Brand Africa recently released the results of the 15th annual Brand Africa 100 | Africa’s Best Brands rankings, which took place at the Africa Hall in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The event honored Aliko Dangote with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his significant contributions to industrialization, building a world-class African brand, and transforming the continent’s economic future through his benchmark homegrown enterprise.
In addition to Dangote’s recognition, MTN, M-Pesa, Ethiopian Airlines, and Brand South Africa were inducted into the inaugural Brand Africa Hall of Fame for consistently ranking among Africa’s most admired brands over the past 5-15 years and for building sustainable, world-class brands.
The rankings revealed a disconnect between rising African optimism and declining brand loyalty, with only 11% of the Top 100 most admired brands being African—a historic low. This drop highlights the challenge for homegrown brands to convert belief into consumer commitment and for Africans to support Made in Africa brands.
The research for the rankings was based on a comprehensive pan-African survey conducted across 31 countries and in 8 languages, representing over 85% of the continent’s population and GDP. The changing brand landscape in Africa is driven by the continent’s youthful population, expanding cultural influence, and growing geopolitical engagement with global blocs such as the G20 and BRICS+.
Key highlights from the 2025 Brand Africa 100 rankings include Nike retaining its position as the most admired brand overall in Africa for the 8th consecutive year, MTN and Dangote being the top African brands by spontaneous and aided recall, and South Africa being the most admired nation brand in Africa. The rankings also showed that African brands make up 11% of the Top 100, while G20-origin brands comprise 81% and BRICS+ brands account for 20%.
In his keynote, Thebe Ikalafeng, Founder and Chairman of Brand Africa, emphasized the importance of Africans supporting Made in Africa brands and investing in research and development to drive innovation and quality. Mr. Claver Gatete, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa, praised the Hall of Fame inductees and Brand Africa laureates for advancing the African agenda and called for investment in youth-driven innovation and regional value chains.
Following the global launch, Brand Africa will embark on a multi-country roadshow to share insights and rankings across all regions of the continent in support of its mission to drive a brand-led African agenda. The Brand Africa 100 study has grown to be the most comprehensive barometer of consumer brand preferences in Africa, conducted by independent and globally respected research partners, ensuring brand neutrality.
For more information on the Brand Africa agenda, initiatives, and partners, visit www.brand.africa and follow the results on #BrandAfrica100 and #AfricasBestBrands. The 2025 Brand Africa 100 | Africa’s Best Brands rankings will be featured in the June edition of African Business magazine.
