BRAND RANKINGS

South Africa dominates Brand Finance Africa 150 rankings for 2021

By our News Team | 2021

The entire top 10 brands hailed from SA, with the most prominent sectors being banking, telecoms and insurance.

South African brands dominate the Brand Finance Africa 150 rankings once again, with a cumulative brand value of US$29-bn. This amounts to 73% of the total brand value in the ranking – a 15% decrease from last year. ‘Brand Finance Africa’ is a company name, and its ranking is of the top 150 brands across Africa.

Telecoms companies MTN and Vodacom lead the way, with financial institutions First National Bank, Old Mutual and Standard Bank completing the top five. In total, there are only 19 of the continent’s 54 countries with brand representation in the rankings.

Nigeria is South Africa’s closest competitor, with 17 brands featuring, which account for 6% of the total brand value in the ranking. Nigeria’s most valuable brand, 33 Export (down 8% to US$292m in value), ranks 43rd overall.

Top African brands lose US$5.5bn in brand value

Photo by Ken Banks, kiwanja.net, via Wikipedia

Banking, telecoms, and insurance remain Africa’s most valuable sectors. However, total brand values across the sectors have taken a hit. The continent’s most valuable sector, banking, has 36 brands featured in the ranking. This accounts for 27% of the total brand value, but has dropped 12% year-on-year. The economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic is difficult to ignore. The drop in brand value is in line with a negative trend seen across the rest of the world.

Morocco is the third most-represented nation in the ranking, with 10 brands featuring. These account for 6% of the total brand value. Claiming 13th spot is Maroc Telecom, jumping five spots following a modest 1% rise in brand value to US$761m.

The total value of Africa’s top 150 most valuable brands has declined by US$5.5bn (12%) from US$45.5bn in 2020 to US$40bn in 2021.

Jeremy Sampson, Managing Director of Brand Finance Africa, comments that in the circumstances “a decline in total brand value for the top African brands is unsurprising”. He further notes that: “African brands will need to search for opportunities to make up lost ground. By embracing new technologies and collaboration, the continent can propel its recovery and bounce back from the extraordinary situation the world has found itself in.”

Source: Brand Finance Africa

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