Pretoria: Effective communication requires more than the exchange of information or the use of digital tools, as it is ultimately built on human understanding, trust, ethics, and shared purpose, African Public Relations Association (APRA) Secretary General Omoniyi Ibietan said on Wednesday. Ibietan was speaking at the Effective Communicators Conference (ECC), underway in Swakopmund from 14 to 17 July 2026.
According to Namibia Press Agency, the conference has brought together communication professionals from Namibia and across Africa to strengthen communication capacity, promote knowledge exchange, and discuss emerging trends shaping the profession. Delivering a presentation titled "The Forgotten Human Infrastructure of Effective Communication," Ibietan said communication should not be measured solely by the transfer of information but by whether shared meaning is successfully created.
Ibietan explained that effective communication depends on what he termed the human infrastructure of communication, comprising the cognitive, psychological, cultural, ethical, and social factors that influence how people interpret messages and respond to them. He emphasized that the growing reliance on technology, digital platforms, and rapid information sharing has led to important human aspects of communication being overlooked.
Ibietan warned that digital platforms can contribute to misinformation and misunderstanding when communication is not guided by responsibility and ethical considerations. He noted that communication is central to social cooperation, economic participation, and national development, as it enables societies to build trust and develop shared understanding.
He also highlighted the concept of shared intentionality, which involves people recognizing common goals and working together through meaningful communication. He pointed out that communication begins before language, with gestures, facial expressions, and other forms of non-verbal communication remaining essential components of human interaction.
Ibietan urged communication practitioners to consider context, relationships, cultural differences, and audience needs when developing messages. He identified cognition, relationship building, emotional intelligence, active listening, stakeholder awareness, and multimodal communication as essential elements of effective communication.
On the growing role of artificial intelligence (AI), he said communicators should embrace technology responsibly while preserving human judgment and ethical standards. He acknowledged that AI presents opportunities to enhance content creation, audience analysis, and communication processes, but should complement rather than replace human creativity and accountability.
Ibietan encouraged communication professionals to combine technological competence with human values in order to maintain public trust, stating that "AI is not the end of creative work; it is another surface to shape."