Friday, 01 June 2012 00:00

Written by Isaiah Erhiawarien

In what appears to be a gift to the nation to mark the Democracy Day, Brand Africa, in association with Brand Finance, has named Nigeria as the third Most Valuable African Nation Brand. The event, hosted by Brand Kenya at a Nairobi hotel, saw Egypt taking the second spot while South Africa occupied the first position.

Other nations, which were ranked were in descending order, were Morocco (4), Algeria (5), Angola (6), Tunisia (7), Kenya (8), Ghana (9) and Ethiopia (10).
South Africa is way above other African countries, emerging tops with 218 points. Second-placed Egypt bagged 109 points as third-placed Nigeria garnered 88 points. Morocco (48), Algeria (45), Angola (31).
The Most Valuable African Nations Brands are derived from Brand Finance’s Global Nations Brand League, now in its fifth year, which covers a global sample of 138 nations, including 36 African nations.

The Global Nations Brand League is based on Brand Finance’s comprehensive analysis of the impact that a country’s reputation and image have on foreign consumers and investors.
It combines a wide range of economic, demographic and political factors, and is based on in-depth research by Brand Finance’s global network of offices.
The research is based on a multitier methodology that encompasses qualitative, quantitative and secondary research.

Each nation brand has been accorded a brand rating: a benchmarking study of the strength, risk and potential of the brand as well as the brand value: a summary measure of the financial strength of the brand.
The research investigated the value drivers of a nation, what a nation is worth, how it generates value and what the year-on-year change is in the value generated.
It also provided an opinion on the value of the strongest and most-valuable brands in the world.
The league table is critical to fully understanding the value drivers of a country and how these drivers affect the nation’s brand.

It also helped with understanding the basis of both tangible and intangible value creation through impacting key stakeholders, which generates foreign direct investment, exports and tourism.
Chief executive officer and founder of Brand Finance, David Haigh,  said: ‘’In a world of ever increasing competition brand reputation has become a crucial differentiator. Economic wealth hangs on fine distinctions between commercial offers and branding can be found at the company, product and endorsement level.
"One of the national brand endorsements is country of origin. There is no doubt that strong country branding can add billions to national wealth by supporting commercial brands in a hyper competitive world. All countries should be actively managing their nation brands to gain value,’’ he said.