MTN, with a 49% growth in brand value to $4 billion, has retained the number one place on the ranking of the most valuable African brands in the world, according to the new Brand Finance Africa 150 2022 report by leading brand valuation consultancy Brand Finance.
Apart from telecommunications, the leading brand has diversified its services into fintech and mobile money across Africa. MTN’s Mobile Money (MoMo) application is performing exceedingly well and overtook its competition M-Pesa (brand value up 32% to US$246 million) by Safaricom in terms of volume of financial transactions through the application with a loyal customer base of 57 million active users.
Every year, leading brand valuation consultancy Brand Finance puts 5,000 of the world’s biggest brands to the test, and publishes 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 ranking.
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 national lockdowns. Brands from diverse sectors including banking, telecommunications and food & beverage found innovative ways to connect with the customers online. This digital transformation helped the top brands in Africa achieve a 28% increase in aggregate brand value to US$50.1 billion. Building strong brands across Africa fuels growth in the economy which is creating more dynamic jobs in the long-term.
South African brands (value up by 30% to US$36.9 billion) are leading the African continent, followed by Nigerian brands (value up by 35% to US$3.2 billion), Egyptian brands (value up by 42% to US$3.1 billion), Moroccan brands (value up by 14% to US$2.6 billion) and Kenyan brands (value up by 69% to US$2.1 billion).
African brands have achieved strong performances by being agile amid change in the business environment. 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
Tusker more than doubles in brand value to become Africa’s fastest growing brand
Kenyan beer brand Tusker achieved an impressive 132% brand value growth this year, more than doubling to US$50 million in brand value. This brand value growth was noteworthy as it was achieved amidst uncertain business conditions, including 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. By partnering with athletes and social media influencers, Tusker created engaging online content to increase demand, sales and brand recall.
Capitec Bank is the strongest brand in Africa with AAA+ brand rating
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. Capitec Bank (brand value up 41% to US$625 million) is the strongest brand in the ranking with a Brand Strength Index (BSI) score of 92.4 out of 100 and a corresponding brand rating of AAA+.
The South African bank is forming strategic partnerships to keep up with market and sector-wide trends in online banking and digital transformation. Most recently, Capitec Bank partnered with IT consulting firm Entersekt to leverage behavioural analytics and to enable a higher number of online transactions using e-commerce platforms. The bank also works alongside US-based software brand nCino to provide more efficient and more effective banking services to consumers with the help of cloud banking and digital automation.
Banking has the most valuable brands in Africa, followed by telecom and retail
Banking brands including Standard Bank (brand value up 26% to US$1.6 billion), First National Bank (brand value up 18% to US$1.6 billion) and Absa (brand value up 16% to US$1.4 billion) 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 US$4.0 billion), Vodacom (brand value up 18% to US$2.0 billion), and Maroc Telecom(brand value up 12% to US$851 million) 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 US$1.2 billion), Shoprite (brand value up 37% to US$1.0 billion) and Spar SA (brand value up 44% to US$1.0 billion) have recovered from the impact of the pandemic with their impressive ability to adapt to changing customer needs in a time of economic disruption.
