According to Brand Finance Africa 150 2022 report, South African brands are leading the African continent with MTN taking the most valuable brand position in Africa ,
The South African brands (value up by 30% to $36.9bn) are followed from a distance by Nigerian brands (value up by 35% to $3.2bn), Egyptian brands (value up by 42% to $3.1bn), Moroccan brands (value up by 14% to $2.6bn) and Kenyan brands (value up by 69% to 2.1bn).
The report, by brand valuation consultancy Brand Finance, also discovered that African brands have benefited significantly from adapting to uncertain business conditions caused by Covid-19, by leveraging technological disruption to tackle supply chain issues and others caused by lockdowns in their respective economies.
In the words of Jeremy Sampson, MD, Brand Finance Africa,
“Whilst South African brands will continue to dominate the ranking for some time, there are encouraging signs of strong brands emerging around the continent, especially amongst the banking and telecommunication sectors,” he adds.
MTN (brand value up 49% to $4bn) retained its number one place on the ranking of the most valuable African brands as the brand has diversified its services across Africa from telecommunications to various sectors including fintech and mobile money.
Indeed South African brands took the top 13 positions with the first brand outside SA, Maroc Telecom taking the 14th position. Egypt came in with Orascom at no 24 while Nigeria’s biggest brands, Access bank and Dangote Cement took number 41 and 42 respectively,
Remarkably, Kenyan beer brand, Tusker achieved an impressive 132% brand value growth this year, more than doubling to $50m in brand value.
In the words of Jeremy Sampson, MD, Brand Finance Africa,
Whilst South African brands will continue to dominate the ranking for some time, there are encouraging signs of strong brands emerging around the continent, especially amongst the banking and telecommunication sectors.
This brand value growth was noteworthy as it was achieved amidst uncertain business conditions, including the global supply chain crisis, and the closure of restaurants and bars due to pandemic induced restrictions.
The brand overcame this challenge by employing social media marketing and influencer marketing as its primary method of promotion throughout the lockdown.
In addition to brand value, Brand Finance determines the relative strength of brands through a balanced scorecard of metrics evaluating marketing investment, stakeholder equity, and business performance.
Compliant with ISO 20671, Brand Finance’s assessment of stakeholder equity incorporates original market research data from over 100,000 respondents in more than 35 countries and across nearly 30 sectors.
Looking at the sectors, Banking has the most valuable brands in Africa, followed by telecom and retail.
Banking brands are contributing to the success of African brands significantly with 26% of the total brand value growth. The growth of African banks in the ranking is facilitated by focusing on digital payments and online banking.
Similarly, the telecommunications sector led by MTN (brand value up 49% to $4bn), Vodacom (brand value up 18% to $2bn), and Maroc Telecom (brand value up 12% to $851m) is also focusing on mobile applications as a strategic means to engage with users. Telecom brands have relied on growth in internet usage and mobile data requirements with major brands pivoting to a primarily digital strategy.
Lastly, retail brands such as South African Woolworths (brand value up 53% to $1.2bn), Shoprite (brand value up 37% to $1bn) and Spar SA (brand value up 44% to $1bnn) have recovered from the impact of the pandemic with their impressive ability to adapt to changing customer needs in a time of economic disruption.
Within the nation branding segment, Kenya is leading African nations on several pillars of the Global Soft Power Index 2022 and is showing significant potential for further growth in various tourism-related metrics.
The perception of Kenya’s nation brand is especially high with regard to soft power pillars including ‘great place to visit’ and ‘food the world loves’. The nation brand has improved its scores for other major pillars such as familiarity, business and trade, international relations, governance and media and communications.
Further, the results of the Global Soft Power Index 2022 show that Egypt ranks first in the Culture and Heritage pillar of the study based on its scores for heritage, arts, food, lifestyle, and sports.
The measurement of soft power has several applications to the tourism industry to contrast the performance of different nations, formulate strategic positioning, nation branding activities, and effective resource allocations for marketing budgets.
Every year, leading brand valuation consultancy, Brand Finance puts 5,000 of the world’s biggest brands to the test, publishing around 100 reports, ranking brands across all sectors and countries.
Africa’s top 150 most valuable and strongest brands are included in the annual Brand Finance Africa 150 report.