Established in 2010, Brand Africa is an interegenerational movement to inspire a brand-led African renaissance to drive Africa’s competitiveness, connect Africa and create a positive image of the continent.
When was Brand Africa established?
Brand Africa was established in 2010 immediately post the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa to reflect on its implications, opportunities and lessons for the African brand.
Why was Brand Africa established?
Brand Africa was established to create a platform for Africans to proactively influence and shape the African narrative and agenda.
What distinguishes Brand Africa from other Africa-related initiatives?
Brand Africa is a brand-led approach which recognizes that in the 21st century, brands are an asset, a vector of image, identity and reputation and a key driver of value for individuals, organizations and nations.
Brand Africa is a proactive and outcomes-driven movement focusing on championing brand-led initiatives which empower and engage Africans, and enable them to influence policy and business decisions and provide an independent measure on progress and impact in tourism, investment, trade and citizenship.
How does Brand Africa envisage achieving its goals?
What is the governance structure of Brand Africa?
The Brand Africa governance is structured around global principles of corporate governance that ensures independent oversight, transparency and accountability – and inclusivity.
What are the key Brand Africa initiatives?
Brand Africa has several focused brand-led initiatives to engage and empower Africans and diaspora and to evaluate the impact of African public and private sector branded initiatives and endeavors.
Brand Africa 100: Africa’s Best Brands
Celebrating Africa’s Leading Brands and Brand Builders
On 22 October 2015, Brand Africa 100: Africa’s Best Brands launched the “Brand of the Year,” “Emerging Brand of the Year” and “Lifetime Achievement” awards to recognize organisations and individuals driving brand leadership across Africa at a Gala evening at the Sandton International Convention Centre, in Johannesburg, South Africa.
How does Brand Africa mobilize and engage stakeholders?
Brand Africa has two key platforms to engage stakeholders to work towards a unified Africa agenda.
Brand Africa FORUM
The Brand Africa FORUM is Brand Africa’s intergenerational gathering of African and non-African supporters of Africa, decision-makers, thought- leaders, influencers and future leaders in politics, business, civil society and media to challenge issues and engage and share ideas that impact positively on the future of Africa.
The inaugural Brand Africa FORUM in 2010 was hosted by Brand South Africa on 16 September 2010 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Over the years The Brand Africa FORUM has attracted diverse and influential global and African participants such as Dr. Dambisa Moyo, economist and best-selling author of Dead Aid; Simon Anholt, global policy advisor and best- selling author of Brand America; Professor Keith Dinnie, author of Nation Branding; Vijay Mahajan, academic and best-selling author of Africa Rising; leaders of nation branding institutions for nations such as Kenya, South Africa and Ghana; private and public sector and civil society decision-makers from global, African and emerging nations like United States of America, United Kingdom, Netherlands, India, China, Zimbabwe, Ghana and South Africa.
Brand Africa Roundtable
Brand Africa Roundtables focus on country and/or regional issues and opportunities. Integral to the Roundtable deliberations are key socio-economic insights and reports on trade and investment, commercial and institutional branding, nation branding, competitiveness and perceptions of Africa.
How does Brand Africa ensure a pan-African reach, influence and impact?
Brand Africa’s reach is strengthened by a global network of African, diaspora, advisors, partners and supporters who represent it across the world and/or endorse, support and influence its work.
Patrons
Brand Africa Patrons are pan-African and regional institutions, organizations and distinguished active and retired high-profile individuals recognized for their leadership and for promoting the ideals, interests and advancement of Africa. Patrons champion Brand Africa through their association with and endorsement of Brand Africa.
Regional Network
The Brand Africa regional network is a diverse group of influential, respected and committed Africans and the diaspora who are passionate about transforming the continent’s image and standing in the world.
They leverage their platforms and networks to mobilize people, drive substantive conversations and promote actions that drive the Brand Africa agenda and move the continent forward.
The network covers the diversity of the continent encompassing the East, West, North, South and Central economic regions, key stakeholder groups such as youth, civil society and business, the Francophone and Lusophone language groups, and national leadership.
National Partners
National Partners are non-governmental private organizations and agencies of governments established to raise professional standards and to proactively create a positive and compelling brand image, reputation and an enabling environment for investment, trade, tourism and citizenship for their countries and ultimately contribute towards brand Africa.
International Partners
Brand Africa International Partners are non-African public, private and civil society organizations with a focus on promoting relations, trade and investment between their countries and Africa; and are invested in Africa’s independence, growth and prosperity.
What is Brand Africa 100: Africa’s Best Brands?
