Anita Natacha Akide (Born December 23, 1995), known professionally as “Tacha” is a reality TV star, makeup artist, vlogger and a serial entrepreneur. Born and raised in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, Rivers State to be precise, Tacha grew up in Port Harcourt City to which earned her the tag; Port Harcourt First Daughter. In early 2016, Tacha became an Instagram sensation after several of her videos became viral on Instagram.
From 2018, she started her own beauty vlog on youtube which she delved into makeup tutorials as well as some social contents about trending topics. She went on to venture into a business as a serial entrepreneur to launch the “Everything Tacha” online fashion, beauty and electronics store.
Akide rose from being an instagram sensation to a reality star after being announced as one of the housemates in the 2019 edition of Africa’s biggest reality show, Big Brother Naija Season 4. Being the only only familiar face on the show due to her instagram presence.
Tacha remained the most talked about housemate during the period of the show and after the show, which made her “The Media It Girl.” Midway into the show, Tacha who was known for her unhinged and unapologetically bold personality, amassed a legion of ruthless loyal fans who are known as “Tacha Titans.” It became obvious during and after the show that her fans who are currently the largest fanbase in Africa, mirror her traits. Upon her exit from the show, Akide immediately signed a management deal with Billz Vizion founded by Teebillz.
In mid october 2019, the 24-year-old star became a brand ambassador to the biggest sunglasses distributor in Nigeria, House of Lunettes. House of Lunettes reportedly sold over 1500 glasses in two hours after announcing Tacha as their brand ambassador.
She went on to sign another endorsement deal with Get Fit Technology, Nigeria’s most wanted wearable fitness solutions.
In November 2019, Tacha bagged a major influencing deal with one of the world’s most renowned Alcoholic beverage, Ciroc Vodka. She represents the brand in Nigeria, Africa for their Ciroc Circle Tour across Tier 1 Cities in Nigeria. In addition to these, Tacha signed a major endorsement deal with Royal Hair, the biggest hair brand in Nigeria. She also signed as a brand ambassador to Hype and Steam, a U.K high-street Online fashion store.
Tacha’s influencing power has made her the most sought after brand in Africa as the announcement of her deals with these brands were featured in top Newspapers, radio stations and blogs all over Africa
On December 23, 2019 Tacha celebrated her 24th Birthday with so much buzz on the internet as she became the first Big Brother Naija season 4 housemate to receive a gift of Mercedes Benz from her fans. Towards the end of December 2019, Tacha announced her departure from Bilz Vision management which was a mutual agreement between both parties.
Tacha who is a force to reckon with has become one of Africa’s most inspiring personality of 2019 as she recently made it to Chude Jideonwo’s list of the 150 most interesting people in the culture (2019).
Tacha who is now an household name has constantly remained on everyone’s lips with a very engaging social media presence with average views of 1,300,000+ on her instagram videos on her official account, @symply_tacha. She has an average of 45% of her following as her engaging audience with the females at 55% and males at 45%. The demographics of her audience has 18 – 40 years owning a larger share of 70% all over Africa. On twitter she has a mass follower of 500k, it is no news that the reality TV star trended worldwide and has been trending daily on Nigeria trends since September till date, and not forgetting her Youtube channel with 58k Subscribers.
She has become the only brand to trend consecutively for more than 50 days at a stretch on the platform. This is believed to have caught the attention of the co-founder and CEO of Twitter, Jack Dorsey due to analytics from the Twitter headquarters, prompting Dorsey to follow her account (Symply_Tacha) and verifying her twitter account. On Jack’s birthday, Tacha broke the Internet after sharing a FaceTime video with Jack Dorsey. The attention she has from Africans is overly impressive.
Everything Tacha by Natacha Akide is a beauty, fashion and electronics brand. The brand was launched in 2018 with Tacha’s famous ‘PINK LIP KIT’ alongside POWER TACHA, SMILE TACHA, EYELASHES and GLOW TACHA.
Tacha was inspired to create her own brand after years of studying and understanding what works best for everyone. She saw the need to venture into business to make these products affordable and reliable for everyone. From the best-seller PINK LIP KIT which changed the game for lip balms, Tacha’s aim is to create products that inspire young people in the world.
Tacha has since gone on to re-brand all the products to even more luxurious packages, while ensuring that her line of products caters for everyone irrespective of status and gender.
