Africa’s Top 100 Brands in 2022

African brands have increased their share of the Top 100 most admired brands in Africa by 4% to comprise 17% in our 2022 survey. This is an improvement from an all-time low of 13% in 2020 and 2021.
As countries and consumers look at local solutions following the pandemic and with the acceleration of AfCFTA’s goal of driving greater intra-African trade, African brands are starting to re-assert their position in Africa’s Best Brands ranking.
Upstart brands such as South Africa’s lifestyle footwear brands, Bathu (#52) and Drip (#65) – despite being primarily available in South Africa – have rocketed into the Top 100.
E-commerce is making these local brands global, and with a massive growth in retail footprint despite the pandemic and an increase in marketing spend they are quickly establishing themselves.
This year’s ranking saw 17 brands fall out of the ranking, heralding a notable return of African brands. When the rankings started, African brands represented 34% of the companies listed.
Nigeria’s telecommunications giant Glo (up 31 spots), Ethiopia’s global airline brand Ethiopian Airlines (up 24 spots), e-commerce giant Jumia (up 19) and Ghana’s Kasapreko Drinks – the highest returning entry at #31 after a five-year absence – lead the African surge.
Ethiopian, Africa’s most recognised flagship airline, continues its rise after entering the rankings at #51 in 2021. It is arguably the only African airline that effectively weathered the Covid storm, managing to divert its fleet into the movement of goods and cargo. Massive infrastructure investment at Addis Ababa’s Bole International Airport has undoubtedly enhanced the brand appeal.
Glo rebounded, gaining back its fall last year, on the back of its continued support of key sporting events and a ground-breaking N750m incentive deal that strengthened its relations with its dealers in appreciation of their support.
Jumia may have had a difficult time on the stock exchange but it has proven agile in its ability to extend its reach and services across the 11 markets in Africa in which it operates.
It has established 3,000+ pickup points, and expanded its network of thousands of partners and sellers who use their network to move goods. A shift in focus to everyday product categories including groceries and beauty products has catapulted demand and consequentially its brand.
South Africa’s MTN (up 1) and Nigeria’s Dangote (also up 1) have over the years been the standard bearers of African brands. They continue to set the pace as the most admired African brands and the most admired brands that symbolise African pride respectively.
MTN, which is consolidating its footprint in Africa and recently granted a licence to establish a mobile money payment services bank in Nigeria, which is incidentally their biggest market, has returned to the Top 10 as the highest ranking African brand.
Most admired African brands
In addition to the main ranking, Brand Africa produces two rankings focusing on the most admired African brands – for more information on our methodology see below.
The first ranking is an extraction of the African brands recalled spontaneously out of the top 100 brand rankings.
The second, “prompted” ranking is based on a specific recall of African brands to produce the top African brands. MTN has switched places with Dangote as the #1 African brand (recalled when prompted) to consolidate its status as the #1 African brand.
Source: African Business
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