Dangote Group and MTN have emerged as the most admired brands in Africa, according to the Brands Africa 100: Africa’s Best Brands survey, conducted between February and April 2020. African brands only occupy 13 of the 100 entries, seven less from last year.

In a statement released by the Dangote Group to the media, founder and chairman of Brand Africa and Brand Leadership, Thebe Ikalafeng said: “African brands have an important role in helping to build the image, competitiveness and transforming the continent’s promise into a real change. It’s concerning that in the ten years since the triumphant FIFA World Cup in South Africa which globally highlighted the promise and capability of Africa, and despite the vibrant entrepreneurial environment, Africa is not creating more competitive brands to meet the needs of its growing consumer market.”

The company adds that in separate category sub-surveys of the most admired financial services and media brands in Africa, GT Bank returned to the top spot in financial services, while the United Kingdom's BBC retained its media category ranking as the most admired media brand.

Global Client Development Manager, GeoPoll, Caitlin van Niekerk said: “The reach and accessibility of mobile across the continent enabled us to survey respondents across a representative sample of countries quickly and effectively, giving us vital and timely results at a critical time. Kantar has been the insight lead for Brand Africa since inception in 2010.”

Out of the top 100 brands in 2010/11, only half still appear in this year’s list due to mergers, acquisitions and the obsolescence of many brands.

The most prominent changes are in the technology category with the demise Blackberry (#32 in 2010/11), the consolidation of Vodafone (#54 in 2010/11 and now #13 in 2020) which acquired Vodacom in 2008 and re-branded in 2011, Etisalat (#40 in 2010/11) re-branding to 9 Mobile in 2017 and Motorola (#39) being acquired by Lenovo in 2014. A Chinese brand, Tecno, has raced up the ranking from #33 to #5 in the rankings - a dominant performance for one of China’s premier global brands that are not even sold in China

Group Chief Corporate Communication Officer of the Dangote Group, Anthony Chiejina said the management was not unexpected of the ranking because the company has a long standing reputation for quality, relevance compliance and social stewardship. “Our mission and vision engage and inspire us to by extension connects us to with both our internal and external stakeholders. We fervently believe that only Africans can develop Africa, and this gives us stronger sense of relevance in all the countries where we have our operations. ”

• The survey is conducted among a representative sample of respondents 18 years and older, in 27 countries which collectively represent 50% of the continent, covering all economic regions and accounting for an estimated 80% of the population and the GDP of Africa.