Mahogany Consult has participated in its first Public Relations Organisations International (PROI) Global summit since joining the International body in July 2015.

The four day summit themed “Engaging Content for the Masses”, held in Atlanta Georgia, USA, witnessed the participation of more than 70 PR consulting partners from around the world including the only West African partner, Mahogany Consult.

According to Principal Consultant at Mahogany Consult, Esi Essuman-Johnson, "Participating in the Atlanta summit has been inspirational. On one level, the global summit has given us the opportunity to benchmark what we are doing at Mahogany Consult in Ghana and West Africa against global standards; and it is gratifying to know we are on course. And on another level we realise there is still a lot more to learn."

Key among discussions at the global summit was the formation of an African Network within PROI to promote increased and more efficient ways of doing business together and to explore possible expansion into other key markets on the continent such as Nigeria, Ivory Coast and Senegal.

Essuman-Johnson, who joined other partners from the Americas, Asia-Pacific (APAC) and Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) regions for the summit said "West Africa continues to grow in regional importance in Africa and so the move to expand in this region is a worthwhile and timely investment and is a boost to our own capabilities at Mahogany Consult" 

Director, Global Development at PROI, Jean-Leopold Schuybroek, also noted "having our footprints in these key markets would not only enhance PROI's stature as a global entity but more importantly, it will position the group and serve our ever growing clientele better and help deliver seamlessly across the market".

The Public Relations Organisation International summit also saw the induction of the new PROI global Chair, Richard Tsang of SPRG, Hong Kong in the APAC region. Richard takes over from Andreas Fischer-Appelt, owner and Managing Director of FischerAppelt, who is stepping down after having served for 2 years.

The new Chair encouraged partners to leverage their collective strengths to win more business and while lifting the banner for PROI. By so doing “we can convince global clients to see us as one firm, or group, and be happy to give us their business across regions.

He was optimistic about promoting corporate philanthropy, observing “Money is not always the primary motivator, and if we can afford to offer more pro bono services we should initiate more as well. For it is the right thing to do” he emphasized.

It was also reported at the Annual General Meeting that PROI Worldwide’s 2015 combined fee turnover exceeded US$702,000,000, positioning it as the largest partnership of independent Agencies, and the 6th largest partnership in the Holmes PR Report (a ranking of global communications holding companies, in the world by net fee income).

The 2017 Global summit has been slated for Sidney, Australia.