Brand Africa 100: Africa's Best Brands' 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% since 2024, only 11% of the top 100 most admired brands are African, a historic low, down from 14% since 2024. This drop underscores the urgent challenge for homegrown brands to convert belief into consumer commitment, and for Africans to support made-in-Africa brands, says Brand Africa.

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, adds the company.

Brand Africa confirms that 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

According to Brand Africa, the 2025 report highlights include: 

  • Nike retains its number one 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 number one brand contributing to a better Africa, and for doing good for society and the environment.
  • Bathu is the number one 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 number one media brand overall, DStv is the number one African media brand.
  • South Africa is the most admired nation brand in Africa.
  • The US 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 five to 15-plus 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, Claver Gatete, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa, praises the Hall of Fame inductees and Brand Africa laureates for advancing the African agenda. He endorses Brand Africa, stating it aligns with the ECA's mission to promote inclusive industrialisation, regional integration and private sector-led growth. He calls 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 adds that it 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.

Brand Africa concludes that 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. 

For more information, visit www.brandafrica.org. You can also follow Brand Africa on Facebook, X, or on Instagram.

*Image courtesy of contributor