Kenya is the Fastest Growing Nation Brands Globally

Kenya has improved his image globally, securing position 72 with a brand rating of A+, a survey by UK-based Brand Finance has shown.

In the annual report of the most valuable nation brands, Kenya improved by 37 per cent, making it one of the fastest-growing nation brands in the world.

The improvement in its overall Brand Strength Index (BSI) has been attributed to improved ratings in Goods and Services, Investment and Society. The parameters take into account the growth in tourism market, the country’s economy, its governance and how it treats its citizen.

Other African countries that grew its brand fastest are Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Ghana.

They formed six out of ten fastest-growing nation brands this year, having all recorded growth between 28 per cent and 38 per cent year in 2018.

“Starting from a low economic base and still troubled by political instability, Africa is nonetheless beginning to demonstrate its true potential. Following in the footsteps of Asian tigers with remarkable advances in this year’s ranking, African lions are the future of global economic growth,” David Haigh, CEO of Brand Finance.

Kenya’s brand value in 2018 is US$52 billion, compared to US$38 billion in the previous year.

In terms of ranking, it is preceded by South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt, Algeria, Angola and Morocco, which are positions 49, 50, 56, 58, 66 and 69 respectively among the top 100 most valuable nation brands.

“It is not that long ago that brands and branding were seen as the sole preserve of the FMCG brigade. Not anymore. Today everything is brandable from people to countries. And that means a value can be put on everyone and everything,” said Jeremy Sampson, managing director, Brand Finance Africa.

Other parameters used to measure the strength and value of the nation brands are ease and affordability of doing business by industries, five year forecasts of sales of all brands in each nation, Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC) or Discount Rate, and post-tax brand revenues discounted to a net present value (NPV) which equals the brand value.