Working on the designs in the Fenty studio Photo: Courtesy of Fenty
“Jahleel, you have to admit that you slid in my DMs,” begins Amina Muaddi over the phone with Jahleel Weaver, the creative director of Fenty. The pair have jumped on a conference call to discuss Muaddi’s footwear collaboration with Fenty.
Amina Muaddi with Rihanna Photo: Courtesy of Fenty
Rihanna with Jahleel Weaver Photo: Courtesy of Fenty
The collab has produced some of this summer’s cattiest, most insouciant heels, but most important to note is that these vampish shoes started from a place of friendship.
“This is true. This part of the story is actually true,” Weaver laughs, noting that the pair have mutual friends but didn’t connect until Muaddi launched her eponymous shoe collection in the summer of 2018. “I had purchased some of her shoes for Rihanna for projects we were doing, and I reached out saying I was such a fan. We later scheduled a meet-up and a cocktail from there it’s been history.”
History, in this case, is an on-going partnership between Muaddi and Fenty that debuts today. To those of us outside the Rihanna friend group looking in, Muaddi and her work feel like a perfect fit for the label: powerful, a little sexy but with a clever wink, not too self-serious just like Rihanna herself. “Aside from her immaculate taste, something that I thought was really important between the connection of Amina and Rihanna.
They are both modern women designing for modern women. I think that connection is really, really important. Obviously, Amina thinks about that with her designs in her line and Rihanna thinks about that in everything that she does. There’s something invaluable about women doing it for themselves. That is very important.”
When Weaver moved to Paris to head up Fenty, he started to share his ideas with Muaddi as friends first but, really, it was only a matter of time before the designer got into the mix. “We started talking about the brand and I was very excited to see Rihanna’s launch.
She’s obviously someone I admire and whose work I love and whose style I also admire. It’s iconic. I was excited just as a person what the brand was going to look like,” Muaddi says. “Jahleel would share with me his enthusiasm for us potentially doing something together in the future, so when he told me he was thinking about me collaborating with them on the shoes I immediately said yes.”
Working on the designs in the Fenty studio Photo: Courtesy of Fenty
Muaddi workshopped her debut collection alongside Rihanna, bringing a different perspective than that of her own label. For Fenty, the shoes are grounded with an architectural metal heel at 10cm, high enough to add a little lift without sacrificing comfort. “It was very exciting to find that Fenty identity. I wanted to start from scratch,” the designer says. “I wanted the shoes to emphasize Fenty’s aesthetic and have Rihanna’s feminine yet edgy vision and style, but do it through my own lens.”
The resulting four styles are a mule, a lace up sandal with crystal, a sandal with PVC straps, and a cage pump that ties all the way up the leg. “It was fun showing Jahleel ideas, and he would give me references and photos he liked,” Muaddi begins. “Jah and I have such a similar aesthetic. We match outfits without even planning it. We show up dressed the same way all the time.”
Muaddi’s sketch of a crystal-studded lace-up sandal Photo: Courtesy of Fenty
The Fenty Braid sandal Photo: Courtesy of Fenty
Muaddi’s sketch of black, mesh mules Photo: Courtesy of Fenty
The Fenty Meshy mule Photo: Courtesy of Fenty
Muaddi’s sketch of the “Cage” sandal Photo: Courtesy of Fenty
The Fenty Cage sandal Photo: Courtesy of Fenty
“It’s actually really weird,” Weaver cuts in.
“He told me which he liked the most and was super happy with the proposal,” she continues. “Later on we had a meeting with Rihanna in London and that’s when we showed her and the other people in the meeting the colored sketches. She chose the ones that she liked the most,” and here they are, available for sale on Fenty’s e-commerce site on July 15th.
Which ones do Muaddi and Weaver expect will sell out first? “You never know when you get the right one,” Muaddi demurs. “In a way, it is similar to the process of making music: You don’t know if something is a hit or not until you listen to it or see it.”
Kenya has halted imports of secondhand clothes to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The move limits fashion selection, but opens doors for the country’s designers and manufacturers.
Catherine Muringo with some of the bales of mitumba, or secondhand clothes, that she buys and sells. She said the import ban threatens her business.Credit…Khadija Farah for The New York Times
Catherine Muringo’s wardrobe consists of secondhand outfits shipped from all over the world: colorful blouses and jeans from Canada, floral dresses from the United States, trench coats from Australia and leather handbags from the United Kingdom. For years, Ms. Muringo bought the used clothes and accessories at cheap prices in open-air markets in Nairobi and used them to fashion her own idiosyncratic style.
