Dangote still most admired African brand — Survey

The Dangote Group has for the second year emerged the most admired African brand ahead of the telecommunication giant, MTN, in a survey of 100 Africa’s best brands announced in Johannesburg at the weekend.

The South Africa-based Brand Africa, in a survey carried out in collaboration with the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) and which report was released at the weekend, of 15,000 brands mentioned, Dangote ranked first when consumers were prompted to recall the most admired African brand.

In the top 100 list, Nike, a non-African brand, retains the overall number one brand in Africa spontaneously recalled by consumers. South African telecoms brand, MTN, is the number one African brand spontaneously recalled brand, while surging Ethiopian brand, Anbessa Shoes, at number two, swapped positions with Nigerian conglomerate, Dangote, which is the number three most admired brand of African origin.

However, when consumers were prompted to recall the most admired African brand, Dangote retained the number one position. Just last year, the Dangote brand was named the most valuable brand among the top 50 brands in Nigeria for 2018 by Brand Nigeria.

The Brand Africa 100 rankings are based on a survey among a representative sample of respondents 18 years and older, conducted in 25 countries across Africa.

The founder and Chairman of Brand Africa and Brand Leadership, Thebe Ikalafeng, said of the outcome of the survey, “It is disappointing that despite its vibrant entrepreneurial environment, Africa is not creating new competitive brands to meet the needs of its growing consumer market.”

 In his reaction, the Group Chief Corporate Communication Officer of Dangote Group, Anthony Chiejina, said the Dangote brand’s ranking was not unexpected because the company had a long-standing reputation for quality, relevance compliance and social stewardship.

“We are touching lives by providing their basic needs and empowering Africans more than ever before creating jobs, reducing capital flight, and helping government conserve foreign exchange drain by supporting different industrial infrastructural projects of African governments.

“All these are our credo and we do not compromise it. And the ranking is just an acknowledgement of all these by our stakeholders, We keep our brand promise and stay authentic,” he said.