The total value of Africa’s top 150 most valuable brands has declined by US$5.5 billion (12%) from US$45.5 billion in 2020 to US$40.0 billion in 2021, according to the latest Brand Finance Africa 150 2021 report. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has played a key role in the downturn in the brand value of Africa’s top brands. Lockdown measures and travel bans were implemented throughout the year and across the continent, creating uncertainty and impacting brands’ ability to do business as usual.

Jeremy Sampson, Managing Director, Brand Finance Africa, commented:

“In a year that saw most African countries go into lockdown and significant unrest across the continent, a decline in total brand value for the top African brands is unsurprising. Following the pandemic, 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.”

Babatunde Odumeru, Managing Director, Brand Finance Nigeria, commented:

“Just 17 Nigerian brands feature in the Brand Finance Africa 150 2021 ranking and contribute 6% of the total brand value. As is the case with many brands across the continent, Nigeria’s top brands are not yet truly Pan-African, so although their performance may be solid on home soil, they are failing to translate this internationally. We are witnessing some brands make strides towards expanding their footprints, should they do so successfully we could see a greater uplift in brand value, as well as more Nigerian brands featuring in the ranking.”

17 Nigerian brands feature in ranking

Behind South Africa, Nigeria is the second most represented nation in the Brand Finance Africa 150 2021 ranking with 17 brands featuring and accounting for 6% of the total brand value. 33 Export (down 8% to US$292 million) is Nigeria’s most valuable brand, sitting in 43^rd in the overall ranking. This brand value decrease is in line with the trend seen for alcohol brands across the continent and the rest of the world with people going out and drinking less because of the pandemic.

South African brands dominate once again, with the entire top ten hailing from the nation. In total, 81 South African brands feature with a cumulative brand value of US$29.0 billion, equating to 73% of the total brand value in the ranking – a 15% decrease from last year.

MTN and Vodacom lead the way, with First National Bank (brand value US$1.3 billion), Old Mutual (brand value US$1.3 billion) and Standard Bank (US$1.3 billion) completing the top five. In total, there are only 19 of the continent’s 54 countries with brand representation in the ranking.

Morocco is the third most represented nation in the ranking, with 10 brands featuring, which account for 6% of the total brand value. Claiming 13^th spot is Maroc Telecom – the highest ranked brand from outside South Africa – jumping five spots following a modest 1% rise in brand value to US$761 million. The telecoms brand was able to capitalize on the increased reliability on its services over the previous year and a half, with both work and social lives forced to turn online, managing to increase its customer base, seeing an uptick of 10% in broadband users.

Access Bank is nation’s fastest growing

Access Bank is Nigeria’s fastest growing brand, following an 8% increase in brand value to US$262 million – growth that has bucked the global trend for the banking sector this year.

Access Bank has celebrated strong revenue growth over the previous year and has made some strides towards its expansion plans, through completing acquisitions across Zambia and Kenya. The bank shows no signs of slowing down with plans underway to enter the South African market through its investment in Grobank – a key part of the bank’s wider mission to become ‘Africa’s Gateway to the World’.

MTN peaks again

South Africa’s MTN has retained the title of Africa’s most valuable brand, despite recording a 19% drop in brand value to US$2.7 billion. The telecoms giant dominates on home soil too, this year holding onto its decade-long reign as South Africa’s most valuable brand, according to the Brand Finance South Africa 50 2021 report.

It has been a turbulent year for MTN, however, with the brand facing several scandals from its money mobile services been hacked in Uganda, to being accused of price discrimination practices alongside telecoms rival and second-ranked Vodacom (brand value down 16% to US$1.7 billion). MTN has also begun to scale down its operations, announcing its exit from the Middle East, in order to focus and build further across Africa.

Despite this, according to the Brand Finance Global Brand Equity Monitor, MTN is ranked 3^rd among consumers for “Popularity with friends and family”, 4^th for “Cool” and 4^th for “Accessible anywhere and anytime”.

With the recent appointment of Ralph Mupita to the helm as CEO, as well as the successful launch of its 5G network across major South African cities, MTN will hope to use these developments as a springboard to capture some of its lost brand value moving forward.

Capitec Bank crowned Africa’s strongest brand

In addition to measuring brand value, Brand Finance also determines the relative strength of brands through a balanced scorecard of metrics evaluating marketing investment, stakeholder equity, and business performance. According to these criteria, Capitec Bank has overtaken Vodacom to be crowned Africa’s strongest brand, with a Brand Strength Index (BSI) score of 89.2 out of 100 and a corresponding AAA brand strength rating.

According to the Brand Finance Global Brand Equity Monitor, Capitec is one of the five most reputable banking brands in the world. Reputation (and the main drivers of reputation) is highly correlated with brand consideration. Banks that outperform in reputation – by excelling in meeting customer needs – also outperform in brand consideration. Capitec scores extremely highly for both.

Surpassing the 15 million client mark in December 2020, Capitec has more customers than any other South African bank, all of whom benefit from its excellent customer service and personalised banking experience. The pandemic increased the number of online shoppers to more than ever before – the banking brand responded by launching a virtual banking card, making online transactions easier and safer for its customers.