Seven years ago, she also started a business buying and selling such items, distributing castoff fur coats, hoodies and shoes to customers in Kenya and in foreign markets like Botswana, Uganda and Tanzania. But in late March, the Kenyan government banned the importation of used garments in what it said was a precautionary measure to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Even though used clothes are fumigated before being shipped, Kenyan authorities said they were taking precautions because of the spike in infections in countries like the United States.
Now, businesses like hers are threatened, as well as the sartorial choices of millions of Kenyans who depend on low-cost imports to stay stylish. “Kenyans love to go to the secondhand markets and spend hours looking and searching,” Ms. Muringo said. “Kenyans love the diversity of secondhand.”
Officials also said the banning of imported clothing known as mitumba, the Swahili word for “bundles” could have an unexpected benefit. It could help Kenya revive its own textile industry, which was wiped out in the late 1980s as the country started opening its markets to foreign competition.
“I think corona has shown not just for Kenya but for many countries to look inward a lot and try and fill some of the market gaps,” said Phyllis Wakiaga, the chief executive of the Kenya Association of Manufacturers. “The reality is that there’s a big opportunity for us to produce local clothes for the citizens.”
Shops in Toi Market, one of Nairobi’s most popular stops for secondhand goods, have been hurt by the coronavirus and the import ban.Credit…Khadija Farah for The New York Times
For years, Kenya, along with other countries in East Africa, had tried to phase out used clothing to boost local manufacturing. But the countries faced the threat of being removed from the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act, which promotes trade by providing reduced or duty-free access to the American market. Many countries backed off from instituting a ban on imported clothing, with the exception of Rwanda.
The coronavirus gave Kenya a chance to promote its own clothing manufacturing, but thwarted a lively trade. In Nairobi, the combination of the import ban, plus lockdown measures and an overnight curfew introduced to stamp out the virus, have drastically lessened the hive of activity at the popular Gikomba and Toi thrift markets, mazes of narrow pathways packed with bellowing vendors and piles of clothes, shoes and household goods.
As the largest importer of used clothing in East Africa, Kenya, with its new ban, is expected to upend not just supply chains but also lead to a hemorrhage in jobs connected to the trade and the loss of millions of dollars from government coffers as tax revenue and import duties fall.
But where some see problems, others see opportunity. Wagura Kamwana, the proprietor of a fabric shop, the Textile Loft, is seeking to capitalize on this moment. Ms. Kamwana, 40, grew up wearing hand-stitched clothes from her mother, and later on, sought trendy outfits at secondhand markets. Kenyans like used clothes, she said, both for their affordability and because of the their high-quality fabrics.
In 2016, she opened her store, offering premium quality fabrics, sourced from Europe, to Kenyans who wanted to create high-end fashion locally.
In 2018, she started also offering production services to designers looking to develop smaller lines who were being turned away by factories only interested in bulk orders.
Wagura Kamwana, founder of the Textile Loft, looks over a finished garment.Credit…Khadija Farah for The New York Times
Ms. Kamwana has already worked with prominent local designers like Katungulu Mwendwa. The pandemic has also offered the chance to start her own clothing line. Her new label is set to produce everyday clothing for women including dresses, scarves and trousers ranging from $25 to $150.
Ms. Kamwana said designers and manufacturers should collaborate and take baby steps to push the industry toward maturity. “This whole value chain will take quite a few years to be feasible or to be seen,” she said, adding, “what we can do immediately is perfect our art of making.”
Rolls of fabric at the Textile Loft.Credit…Khadija Farah for The New York Times
Other Kenyan companies are also responding to the challenges posed by the pandemic by focusing locally.
Frederick Bittiner Wear, which does fabric selection, design and tailoring for retailers in East Africa, Europe and the United States, has seen a reduction in orders because of the pandemic, so it has turned to producing leggings, T-shirts and vests for the local market, said Dominic Agesa, the managing director.
After approaching distributors with samples, Mr. Agesa said he got 50 orders in a week. For too long, “Kenya has been reluctant” to incentivize local manufacturers, he said, but the import ban was one step toward making conditions more favorable for a local scene to eventually flourish.
“Are we able to satisfy the Kenyan market and beyond? Mr. Agesa said. “Gradually, the answer is yes.”
