Safaricom, Equity, KCB, Tusker among 9 Kenyan brands in list of Africa’s most valuable brands

Telco giant Safaricom and lenders Equity and KCB are among 9 Kenyan brands that have been featured in Brand Finance’s 2022 list of the 150 most valuable brands in Africa.

Apart from determining the brand value, Brand Finance also establishes the relative strength of brands through a balanced scorecard of metrics evaluating marketing investment, stakeholder equity, and business performance.

Safaricom was the highest-ranked Kenyan brand on the list coming in at number 20 up from position 21 last year with lenders Equity and KCB ranking 40th and 46th up from number 60 and 56 respectively in 2021.

Mobile money platform M-PESA and lender Cooperative Bank rounded up Kenya’s top 5 most valuable brands at positions 60 and 78 respectively. Other Kenyan brands on the list include NCBA Bank (86), Senator Lager (135), I&M bank (144) and Tusker (147). 

Kenyan beer brand Tusker achieved an impressive 132 percent brand value growth this year, more than doubling to US$50 million in brand value, in the process becoming Africa’s fastest-growing brand, amidst uncertain business conditions due to COVID-19 restrictions.

“The brand overcame this challenge by employing social media marketing and influencer marketing as its primary method of promotion throughout the lockdown. By partnering with athletes and social media influencers, Tusker created engaging online content to increase demand, sales, and brand recall,” said Brand Finance.

At the top of the list, MTN retained its 2021 position on the list emerging as the most valuable brand on the continent followed by South African brands Vodacom, Standard Bank, First National Bank (FNB), ABSA, Multichoice, Woolworths, Shoprite, Nedbank and Sasol in that order.

“Apart from telecommunications, the leading brand (MTN) has diversified its services into fintech and mobile money across Africa. MTN’s Mobile Money (MoMo) application is performing exceedingly well and overtook its competition M-Pesa by Safaricom in terms of volume of financial transactions through the application with a loyal customer base of 57 million active users,” the Brand Finance report reads in part.

The combined value of all South African brands on the list jointly rose by approximately 30 percent or $3.2 billion (approx. Ksh. 373.6 billion) in the period under review. Nigerian brands likewise posted a 35 percent jump in value, the equivalent of $3.2 billion (approx. Ksh. 373.6 billion) while Egyptian and Moroccan brands rose by 42 percent and 14 percent respectively.

According to Brand Finance, African brands have benefited significantly from adapting to uncertain business conditions caused by COVID-19 by leveraging technological disruption to tackle supply chain issues and national lockdowns.

“Brands from diverse sectors including banking, telecommunications and food & beverage found innovative ways to connect with the customers online. This digital transformation helped the top brands in Africa achieve a 28% increase in aggregate brand value to US$50.1 billion. Building strong brands across Africa fuels growth in the economy which is creating more dynamic jobs in the long-term,” said Brand Finance

Local lenders Equity and KCB were the fifth and seventh strongest African brands according to the report coming in behind lender Capitec Bank which was named the strongest brand in Africa with AAA+ brand rating.

First National Bank (FNB), Clicks, Woolworths, Sportscene, MTN, Star and Carling Beer were also named among the strongest African brands.