Strategic Communication in the Digital Age, Part B

Strategic Communication in the Digital Age, Part B: Innovation, Adaptation, and the Future of Communication in Africa examines how technological innovation and rapidly evolving digital environments are shaping the future of strategic communication across the African continent. Integrating empirical research, case studies, conceptual analyses, and critical reflections, this volume investigates how communication professionals, organisations and communities are responding to artificial intelligence, decentralised technologies, social media platforms, and increasingly complex digital information environments.

Contributors analyse emerging developments in AI-supported crisis preparedness, AI-amplified misinformation, podcasting, blockchain, digital activism, influencer economies, social listening, corporate branding, and media and information literacy across diverse African contexts. The chapters illustrate that digital transformation in Africa extends beyond the adoption of new technologies; it necessitates ongoing adaptation to cultural contexts, infrastructural limitations, evolving stakeholder expectations, ethical considerations, and shifting dynamics of communicative power.

This edited collection positions African experiences as significant sources of innovation and knowledge for strategic communication scholarship and practice. It evaluates how locally grounded approaches can inform responses to misinformation, crisis preparedness, stakeholder engagement, digital activism, branding, and emerging technologies, while critically assessing the ongoing reliance on frameworks developed primarily in Western contexts. By linking innovation, adaptation, and African agency, the volume provides researchers, educators, policymakers, and communication professionals with a timely analysis of the evolution of strategic communication and the potential of African experiences to shape its future in the digital age.