Dangote, MTN, GTBank emerge most admired African brands

TRACKING___For the third time in a row, Dangote Group has emerged as the most admired African brand, of African continent origin, by consumers, paired with the telecommunication giant, MTN in a survey of 100 Africa best brands announced in a novel global virtual event that incorporated the market openings of Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria.

This is even as Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) returned to the top spot in financial services and the United Kingdom’s BBC retained its media category ranking as the most admired media brand in separate category sub-surveys of the most admired financial services and media brands in Africa.The Brand Africa 100 was established 10 years ago, to coincide with the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the world’s biggest single sporting event.

African brands only occupied 13 of the 100 entries, 7 less from last year’s.

Founder and Chairman of Brand Africa and Brand Leadership, Thebe Ikalafeng during an online interactive session via Zoom said: “African brands have an important role in helping to build the image, competitiveness and transforming the continent’s promise into a real change.

It’s concerning that in the 10 years since the triumphant FIFA World Cup in South Africa which globally highlighted the promise and capability of Africa, and despite the vibrant entrepreneurial environment, Africa is not creating more competitive brands to meet the needs of its growing consumer market.”

Global Client Development Manager, GeoPoll, Caitlin van Niekerk said: “The reach and accessibility of mobile across the continent enabled us to survey respondents across a representative sample of countries quickly and effectively, giving us vital and timeous results at a critical time. Kantar has been the insight lead for Brand Africa since inception in 2010.”

It is a consumer-led survey which seeks to establish brand preferences across Africa. The survey is conducted among a representative sample of respondents 18 years and older, in 27 countries which collectively represent 50 per cent of the continent, covering all economic regions and accounting for an estimated 80 per cent of the population and the GDP of Africa.

The 2020 survey was conducted between February and April 2020 and yielded over 15,000 brand mentions and over 2,000 unique brands

In his reaction, Group Chief Corporate Communication Officer of the Dangote Group, Anthony Chiejina said the management was not unexpected of the ranking because the company has a long-standing reputation for quality, relevance compliance and social stewardship.

“Our mission and vision engage and inspire us to by extension connects us to with both our internal and external stakeholders.

“We fervently believe that only Africans can develop Africa, and this gives us a stronger sense of relevance in all the countries where we have our operations. we are touching lives by providing their basic needs and empowering Africans more than ever before creating jobs reducing capital flight, helping government conserve foreign exchange drain by supporting different industrial infrastructural projects of African government.”

Mr Chiejina stated further that Dangote Cement has been producing high quality and affordable cement, reducing poverty, engaging in unprecedented philanthropy and above all respecting the laws of the land where we operate.

“All these are our credo and we do not compromise it, it is our way. And the ranking is just an acknowledgement of all these by our stakeholders. We keep our brand promise and stay authentic.” he concluded.