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Dangote Group, from Nigeria has emerged as the most admired African brand,
of African continent origin, by consumers ahead of telecommunication
giant, MTN according to the South African based Brand Leadership Movement
in collaboration with the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE)
The Dangote brand which is also the leading brand in Nigeria came atop in
the fresh ranking of 100 best brands in Africa themed “Brand Africa:100”,
the sixth edition announced in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The Brand Africa 100” was established in 2010, in recognition of the
growth of African brands, which were beginning to challenge global brands
in Africa or lead global brands in new categories such as
telecommunications.
The aim of Brand Africa is to identify, acknowledge and promote African
and global brands that are catalysts for Africa’s growth, reputation and
value.
Describing the brand, “Dangote”, The Brand Africa revealed that the
“Nigerian industrial brand Dangote is the number one African brand
recalled when consumers are prompted about the continent (Africa) of
origin while the South African tele-communications brand MTN is the number
one African brand spontaneously recalled irrespective of continent of
origin.
The United States sports and fitness brand, Nike, is the overall brand in
Africa spontaneously recalled by consumers.
The Brand Africa 100 ranking is based on a survey among consumers 18 years
and older, conducted in 23 countries across Africa. The countries,
representing all African economic regions, collectively account for 75 per
cent of the population and the 74 per cent of the GDP of Africa.
Chief Corporate Communication Officer of the Dangote Group, Anthony
Chiejina said the management was not surprised at the ranking because the
company has continuously deepened and delivered on its core values. The
focus of the company, according to him, is to be a world-class enterprise
that is passionate about the quality of life of the people and giving high
returns to stakeholders.
“And this philosophy is driven by values, which include customer service,
entrepreneurship, excellence and leadership. In any of our subsidiaries,
the focus is to provide local, value-added products and services that meet
the ‘basic needs’ of the populace. Through the construction and operation
of large scale manufacturing facilities in Nigeria and across Africa, the
Group is focused on building local manufacturing capacity to generate
employment, prevent capital flight and provide locally produced goods for
the people.
“The expansion of our business especially the Cement which has operations
in 14 African countries including Nigeria, Benin, Ghana, Senegal, South
Africa and Zambia, among others has added to popularity of our company and
the products, Chiejina stated.
African brands rose slightly to account for 17 per cent of the Top 100
brands in Africa, non-African brands retained their firm position in
Africa with 83 per cent share of the Top 100 most admired brands in
Africa.
Brands from Europe leads the table with 40 per cent, North America at 24
per cent and Asia 19 per cent. West Africa 6 per cent, with only Nigerian
brands and Southern Africa per cent.
The Top 100 is dominated by technology and electronic brands (29 per
cent), consumer (non-cyclical) (19 per cent), apparel (15 per cent),
automobile (8 per cent), food (7 per cent) and sports & fitness (5 per
cent) categories are the top categories.
“Overall, the 2017/18 Brand Africa 100 list, which started out with over
15,500 brand mentions covering over 2,200 admired brands, illustrates a
very diversified portfolio of categories and brands in Africa.
Thebe Ikalafeng, Founder and Chairman of Brand Africa and Brand
Leadership. Said “African brands have an important role in helping to
build the African brand,” says These rankings are an important metric of
the progress Africa is making in creating home-grown world-class brands
that are changing the narrative on African competiveness, image and
reputation and contributing to its socio-economic transformation.
“There is an incredible year-on-year consistency, with 60% of the Top 10
brands common among the Top 10 Most Admired African Brands and Most
Admired Brands in Africa, led by Nigeria’s Dangote and Glo, South Africa’s
MTN and Shoprite, Kenya’s Tusker and Ethiopia’s Anbessa. Out of the 16
African brands in Top 100 in 2016/17, 6 exited and 7 entered the Top 100
in 2017/18.
“The The major change on the list is the status of the Safaricom/Mpesa
brand. Because Vodacom/Vodafone recently became majority owner of the
business, in the 2017/18 tables the Safaricom/Mpesa brand was consolidated
into the Vodacom/Vodafone brand. Singled out, the Safaricom/Mpesa brand
ranked 27, higher than the Vodacom/Vodafone brand, which is at #31.
Collectively, the Vodacom/Vodafone/Safaricom brand is now at #17…
“Safaricom/Mpesa remains a highly recalled ‘African’ brand among Financial
Services and the Most Admired Brands in Africa. Zimbabwe’s Econet made
the most spectacular first time entry into the Top 100 at #40. After a
long stay on the list despite its innumerable challenges, BlackBerry
finally fell off the list as the brand exited the consumer markets. On
the other hand, Etisalat, which dropped 31 spots remains on the list of
the Top 100 despite exiting Africa in 2017.
“The highest gains are dominated by apparel and lifestyle sport brands
Ralph Lauren (+48), Versace (+41) and a resurgent Reebok (+43). The sports
category, led by Nike (#1), remains a strong performer, due to strategic
repositioning or expansion in their positioning towards lifestyle and high
profile endorsements and partnerships which have freshened and broadened
the brands’ appeal, particularly to youthful and young consumers.”