Nike, MTN, Dangote Retain Top Spot in Brand Africa 100 | Africa’s Best Brands Rankings

Brand Africa, in partnership with African Business and the Economic Commission for Africa, unveiled the results of the 15th annual Brand Africa 100 | Africa’s Best Brands rankings. The announcement was made at the historic Africa Hall in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia—the birthplace of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), now the African Union (AU).

The 2025 rankings reveal a stark disconnect between rising African optimism and declining brand loyalty. While 68% of Africans express belief in Africa, up from 64% in 2024, only 11% of the Top 100 most admired brands are African – a historic low, down from 14% in 2024. This drop underscores the urgent challenge for homegrown brands to convert belief into consumer commitment, and Africans to support Made in Africa brands.

The rankings are based on a comprehensive pan-African survey conducted across 31 countries and in 8 languages, from Arabic to Swahili – representing over 85% of the continent’s population and GDP.

The research reflects a changing brand landscape driven by Africa’s youthful population, expanding cultural influence, and growing geopolitical engagement with global blocs such as the G20 and BRICS+.

2025 Brand Africa 100 | Africa’s Best Brands – Highlights

• Nike retains its #1 position as the most admired brand overall in Africa for the 8th consecutive year, with a relatively unchanged Top 10.

• MTN and Dangote are the top African brands by spontaneous and aided recall, respectively.

• MTN is the #1 brand contributing to a better Africa and for doing good for society and the environment.

• Bathu is the #1 most admired apparel brand.

• Standard Bank is the most admired financial services brand.

• Nike leads among Gen Z and Millennials, while Samsung leads for Gen Z and Baby Boomers.

• Top categories: Technology (18%), Luxury (12%), Consumer Non-Cyclical (11%), Auto-Manufacturers (9%).

• BBC is the #1 media brand overall; DStv is the #1 African media brand.

• South Africa is the most admired nation brand in Africa.

• USA is the most influential nation based on brand mentions and FDI, while the UK leads when adjusted for GDP.

• African brands make up 11% of the Top 100; G20-origin brands comprise 81%, and BRICS+ brands account for 20%.

• Aliko Dangote is honoured for his contribution to African industrialisation and brand leadership.

• MTN, M-Pesa, Dangote, Ethiopian Airlines, and Brand South Africa are inducted into the Brand Africa Hall of Fame for sustained Top 100 performance and impact over 5–15+ years.]

“It is disappointing to see the sharp drop in African brands, which mirrors the ranking of non-African nations as the most influential in Africa,” says Thebe Ikalafeng, Founder and Chairman of Brand Africa. “It’s a wake-up call for Africa—and a barometer of the continent’s lagging industrialisation agenda. It’s not enough for Africans to say they believe in the continent—they must buy made-in-Africa. For that to happen, African brands must invest in R&D, continue to innovate, deliver quality, and use authenticity as a differentiator.”

In his keynote, 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. He endorsed Brand Africa, stating it aligns with the ECA’s mission to promote inclusive industrialisation, regional integration, and private sector-led growth. He called for investment in youth-driven innovation, regional value chains, and the creation of a Pan-African creative innovation fund to identify, finance, and globalise Africa’s most promising brands.

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 supporting its mission to drive a brand-led African agenda.

What distinguishes the Brand Africa 100: Africa’s Best Brands study is that since its inception in 2011 (1) it is grown to be the most comprehensive barometer of consumer brand preferences spanning 31 African countries which collectively account for more than 85% of the continent’s population and GDP;  (2) it is research-based rankings; (3) conducted by independent and globally respected research partners, including Geopoll and Kantar, as the lead, supported by Integrate (Morocco), Gopinion (Algeria), Analysis (Mauritius) and Oxygen (Namibia), and (5) is brand-neutral because the study is unsponsored ensuring there is no commercial influence.

The 2025 Brand Africa 100 | Africa’s Best Brands are covered widely and will once again be the  cover feature of the June edition of African Business magazine, Africa’s foremost business publication since 1966.