Vodacom Lesotho has been voted Lesotho’s most popular brand in the 2021 Brand Africa 100 survey followed by Nike, Shoprite, Samsung, Econet Telecom Lesotho (ETL), Alliance Insurance, Pep, KFC and Toyota.
At number seven, Alliance Insurance is the highest ranked home-grown brand.
Brand Africa unveiled the 11th annual Brand Africa 100: Africa’s Best Brands 2021 rankings of the Top 100 most admired brands in Africa.
The inaugural listing of the best brands in Lesotho held a virtual event hosted by Brand Africa and Lesotho’s Tangerine Co. during Africa Day on Tuesday, May 25.
Established in 2011, the Brand Africa 100: Africa’s Best Brands rankings are the most authoritative survey and analysis on brands and underlying businesses in Africa, based on a study by Geo poll across 28 countries spanning all the five economic regions and analysis and ranking by Kantar and Brand Leadership.
The chief marketing officer of Tangerine Co. Africa, Seheshe Hoohlo stated that collectively they account for over 80 percent of the population and over 80 percent of the GDP of Africa. An analysis of the data over the past 10 years, has established that on average, only 20 percent of the brands admired by Africans are made in Africa.
Hoohlo revealed that the 2021 survey was conducted between March and April 2021 and yielded over 80,000 brand mentions and over 3,500 unique brands.
“During a year defined by the pandemic which brought the world to a halt, as markets having to adapt to a new reality, across the continent, African brands, retained their 13 percent share of the Top 100 most admired brands in Africa,” Hoohlo said.
Vodacom is number one brand overall in Lesotho; Shoprite the number one African brand in Lesotho, Moafrika FM number one media local brand, and Standard Bank Lesotho the number one financial services brand overall; Post Bank the number one local financial services brand.
Vodacom Lesotho’s executive head and legal regulatory and external affairs, Tšepo Ntaopane stated that as they celebrate this milestone they are here for Basotho and will continue to be present for Basotho.
Ntaopane stated that as Vodacom Lesotho they are to bring exciting products into the market but most importantly the product should talk to Basotho.
He further said they find ways to utilize the technology that they have to influence and change the way Vodacom delivers some of its critical services; be it education, health or social services.
“We are nothing without Basotho, we have a social compact with people of Lesotho, which the product we give them as well as the coverage is of high quality, ensuring that when there is a need, we play a part in safeguarding the livelihoods of the people that make sure that Vodacom is what it is today 20 plus years later, since 1996,” Ntaopane said.
Given its impact on lives and livelihoods, this year Brand Africa survey explored the brands which were perceived to have been helpful during the pandemic.
Britain’s Vodacom, Zimbabwe’s Econet, and Lesotho’s Alliance Insurance, South Africa’s Shoprite and Lesotho’s MGC are the Top 5 brands perceived to have been helpful in Lesotho during the pandemic.
Reflecting on the inaugural listing of the listing in Lesotho, the chairman of Tangerine Co. Lesotho Phelane Phomane said they are excited to finally get an informed perspective of Lesotho’s brands.
“Always punching above our weight, we are proud to see a healthy mix of local, regional and non-African brands that Basotho admire.
“When we started Tangerine more than 10 years ago, our goal was to lead the charge in inspiring world-class local brands.
“Today is a good start to get a baseline metric to measure how we are building Made in Lesotho brands,” Phomane said.
The shifts in the rankings this year’s rankings are bound by a common theme, the COVID-19 pandemic.