Brand Africa 100 is a Brand Africa initiative to research, rank and celebrate leading African and non-African brands in Africa. It is the first and most comprehensive pan-African study and ranking of brands in Africa.
The Brand Africa 100 initiative was conceived by global African brand builder, Thebe Ikalafeng (www.ikalafeng.africa) through his pan-African branding advisory firm, Brand Leadership in 2011.
Every year, Brand Africa, in partnership with Kantar, the globally respected consumer knowledge and information company and Geopoll, the leading mobile based surveying platform with a database of over 250 million respondents in Africa and Brand Leadership, independently survey, analyse and rank brands in Africa.
Brand Africa 100® is founded on the proven premise that developing and building successful brands in Africa will create jobs and a tax base to fund Africa’s development and create a favourable reputation as an entrepreneurial, independent and competitive continent.
The rankings are published annually by African Business
Magazine and Brand Africa partners and are covered extensively by leading international and Africa media, including CNN, BBC and CNBC Africa.
While brands such as Safaricom’s Mpesa (Vodafone), East Africa Brewers Limited’s Tusker (Diageo, UK) and Jumia (Germany) are categorized in the Brand Africa 100: Africa’s Best Brands as African brands, they are technically not African. Many brands such as these, while originally made in Africa, due mergers, acquisitions or other corporate actions, are no longer predominantly African owned.
However they are recognized as African brands because they were built in Africa and inspired by African insights and conditions, and in many cases serve predominantly African consumers.
Therefore, Brand Africa has resolved a convenient and rational approach to determining what is an African brand: a brand that was conceived by Africans and/or inspired “by Africa for Africans”, built in Africa and trades primarily in more than one Africa country.
A non-African brand is a multi-national brand developed outside Africa, with a primary listing or ownership outside Africa, with an African footprint or available to consumers in Africa, and contributes to Africa’s global reputation as an attractive destination for economic growth and investment.
What is the methodology used to determine Brand Africa 100: Africa’s Best Brands?
BRAND AFRICA 100: AFRICA’S BEST BRANDS IS AN INDEPENDENT SURVEY CONDUCTED AND ANALYSED BY GLOBALLY RESPECTED SPECIALISTS.
The Brand Africa 100: Africa’s Best Brands research is the most comprehensive and most representative consumer-focused survey of brands across Africa based on the most rigorous methodology consistent with global best practices and accepted protocols.
The survey is conducted independently by Geopoll (www.geopoll.com), the world’s leading mobile surveying platform with a database of over 250 million respondents in emerging markets around the globe. Strategic analysis and insights is conducted by Kantar (www.kantar.com), the globally respected consumer knowledge and information company. Strategy and branding is led by Brand Leadership (www.brandleadership.africa), Africa’s leading brand development, integrated marketing communication and activation advisory.
How is the research conducted?
Brand Africa research partners, Kantar and Geopoll, use Geopoll’s sophisticated mobile SMS technology and reach across Africa to identity the most admired brands in Africa among a representative sample of African countries’ consumers. This mobile based methodology ensures a wider reach, higher penetration and expediency in conducting research. Kantar and Brand Leadership analyse the data and create a weighted index representative of the population within each country and Africa overall to create the ranking of the Top 100 Most Admired Brands in Africa.
Why is mobile methodology used to collect data?
Because of the high penetration of mobile telephony as a primary mode of communication and increasingly for consumer transactions in Africa, this methodology and medium ensures a wider reach, higher penetration and expediency in conducting research.
What is the coverage of Brand Africa 100: Africa’s Best Brands across Africa?
The Brand Africa 100 survey is conducted among individuals aged 18 years and older and representative countries’ sample representing the economic five (5) African economic zones across North Africa, Central Africa, West Africa, East Africa and Southern Africa which account for over 75% of Africa’s population, and cover the four primary African Union languages of English, French, Portuguese and Arabic.
What are the key categories of results for Brand Africa 100: Africa’s Best Brands?
The Brand Africa 100: Africa’s Best Brands results are reported in 5 key categories collectively, by regions and by country of origin, including:
Spontaneous:
Why is it important to measure brands?
First, a brand is an asset and a key value driver. Therefore, measuring its admiration and value is an assessment of the effectiveness of the brand’s custodianship by management and resultant return on investment for its shareholders and investors. Second, developing and building successful brands and the businesses behind them helps Africa to solve its socio-economic challenges by creating jobs and the tax bases to fund public goods. Finally, successful brands are a vector of a positive image, competitiveness and reputation for Africa. Therefore, Brand Africa 100 is a critical measure on and inspiration for creating Brands That Build Africa.