Suave Kenya is a brand that transforms secondhand clothes ranging from silk shirts to leather jackets into stylish and colorful tote bags, backpacks and wallets. With the import ban, its founder, Mohamed Awale, is looking into sourcing from local tanneries and textile factories.
“If the pandemic persists, we will have to adapt while still producing the type of bright bags that make us unique,” said Mr. Awale, 32. “When we source locally, we create jobs and make our industries grow.”
The Suave Kenya workshop, where backpacks, bags and accessories are produced from up-cycled materials and locally sourced fabrics.Credit…Khadija Farah for The New York Times
Nowhere is the shift to adapt to the changes brought on by the pandemic more visible than in the special export zones on Nairobi’s outskirts. Established in 1990, these zones offer companies less regulations plus tax incentives to promote export-oriented businesses.
But with borders closed and exports plunging, some of the clothing factories have begun servicing the Kenyan market, with the country temporarily allowing manufacturers to exceed the usual limit of supplying no more than 20 percent of their annual production to local markets.
Shona EPZ has 500 employees and makes reflective work clothes for companies like 3M and apparel for department stores like T.J. Maxx. But since the pandemic began, the firm has pivoted toward making personal protective equipment for Kenya, producing tens of thousands of masks and surgical gowns per day, said its director, Isaac Maluki.
Mr. Maluki said he has also partnered with secondhand importers and small-scale manufacturers, that, with the ban on used clothing, are increasingly considering collaborating with larger companies like his to make clothes for local consumption.
“We want to really encourage them to see the kind of quality that comes out of here that can be shared into the local market,” he said. “The local market is huge.”
Workers at Shona EPZ have shifted from manufacturing apparel for export to producing personal protective equipment for Kenya.Credit…Khadija Farah for The New York Times
But before a robust clothing sector takes hold, experts say local manufacturers will have to overcome a host of challenges, including inadequate access to finance, the high cost of electricity, and the lack of raw materials, including cotton.
The fact that powerful lobby groups for the secondhand clothing industry in the United States have already criticized Kenya’s move doesn’t bode well either, said Emily Anne Wolff, a researcher at Leiden University in the Netherlands who has studied plans to phase out used clothing in East Africa.
Kenya is aiming to be the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to negotiate a free-trade agreement with the United States, which could undermine Kenya’s will to retain the clothing ban.
Used clothes traders have appealed to the government in recent days to lift the ban, saying there is no public health risk associated with the trade. But officials have so far ruled that option out.
For now, Kenyan designers and manufacturers say the ban gives them a window of opportunity to start shaping the future of fashion in Kenya.
“Now is a good time to make choices and changes,” said Ms. Kamwana, the owner of Textile Loft. “You will be surprised by what comes out of this country.”
Credit Story By Abdi Latif Dahir Photo By Khadija Farah
Some of the designs have padlocks to symbolise lockdown measures
A Ghanaian fabric company has launched a new line of designs inspired by the Covid-19 pandemic. “[We] put a positive twist on a negative phenomenon” Stephen Badu, from Ghana Textiles Printing (GTP), told BBC Focus on Africa radio.
The new fabrics have symbols like padlocks, keys and planes to reflect some of the measures implemented to curb the spread of coronavirus, African prints are popular in Ghana and many workers wear them on Fridays.
Two of Ghana’s main metropolitan areas were in lockdown in April – and nationwide there was a ban on public gatherings and the closure of borders. Restrictions have since been eased though strict social-distancing measures are in place, especially in churches and it is a criminal offence not to wear a face mask in public.
The West African nation has reported more than 20,000 cases of Covid-19, with at least 129 people dying from the virus. “We are a business that tells stories and we tells our stories through our designs,” Mr Badu, GTP’s marketing director, said.
The capital, Accra, and the city of Kumasi were put into lockdown for three weeks
“We believe that it is going to leave a mark in the history of the world, and it’s important that generations that come after us get to know that once upon a time, such a phenomenon occurred.”
Some of the new GTP designs have glasses on them similar to the signature ones worn by Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo, who has been giving regular updates on the virus.
The round spectacles look like those worn by the president
“He has iconic spectacles that he wears and when you watch him on television that is what stands out,” Mr Badu said. “Another design shows a symbol of a plane, it indicates that during the lockdown one of the measures that Ghana took was to close the borders, so no flights,” he added.
