Despite optimism in the progress of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and other initiatives to drive African brands, the continent’s brands regressed 20% from a 10-year high of 17% to a 14% share of the Top 100 most admired brands in Africa.
This is according to the 13th Brand Africa list of the most admired brands in Africa based on a survey and rankings conducted by Geopoll, Kantar and Brand Leadership across 32 African countries that account for more than 85% of the continent’s GDP and population.
The poll was released on Africa Day, May 25.
Stalwart African brand MTN dropped out of the Top 10, while all African brands lost ground, except Zambia’s Trade Kings, the biggest African mover and a new entrant in 38th position.
Thebe Ikalafeng, the founder and chairperson of Brand Africa – incorporated in South Africa as a non-profit company – said it was concerning that despite the momentum in making the AfCFTA (a free-trade area comprising most African countries) operational, and rising internal pride on the continent, that African consumers have reverted to their trusted, mostly non-African brands, rather than giving African brands a chance.
“Nonetheless, this is the state of brands in Africa, and (highlights) an urgent need to build trust in made-in-Africa brands,” Ikalafeng said.
Europe, led by Adidas in second position, had grown its share of the most admired brands in Africa to 37%, ahead of North America, led by Nike, the number one brand for the fifth consecutive year. Asia, which retained its 17% share, was led by Samsung, the number three brand for the third consecutive year.
In a new category of brands that were doing good for people, society and the environment, inspired by business shifting from profit to purpose, the World Health Organization (WHO) emerged as the number one NGO, Coca-Cola the number one non-African brand and MTN the number one African brand.
In a category-specific ranking of the Top 25 financial services brands, Africa’s oldest banking group, Standard Bank surged to the number one most admired brand in Africa, displacing GTBank, which had led the rankings for the past three years, but was reeling from the recent UK regulatory issues, service challenges and a tough competitive environment.
This category was dominated by South African and Nigerian brands, who had six representatives each, accounting for 48% of the rankings. The US, led by Visa, at 16%, made up 64% of the Top 25 brands.
In a category-specific ranking of the Top 25 media brands, DStv, the consumer brand of the MultiChoice Group, retained its dominant ranking ahead of the BBC and CNN as the most admired media brand in Africa. Consistent with previous rankings, non-African media dominated the continent, accounting for 76% of the Top 25 brands.
MTN was the number one most admired African brand in the Top 100 brands recalled spontaneously, while Dangote has retaken the lead as the number one most admired brand when respondents were prompted to recall an African brand specifically.
Some 15% of the Top 100 brands were new entrants, led by the US’s Oral B, which was the biggest mover at number 34, with Zambia’s Trade Kings at 38 and the US’s Jordan at 42.
The Brand Africa 100 | Africa’s Best Brands research took place between February and April this year, covering 32 countries across all economic regions in the continent. The 2023/24 research was once again being conducted by Brand Africa partners Geopoll in sub-Saharan Africa, and Morocco’s Integrate, an affiliate of Kantar in north Africa. Kantar and Brand Leadership produced the rankings, while the Brand Africa Scientific Committee convened to review, analyse and validate the results.
Bernard Okasi, director of research at GeoPoll, which has been the lead data collection partner since 2015, said with an ever-increasing number of countries, greater sample size, and the growth of mobile phone use across the continent, more than ever, using mobile telephony continued to prove to be an effective tool to reach and access respondents across the continent.
Karin du Chenne, chief growth officer for Africa and the Middle East for Kantar, which has been the insight lead for Brand Africa since its inception in 2010, said despite the increased countries and sample sizes, which have invariably grown the volumes of brands analysed, the survey continues to yield a consistent picture of the leading brands on the continent, albeit not yet to Africa’s advantage.
As a non-profit initiative and to ensure the objectivity and independence of the rankings, the Brand Africa 100 | Africa’s Best Brands research to determine the most admired top-of-mind brands in Africa was not funded by any brand.
For the tenth consecutive year, the full results, including the Top 100, category rankings and comprehensive analysis would be published in the July issue of African Business magazine coming out in June and Top 100 rankings in www.brand.africa on July 1, 2023.
Over the next few weeks, starting on June 6 in the Ivory Coast, Brand Africa will be releasing country-specific rankings of the most admired brands and the most admired brand builders in the leading countries across the continent.