Nigeria, Most Admired African Nation In Spite Of Criticisms

In spite of constant bashing Nigeria
receives from its citizens at home
and show of apparent cynicism and
doubts on its potentials, the country
has emerged as the most admired
African nation in a survey by African
Business magazine in partnership
with Brand Africa, Brand Finance
Africa and TNS.
The report, which listed 100 most
admired and valuable brands in
Africa, notes that Nigeria, Kenya and
South Africa topped the most
admired African nations mentioned
spontaneously by Africans.
The report says the 2014 Brand
Africa 100 is based on a survey
among a representative sample of
eight countries, covering the major
sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) regions to
establish the base top 100 most
admired brands. These countries,
Ghana and Nigeria (West Africa;
Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda (East
Africa); DRC (Central Africa), and
Mozambique and South Africa
(Southern Africa).
Collectively, these countries
represent 51 percent (477m) of SSA
population and 67 percent ($
1,065trn) of Africa's GDP. Their
countries' brands are also often the
dominant brands with a dominant
influence and consumer base within
their regions.
Presently, Nigeria has the highest
population in Africa, and the recent
re-basing of the economy ranked it
the largest economy in Africa.
Nigerian economy in 2013 received
a total of $ 21 billion of foreign
currency remittances out of $ 32
billion remittances into Africa.
In the report, pan-African telecoms
giant, MTN, topped the African list
as the most valuable and most
admired African brand.
This was contained in a ranking of
the most admired and most
valuable brands in SSA by African
Business magazine in partnership
with Brand Africa, Brand Finance
Africa and TNS.
At $ 5.4 billion, MTN is the only
African brand valued over a billion
dollars. Apple, at $ 105 billion
replaced Samsung as the most
valuable non-African brand, while
Coca Cola retained its position as
the most admired non-African brand
in Africa. Coca Cola toppled MTN as
the overall most admired brand in
Africa.
The most admired regional brands
are MTN (Southern Africa), Glo
(West Africa), Tusker (East Africa)
and Marsavco (Central Africa). The
most valuable regional brands are
MTN (Southern Africa), Dangote
Industries (West Africa), Safaricom
(East Africa), and Marsavco (Central
Africa).
The report says non-African brands
have continued to set the pace,
commanding 77 of the 100 entries
in the most admired brands and 99
percent of the most valuable brands
ranking. While African brands have
retained a similar number of brands
among the most admired (23),
African brands have not lost any
value year to year ($ 11bn), as their
brands have not gained any market
share globally and their worth has
declined in relative terms (from 2%
of total value in 2013 to only 1%).
South Africa, with 11 of the 23
African brands, remains the most
dominant branding nation,
accounting for 91 percent of the
value of the brands. Kenya at 5
percent and Nigeria at 3 percent
round off the top three, which make
up 99 percent of the value of African
brands.
Established in 2011, Brand Africa
100 measures and ranks the brands
that consumers admire and their
corresponding value.
Daniel Obi

Posted By David Aniemeka