Flights were stopped during the lockdown
In 2004, the government started a campaign to get people to wear national dress on Fridays to support the local textile industry, yet a lot of the fabric worn is not made by African firms.
The designs were created by Ghanaians
Ghana Textiles Printing, despite its name, is owned by Dutch company Vlisco, But Mr Badu said the new designs were all about Ghanaians telling their own history.
“The designs which we print now are all originated by Ghanaians and printed by Ghanaians, so behind every design we produce it’s our value systems, our sense of art, and how we communicate,” he said.
Model castings, backstage rush, lights, cameras, runway, the US$31 billion African fashion industry (PDF) is always agog almost all year round with vibrant fashion events, big and small.
This year has been unprecedented for physical activities across the globe. A viral pandemic has kept much of the world indoors for at least a month. And even as countries reopen, how physical, social and sporting events happen moving forward will remain a deftly choreographed attempt to keep people safely distanced from each other especially with all the unpredictability around how the pandemic evolves.
Across Africa, many major fashion shows are often slated for the last quarter of the year. In Lagos, the prestigious Lagos Fashion and Design week is usually an October affair while GTBank’s Fashion Weekend takes place sometime between October and November. In Tanzania, the Swahili Fashion Week, famed as one of the most influential fashion events in East and Central Africa, holds between November and December of every year.
Two years ago, the South Africa Fashion Week (women and men’s edition) took place between October 23rd and 27th while the Joburg Fashion Week ran from October 4 to 6 also in the same year.
Last year, both fashion events were moved to the fourth month of the year. This year, that would have coincided with the peak lockdown period where more than a billion people around the world were in isolation.
As we move past the middle of the year, the number of new COVID-19 cases continues to oscillate with some countries recording fall in numbers and others, continued peaks.
As with the uptake of digital tools and technology-enabled processes to continue working amidst the pandemic even in industries like Nollywood, the fashion industry in Lagos and across the continent are slowly adopting digital tools to keep events going in some shape or form.
Why are fashion events important?
Haute couture, avant-garde outfits that leave you wondering what outrageous costume parties one would have to be invited to to wear them might be commonplace in global fashion cities like Milan and New York.
But on African runways, designers usually often stick to functional pieces that fit into one of the many events that take place in cities like Lagos or Johannesburg.
But fashion events are rarely just elaborately organised events to showcase outfits that may or may not be replicable outside of a fashion magazine or film. At these events are buyers looking to stock up their high-end clothing stores; stylists looking for what new head-turning outfits to don their clients in; fashion media looking to publish whole collections on their platform even before the models make it backstage as well as low-end, mass-market manufacturers looking to lift eye-catching looks and/or details that will subsequently be reproduced verbatim or in parts.
Since 2010, the textile, apparel and footwear industry in Nigeria has averaged a growth of 17% of the country’s GDP according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). In developing countries, the textile and clothing industry is the second largest behind agriculture employing a large percentage of women in its workforce. Since Swedish clothing retailer H&M set up office in Addis Ababa in 2013, it has added about 60,000 jobs to the economy. A similar effect on employment, about 80,000 jobs added to the economy, has been seen in Mauritius since it raised apparel exports to the EU and US.
These events also create a whole economic pipeline for artisans, stylists, models, makeup and hair stylists who drive all the moving parts that make them possible. Cancelled events globally and across the continent put the livelihoods of these individuals in a precarious place.
Tobi Oloko, a model signed with six international modelling agencies including three in Milan, Paris and South Africa, and who often travels around the globe for fashion shows, has been at home for the past three months due to the pandemic. With no events to walk at, there has been no income for her in this period.
“My last work trip before the pandemic broke out was Paris and I was forced to come back home amidst the situation,” Oloko tells TechCabal.
“I’ll say the pandemic affected my whole job completely as a model, especially because it includes traveling around to these specific countries but that’s on hold now and there are no hopes of fashion weeks, campaigns, beauty, magazine editorial jobs and all that happening this year anymore,” she said.
“Payments are on hold as well.”
Runways have gone digital in the meantime
Last month, for her Pink Label Congo capsule collection, Congolese designer Anifa Mvuemba sent mesmerising 3D models down a virtual runway to an audience of millions first on the Instagram Live channel where the event was being streamed, and subsequently, through an outpouring of awe from across the globe. Many have called it the future of fashion.
