Nairobi, 26th August 2026 – Creativity, strategy and bold storytelling took centre stage at Aga Khan University, Nairobi, as 11 universities came together for the finals of the Africa University Public Relations Challenge (AUPRC2026), with Zetech University emerging as the winner of the Best Overall Campaign.
The 2026 edition marked a major expansion of the challenge, attracting 11 universities compared with four in 2025. The growth brought together student communicators from across Kenya and beyond, including the University of Johannesburg (UoJ), in a competition designed to test their ability to develop campaigns that inform, inspire, engage and move audiences to action.
The participating universities were University of Nairobi, Zetech University, Mount Kenya University (MKU), Strathmore University, United States International University–Africa (USIU-Africa), Multimedia University of Kenya (MMU), Daystar University, Riara University, St. Paul’s University (SPU), and the University of Johannesburg.
The finals challenged student teams to turn communication theory into practice, developing campaigns that demonstrated strategic thinking, creativity, audience understanding and the ability to create meaningful engagement.
Strathmore University had a particularly strong showing, taking home both the Most Inspiring Narrative and Crowd Favorite Individual awards. Daystar University was recognised for Best Visual Identity, while the University of Johannesburg brought an international dimension to the awards with its win for Most Innovative Activation.
USIU-Africa took the Most Youth-Centric Campaign award, demonstrating a strong understanding of youth audiences and the communication approaches that resonate with them. Mount Kenya University won the Crowd Favorite Overall award, reflecting strong audience engagement and support during the finals.
At the top of the awards, Zetech University claimed the coveted Best Overall Campaign trophy. The award recognised the campaign that demonstrated the strongest overall combination of strategy, creativity, execution and audience appeal, with the outcome informed by both expert and crowd votes.
Prof. Nancy Booker, Dean of the Graduate School of Media and Communications, said the trophy categories were designed to recognise the different capabilities required of today’s public relations professionals. “The trophies are designed to celebrate more than just a winning campaign. They recognise the ideas, creativity, execution and audience connection that make communication impactful. From the power of a compelling narrative to the ability to engage young audiences and generate a genuine crowd response, each category represents an important part of modern public relations,” she said.
Booker went on to note that the combination of professional judging and audience participation was particularly important because successful public relations must satisfy both strategic objectives and audience expectations.
Alex Owiti, one of the AUPRC2026 judges, praised the quality of work presented during the finals and the level of strategic thinking demonstrated by the competing teams.
“The standard of the competition has been impressive. What stood out for me was the willingness of the students to think beyond traditional public relations and develop campaigns that are strategic, creative and relevant to the audiences they are trying to reach,” he said, adding that, “The strongest campaigns were those that understood their audience, had a clear story and translated their ideas into experiences that people could connect with. That is exactly the kind of thinking we need to encourage in the next generation of communicators.”
The expansion of AUPRC from four participating universities in 2025 to 11 in 2026 represents a significant milestone for the challenge and reflects growing interest in practical public relations education and competition among university students.
AUPRC2026 concludes with a clear message, that the next generation of public relations professionals is learning to create ideas that connect, campaigns that inspire and stories that move people to act.
