Written by Farai Gundan | From Forbes

The annual ranking of the most admired and most valuable brands in sub-Sahara Africa, Brand Africa 100, was announced earlier today at the Nairobi Securities Exchange, in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. Established in 2011, Brand Africa 100 measures and ranks brands that consumers admire and their corresponding values.

“Prior to 2011, there was no independent measure of the value and the performance of any brand in Africa, whether local or foreign. We wanted to capture and measure the value African consumers placed on brands that closely aligned with their core values and best reflected their lifestyles and aspirations,” said Thebe Ikalafeng, founder and Chairman of Brand Africa and Chairman of Brand Finance Africa.

In a list dominated by electronics (17%), beverages (14%), auto manufacturers (14%), apparel (12%) and telecommunications (10%), of the top 100 brands in Africa, 23 were African. Pan-African telecommunications giant, MTN, topped the African list as the most valuable and most admired African brand.

Valued at over $5.4 billion, MTN is the only African brand valued over a billion dollars. “As African economies grow and Africans become wealthier and grow their brand building capacity, the demand for indigenous brands or non-African brands that are built on African insights will continue to grow.  It’s an appetizing opportunity for ‘Made in Africa’ brands,” said Ikalafeng.

Read more at Forbes