African brands surge to 17% of the Top 100 brands in Africa

Dangote, GT Bank, Channels TV, DSTV and Coke have led the list of the most admired brands in Nigeria.

Today Brand Africa unveiled the 12th annual Brand Africa 100: Africa’s Best Brands 2022 rankings of the Top 100 most admired brands in Africa at a live event at Eko Hotel & Suites in Nigeria on Wednesday.

Against a backdrop of internal focus as a consequence of an urgent rebuilding of economies devastated by the Covid-19 pandemic and the acceleration of AfCFTA’s goal of driving greater intra-African trade, after a 5-year decline, African brands have surged 4% to 17% from an all-time low of 13% in 2020 and 2021 in the 2022 Brand Africa 100 | Africa’s Best Brands survey and ranking of the best brand in Africa.

Nigerian brands, Dangote (#22), Glo (#32), Jumia (#42) and Nasco (#75) are among the 17 African brands that have heralded a 4% surge by African brands to a 17% share of the Top 100 brands in Africa.

Overall, South Africa’s MTN has returned to the Top 10 as the highest-ranking African brand and traded places with Dangote as the #1 African brand recalled when prompted to consolidate its status as the #1 African brand.

Dangote, the pre-eminent African brand founded in 1981 by Nigerian Aliko Dangote, emerged as the #1 brand that symbolises African pride in a question where Brand Africa sought to establish which brand in Africa is a flag carrier and embodiment of rising optimism and pride in Africa. South Africa, led by MTN, leads the African list, with Nigeria, led by Dangote, the overall #1 brand, at 28%, Kenya with flag carrier, Kenya Airways, at 8% and Ethiopia, with its flag carrier brand, Ethiopian Airline at 4%.

Non-African brands, led by overall pace-setter Nike for the 5th consecutive year, continue to dominate with a share of 83% of the most admired brands in Africa. Coca Cola, which has been in the Top 5 for 10 consecutive years, is the #1 overall most admired brand in Nigeria.

In a separate list of the Top 25 most admired financial services brands, African brands, led by Nigeria’s GT Bank for the third consecutive year, dominate the rankings with 68% of the share to 32% for non-African brands.

DStv has consolidated its position as the #1 African media brand for the second year running, while Channels TV led as the #1 Nigerian media brand, in a category that is fast going digital and mobile.

Recognising that while the rebound in African brands is notable, the results will not be sustainable without committed and inspirational leadership, in 2022, Brand Africa recognised those leaders who are the catalyst for growth for Made in Africa brands both in corporate and in those who have championed and supported the development of great local brands in supporting industries. GT Bank’s Group CEO, Segun Agbaje and Nigerian doyenne of marketing, founder and chairman of Troyka Group were awarded the inaugural Africa Brand Leadership Excellence awards for inspiring brand-led excellence that drives the growth of made in Africa brands.

“As we emerge out of the pandemic and Africa seeks to assert itself, the results are very inspiring and bode well for an African renaissance led by competitive world-class African brands,” says Thebe Ikalafeng, Founder and Chairman of Brand Africa and Brand Leadership.

“With the increased number of countries and greater sample size this year, more than ever, and especially so during the pandemic, mobile proved to be the effective tool for us to reach and access respondents across the continent,” said Bernard Okasi, Director of Research, GeoPoll, which has been the lead data collection partner since 2015.

Karin Du Chenne, Chief Growth Officer Africa Middle East for Kantar, which has been the insight lead for Brand Africa since its inception in 2010 says, “despite volumes of brands analysed as a result of increased sample size in terms of respondents and countries, the survey continues to yield a very consistent picture of brands and trends that are transforming the continent.”

Now in its 12th year, every year on or around Africa Day, 25 May, Brand Africa releases the results of the survey on the most admired brands in Africa based on a survey across 29 countries that represent as much as 85% of the continent’s GDP and population. The 2022 survey was conducted between March and April 2022 and yielded over 80,000 brand mentions and over 3,500 unique brands.

The Brand Africa 100 results will be published in the June issue of African Business magazine which on sale globally in June 2022 and will be available online to subscribers on www.africanbusinessmagazine.com.

The 2022 Brand Africa 100: Africa’s Best Brands were organised by Brand Africa partners in Nigeria, AT3 Resources and Open Squares Africa, and supported by the Central Bank of Nigeria, South African Tourism, NQR, Africa Media Agency and BCW Africa.

Overall – Africa’s Best Brands	Overall	African		Media	Financial Services	African Pride
		Prompted	Unprompted
#1	Nike	MTN	MTN	DStv	GT Bank	Dangote
#2	Adidas	Dangote	Dangote	BBC	Ecobank	Ethiopian Airlines
#3	Samsung	DStv	Ethiopian Airlines	CNN	Equity Bank	MTN
Leading Brand Building Countries in Africa
	#3	#2	#1
Overall (# of Brands)	Japan (7)	China (9)	USA (28)
#1 Brand	Toyota	Tecno	Nike
African (# of Brands)	Ethiopia (1)	Nigeria (4)	South Africa (7)
#1 Brand	Ethiopian Airlines	Dangote	MTN
Leading Brands in West Africa
	Overall	African		Media	Financial Services	African Pride
#1	Samsung	Dangote		DStv	GT Bank	Dangote
#2	Nike	MTN		CNN	UBA	MTN
#3	Coca Cola	DStv		BBC	Ecobank	DStv
Leading Brands in Nigeria
	Overall	African		Media	Financial Services	African Pride
#1	Coca Cola	Dangote		DStv	GT Bank	Dangote
#2	MTN	MTN		CNN	First Bank	MTN
#3	Apple	Innoson Motors (IVM)		Channels TV	Access Bank	DStv
Nigerian Brands                         #1	Dangote			Channels TV	GT Bank	Dangote
#2	Glo/Globacom			NTA	First Bank	UBA
#3	Innoson Motors (IVM)			AIT Live	Access Bank	Glo
Leadership Award	Citation					Recipient
Africa Brand Leadership Excellence – Corporate	In recognition of inspirational leadership in successfully building and growing responsible world-class African brands.					Mr. Segun Agbaje, CEO, GT Bank
Africa Brand Leadership Excellence – Industry	In recognition of inspirational leadership and invaluable contribution to the industry and enabling the growth of world-class African brands.					Dr. Biodun Olusina Shobanjo, Founder & Chairman – Troyka Group