Vuma Reputation Management is a South African company that is a certified AAA Level 1 contributor to broad-based black economic empowerment (B-BBEE) with a track record of working with multi-national companies across Africa.

In line with its strategy to grow its presence in Africa, the Johannesburg-headquartered company announced that it had signed MOUs with the following agencies:

  • Kenya – BSD Group (based in Nairobi);
  • Ethiopia – Zeleman (based in Addis Ababa); 
  • Ghana – Prosper Agbenyega (based in Accra); and
  • Zambia – Design Innovation (based at Lusaka).

The company, which is celebrating its 12th birthday in September, has built a track record as a reputation and crisis management company in South Africa and has provided advisory and consulting services to at least 50 JSE-listed companies. Vuma has also operated in 10 African countries, where it has provided support to multi-national companies.

"With economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa, projected by the World Bank, to rebound over the next three years, following a lull last year, we want to be part of this growth story and contribute to the advancement of our beautiful continent," says Janine Hills, CEO and founder of Vuma, and also a board member for Brand South Africa.

Hills says the MOUs that it has signed, with its African partners, will give the company a strong presence in three African regions – namely east, west, and southern Africa – where African companies and multinationals can tap into the continent’s growth opportunities by leveraging strategic reputation management, communications, and public relations capabilities.

Tshepo Sefotlhelo, chief operations officer for Vuma, adds, "We firmly believe that the journey we have embarked on with our African partners will accelerate our shared and mutual growth, whereby we will provide world class services to our clients doing business in Africa and those businesses that are looking for investment opportunities on the continent. We are Africans working for Africa."

As part of its expansion strategy, Vuma has established the Africa Division, which is led by Nonye Mpho Omotola, business director, Africa, who is a communications specialist with more than 15 years of brand experience gained in the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Nigeria.

Omotola says the four communications agencies are a good fit for the company as they bring to the table their deep local knowledge of the markets they operate in, while the company itself brings a range of reputation management and communications services.

"Vuma Reputation Management has more than a decade of experience in reinforcing our clients’ positions in their respective markets, and in creating proactive strategies to build and manage their reputations. We now want to grow our market leadership across Africa, where we have identified market gaps and opportunities to offer services," adds Omotola.

The company will work with its partners to improve reputation management and communication standards on the African continent. Through the Vuma Training Academy, Vuma will transfer skills and knowledge to help develop a pool of African communication professionals and reputation managers.

The company also specialises in reputation management, stakeholder relationship management, media relations management, crisis communication, and public relations.

For more information, visit www.vumareputation.com. Alternatively, connect with them on Facebook or on Twitter.