Although already previously working with 3D modeling for mockups of her design, the pandemic and isolation period provided ample opportunity to extend the technology to creating and showcasing a capsule collection.
Like Mvuemba, designers across the continent have taken to social media and video streaming to continue to unveil new collections mostly via lookbooks and virtual runway shows from Ghana to South Africa, and Nigeria. No one has quite put on a show like Mvuemba for very important reasons.
Producing a 3D virtual runway show is a multi-stage process of modelling, simulating, frustrating rendering speeds and at least a month’s worth of painstaking and detailed design process.
As a 3D modeller explains to me, the process will begin with creating models using softwares like Maya or ZBrush. Once the 3D models are created using human fashion models, they are stripped and then rigged, giving the model a skeletal framework to enable movement. Once done, the 3D model is animated and transferred to a new software like Marvelous Designer.
On Marvelous Designer, the modeller designs and simulates movement in the styles so that it flows naturally with the movements of the 3D model. The design is exported once more to another software like 3ds Max or Blender where a runway, lighting and other aesthetic elements are added.
Then the project is rendered into a video (like the Pink Label Congo show) or an image.
For the AFI (African Fashion International) Fashion Week in Cape Town which managed to take place in March just two weeks prior to a nationwide lockdown, models walked down the runway of empty halls while the event was live streamed to audiences.
At the Lagos Fashion Week, a series of live streamed and virtual conferences have been ongoing since April. Through Woven Threads and its #StayHome Live series, the event has continued to engage its audience with small virtual events in conversation with industry experts and stakeholders from across the continent. Its Autumn/Winter shows have taken on an entirely digital format.
Purchasing activities, although having declined in the period, have always gone on digitally and the period has intensified the need for designers and retailers to optimise online stores to continue to make sales.
Here also, is where the use case for AR/VR fitting rooms triumphs for designers and retailers who offer these capabilities to their clients.
“African fashion is rising right now. African designers need to develop their unique business model and have to be innovative. To do so, digital is key,” says Sarah Diouf, founder of Tongoro, a 100% made-in-Africa clothing brand Beyonce was clad in for one of the videos in her Spirit album.
“It’s a tool that we can truly leverage to our advantage,” she said at the Fashionomics Webinar Series early this month.
What will events look like in the coming months?
Some fashion events usually occurring in the middle of the year have been shifted towards year ending. The Accra Fashion Week 2020 has been moved from March to October as has the Arise Fashion Week. The Swahili Fashion Week is still slated to hold in December when it usually does, in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.
Whether these events will happen physically or virtually remains yet to be disclosed. The sense however, is that towards the end of the year, life must have returned somewhat to a ‘new normal’ and social events will be back in full swing. However, with the discovery of efficacious and safe vaccines or therapeutics for COVID-19 set at a 2021 timeframe and the continued spike in cases in countries like Nigeria, things remain uncertain.
Oloko says she hasn’t gotten wind of any specific fashion shows slated to take place this year yet but agencies have kept up with video call shoots and a variety of online engagements with their models. A friend working in Europe tells her things are picking up slowly and she hopes that the same is applicable soon back home.
The South African government has instituted a phased lockdown lifting process. As at the start of the month, on the third level of the lift, all manufacturing, mining, construction, financial services, professional and business services, information technology, communications, government services, and media services fully reopened. South Africa remains the worst hit by the virus on the continent with 118, 375 cases recorded so far and over 2,000 deaths.
Tanzania’s government has had a peculiar approach to the virus. Since April, the government has ceased publishing data on the cases in the country and has continued to encourage religious gatherings with the president saying earlier this month at a church service that “the corona disease has been eliminated, thanks to God.”
As at its last publishing in April, there were 509 cases and 21 deaths in the country.
Having put in lockdown measures in Accra and Kumasi, two of its largest cities, Ghana was the first African country to lift its lockdowns saying that the government and healthcare institution had taken the period to better equip itself to handle the virus.
Globally, a long list of events have been slated to continue virtually well into September.
The pandemic will have more far reaching effects on other aspects of the global industry beyond events and it may be too early to see the full impact on the continent’s industry. Supply chains, sales as consumer spending declines, fast fashion, sustainability and the resale industry, the usefulness of elaborate fashion events themselves, these are all conversations currently being had in various corners of the industry.
According to a McKinsey report on the North American fashion industry, part of recovery steps will entail a lot of digital optimisation particularly to promote and engage with buyers as their purchasing behaviours evolve.
