Out now! New issue brings latest news and insights for Africa’s marketers

Africa’s food/agricultural-export sector is arguably the most obvious beneficiary of traceability – the ability of wholesalers, retailers and consumers to definitively track the origins of products such as tea, coffee, fruits, vegetables, nuts and animal products.  

But the potential benefits of reassuring buyers anywhere in the world that you are who you claim you are can extend to a wide range of export-dependent industries, where brand building and telling unique African stories is becoming increasingly important. 

Wine producers from South Africa’s famous Cape Winelands can assure shoppers in Europe or Asia that they’re getting the real deal. Consumers in the United States can be confident that the shea butter personal care products they see on the shelves are indeed from the ‘Shea Belt’ of West Africa. Coffee aficionados in Asia are reassured that the Ethiopian coffee they’ve purchased is genuine. 

Cracking the Africa Code: What makes brands successful in Africa? 

Eleven years of Ipsos brand equity data and research reveals why Africa’s winning brands build from function to feeling – not the reverse. 

The research discloses a formula where functional excellence provides the foundation for trust and cultural resonance, which enables emotional connection and ultimately drives market leadership. 

This sequence, decoded from 37.9-million interviews across five regions, 142 countries and 175 categories, explains why MTN scaled to 300-million subscribers, why M-Pesa processes more transactions than many global banks, and why local champions consistently outmanoeuvre international giants. The findings provide marketers with an empirically validated blueprint for brand success in Africa. 

Data and decisions: Are you shifting the needle for your clients? 

At almost every digital marketing touchpoint, data is there to be harvested. Each online article. Each purchase. Each marketing campaign. Every choice. Yet, many African agencies still battle to turn mountains of data into insights that help clients achieve return-on-investment impact. 

Agencies that will stand out as the sought-after data decision-making partners of tomorrow are those that can pivot in the face of changing consumer wants and needs. This requires both speed and decisiveness, which can be supported by breaking down internal information silos and building strong intra-agency alignment and cooperation. 

You will find these stories, and many more, in the latest Strategic Marketing for Africa – the voice of African marketing and the official publication of the African Marketing Confederation (AMC). Read Issue 1 2026 online here.  

A Print Edition of the latest magazine will be available soon.