars to present the Bank’s views on major economic, political, social and financial problems in Africa;
• produces bulletins, information circulars, as well as other publications on Bank activities regularly for the staff, so as to enhance understanding of Management’s objectives and initiatives;
• provides advice and assistance required for formulating Bank policies and plans on the design, implementation and dissemination of the Bank’s information products and coordinate the publishing and distribution services for the printed and electronic publications of the Bank;
• conducts regular research to enhance knowledge of the attitudes, opinions, and aspirations of the Bank’s major publics; and
• implements the Bank’s information disclosure policy, as well as manages the public information centre responsible for providing information on Bank activities and operations.
  

Key Interactions

Internal interfaces:

• all organizational units for the dissemination of information about the Bank;
• all Bank staff for information;
• all organizational units for advice and assistance in information management and related fields.

External interfaces:

• multilateral development banks, government services, NGOs, international institutions, business circles, university circles, and the general public of member countries for the dissemination of information on the Bank’s activities, policies, and objectives;
• the media within and outside the African continent for the communication of information and procurement of advertising space and time.