Digital may also have effects on how designers choose to showcase new collections moving forward and could become paths for autonomous and democratic shifts away from fashion shows which some say can be an elitist and unfairly selective affair.
US fashion brand Calvin Klein has introduced a new campaign that features a plus-size, African-American transgender model. This and French cosmetics brand L’oreal Paris’ decision to alter its slogan have both sparked controversy on Chinese social media as many netizens said they felt the move was merely an attempt by the companies to be “politically correct.”
Jari Jones, the first plus-size transgender model to grace a giant billboard in New York in the history of Calvin Klein, has been encircled by public discussion not only in her own country but on Chinese social media. Her multiple identities such as being an African-American and a member of the LGBTQ+ community have become the center of controversy.
Some Chinese netizens said they believe the reason why Calvin Klein chose Jones was to pursue political correctness and pander to trending rights movement such as the Black Lives Matter campaign.
“The model is an African-American and a member of the LGBTQ community. Choosing her was the highest point of political correctness. I think this action will not help and is just a surface effort,” netizen “Minglasipangqi” commented on China’s Twitter-like Sina Weibo.
Some netizens also questioned why the fashion house didn’t go with a tradition tall and thin model.
“I understand that women have different sizes, but this model is too heavy and is not very healthy, I think. She doesn’t make me want to buy these clothes,” another netizen wrote.
Not all voices have been in opposition to the move. Some netizens said they feel that regardless of the results of the campaign, it is good that the company is taking action to support multicultural values.
“June is Pride month for the LGBTQ+ community and Jones’ identity as a member of the community can present the beauty of diversity to more people by being on the giant billboard at the center of New York,” Peng Yanzi, founder of the LGBT Rights Advocacy of China, told the Global Times on Monday.
Jones’ impact is not only limited to her gender identity, Peng said, adding that her body type can challenge some traditional impressions that might be out of date for women and models, Peng said.
Amid campaigns to protect the legal rights of African-Americans and transgender people in the US, breaking the mold when it comes to choosing models and promoting fashion icons is necessary and helpful, Peng said.
A Calvin Klein fan living in Beijing told the Global Times that she loves the brand even more because of the move.
“I like CK better after reading the news because it is a brand that recognizes the demands of their customers.”
While Calvin Klein has received some voices of support, French cosmetics brand L’oreal Paris has faced almost complete opposition on Chinese social media for changing its slogans and removing words like “whitening” from its products.
“It is too excessive. L’oreal should dye all its skin care products to black, or else white cream is also racist,” Sina Weibo user “Xiaoniaozhendechaojikeai” commented. The hashtag “L’oreal will stop using skin whitening” had received more than 110 million views on Sina Weibo as of Monday afternoon.
“Maybe next time white paper will also be banned.”
After African-American George Floyd was killed by a white police officer in the US in late May, many protests and campaigns against racial discrimination have broken out in the US and other regions around the world. Some companies have faced criticism for promoting skin whitening products from people who feel that these products promote the idea that lighter skin is better, according to a report from the Xinhua News Agency.
The e-commerce company will celebrate its anniversary supporting consumers and SMEs in the unique context of COVID-19
-Africa’s leading e-Commerce platform, Jumia, will mark its 8th Anniversary by celebrating consumers and communities through a consumer and seller centric campaign in the exceptional context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The company’s anniversary, themed ‘Stronger Together’, is one of its major annual commercial events and is taking place from June 22nd until July 5th, 2020 across the countries where Jumia operates in Africa.
The Company will continue to support its consumers through the various measures and initiatives that were started during the COVID-19 crisis, especially by providing a wide range of relevant products at the best prices and establishing new partnerships with both international and local brands.
“This event comes in the continuity of the multiple actions undertaken as part of the fight against COVID-19, to help our consumers safely access goods and services, at the best possible prices. This event will also help support our local sellers and logistics partners who operate on the Jumia platform during these challenging times.” said the Jumia co-CEOs, Sacha Poignonnec & Jeremy Hodara.
This year, the Jumia Anniversary event brings together a diverse list of brands across categories including Groceries (Unilever, Nestle, Coca-Cola, Carrefour), Sanitary & Hygiene (Reckitt Benckiser, P&G, Henkel, GSK), Beauty (l’Oreal, Maybelline, Garnier, Nivea), Phones (Samsung, Xiaomi, Nokia, Huawei), Electronics (Intel, HP, Philips, Sony) and many more.
