• Four Kenyan local firms made it to top 25 continental brands admired by consumers in Africa, a tie with Nigeria.
• Safaricom also topped the list of five most admired Kenyan domiciled brands admired by Kenyans followed by Tusker, Kenya Airways, Citizen Television and Bidco.
Safaricom and Tusker are the only homegrown brands among the top ten most admired brands in Kenya announced yesterday by Brand Leadership and GeoPoll.
Global beverage magnate, Coca Cola topped the list followed by Safaricom, Samsung, Tusker, Airtel, Apple, Toyota,Guinness, Colgate and Nike in that order.
Safaricom also topped the list of five most admired Kenyan domiciled brands admired by Kenyans followed by Tusker, Kenya Airways, Citizen Television and Bidco.
Similar trend was witnessed in East Africa, where no locally domiciled brand made it to the top ten list of brands admired in the region. Fitness firms Nike and Adidas took the first two positions respectively followed by American beverage maker Coca-cola.
Other are Germany’s Puma, Korean phone maker Samsung, Apparel, Tecno, Apple, Airtel and Pepsi.
Four Kenyan local firms made it to top 25 continental brands admired by consumers in Africa, a tie with Nigeria. South African firms dominated the chart with six. Ethiopia produced three while Zambia had two.
The East African region produced 32 per cent of local firms loved by consumers in Africa, trailing South African region which had 40 per cent. West Africa region contributed 28 per cent of firms making to top 25 list.
According to the report, despite a vibrant entrepreneurial environment, Africa is not creating new brands consumers prefer non-African brand.
Over the past three years, Africa’s share of the most admired brands has declined from a high of 25 per cent in 2013/14 to a low of 14 per cent this year.
In a geographical spread that covers brands from 25 countries in Africa, North America, Europe and Asian brands lead the list with 41 per cent , 28, and 17 per cent respectively rounding up the continental spread of brands Africans admire.
“One of the biggest challenges facing Africa is transforming its vibrant entrepreneurial energy and environment to create competitive brands that meet the needs of its growing consumer market,’’ said Thebe Ikalafeng, Chairman Brand Leadership.
He added that Africa has the challenge of retaining promising brands like Safaricom and Tusker that can transform the African promise and change its narrative and image as a competitive continent.
Established in 2011, the Brand Africa are based on a comprehensive survey among a representative sample of respondents 18 years and older, conducted in 25 countries which collectively account for 80 per cent Africa’s population and 75 per cent continent’s GDP.
GeoPoll used sophisticated mobile survey platform and its proprietary access to a database of over 250 million respondents in emerging markets around the globe to identify the most admired brands in Africa among a representative sample of African consumers.
The Nairobi Securities Exchange applauded Kenyan businesses that were recognised as among Africa’s Best Brands in the 2019 Brand Africa 100 list which reflects Kenya’s position as East and Central Africa’s leading economy and hub for creating great brands.
“The key to success for building sustainable brands, irrespective of origins or domicile, is to establish an emotional connection, creating intimacy and being more present in consumers everyday lives,’’ NSE CEO Geoffrey Odundo said.