About Jumia
Jumia is a leading e-commerce platform in Africa and was established in 2012 in Lagos, Nigeria. It is built around a marketplace, Jumia Logistics, and JumiaPay. The marketplace helps millions of consumers and thousands of sellers to connect and transact. Jumia Logistics enables the delivery of millions of packages through our network of local partners.
JumiaPay facilitates the payment of online transactions within the Jumia ecosystem. With over 1 billion people and 500 million internet users in Africa, Jumia believes that e-commerce is making people’s lives easier by helping them shop and pay for millions of products at the best prices wherever they live. E-commerce is also creating new opportunities for SMEs to grow and job opportunities for a new generation to thrive.
Anna Wintour has said she takes “full responsibility” for racial inequality at Vogue, after admitting the magazine has not done enough to “elevate” black staff and designers.
The Vogue editor-in-chief acknowledged the company’s “hurtful and intolerant” past creative decisions in an internal staff memo written amid worldwide protests following the death of George Floyd.
In the note, seen by the New York Post, Wintour began by addressing the feelings of sadness, hurt and anger that many employees are experiencing, before writing: “I want to say this especially to the black members of our team – I can only imagine what these days have been like.
“But I also know that the hurt, and violence, and injustice we’re seeing and talking about have been around for a long time. Recognising it and doing something about it is overdue.
“I want to say plainly that I know Vogue has not found enough ways to elevate and give space to black editors, writers, photographers, designers and other creators,” Wintour continued in the email, sent 4 June. “We have made mistakes too, publishing images or stories that have been hurtful or intolerant. I take full responsibility for those mistakes.”
The artistic director of Condé Nast also acknowledged that it “can’t be easy to be a black employee at Vogue” and that there are “too few” people of colour working for the fashion magazine, before promising to “do better”.
“I know that it is not enough to say we will do better, but we will – and please know that I value your voices and responses as we move forward. I am listening and would like to hear your feedback and your advice if you would like to share either,” Wintour wrote, before encouraging staff to reach out to her directly.
“I am proud of the content we have published on our site over these past few days but I also know that there is much more work to do. Please don’t hesitate to be in touch with me directly. I am arranging ways we can discuss these issues together candidly, but in the meantime, I welcome your thoughts or reactions,” Wintour concluded.
The 70-year-old’s letter came amid accusations of racial inequality at other Condé Nast brands, including Bon Appétit.
On Monday, the food magazine’s editor-in-chief Adam Rapoport stepped down after a photo showing him in brown face resurfaced, sparking widespread criticism.
The racially insensitive image also prompted Bon Appétit employees of colour to come forward about their experiences with racial discrimination at the magazine.
Following Rapoport’s resignation, Condé Nast released a brief statement in which it said it is “dedicated to creating a diverse, inclusive and equitable workplace” and has a “zero-tolerance policy towards discrimination and harassment in any forms.”
Wintour’s email to magazine staff also comes after Vogue’s former editor at large André Leon Talley accused the fashion editor of not being “capable of simple human kindness” in his new memoir, The Chiffon Trenches.
“She is immune to anyone other than the powerful and famous people who populate the pages of Vogue,” Talley wrote of his former friend and colleague. “She has mercilessly made her best friends people who are the highest in their chosen fields.”
For 10 years, Brand Africa has been working to mobilise Africans and the diaspora to proactively drive a brand-led African agenda. Its founder and chairman ThebeIkalafeng tells us how Africa can build more successful brands
When you look at African brands today, would you say they are stronger than they were 10 years ago?
As was the case at the turn of the decade, there remains a stronger enthusiasm for building African brands. But the rhetoric doesn’t match the reality. There is not as much progress in the narrative about creating great brands. If you look at some of the stalwart brands, whether it is the MTNs, the Safaricoms, the Dangotes, those have consolidated their strengths and their brands remain a staple across the continent. But these are a minority: we need to see a lot more brands coming to the fore.
In this past decade, we’ve seen a greater presence of African talent globally, be it in fashion, music, the arts. Doesn’t that reflect a stronger ‘Brand Africa’?
Africa has never lacked talent and the world has never stopped looking to Africa for inspiration. What we haven’t seen emerge prominently are global African brands, even as “essential” as the likes of Zara and H&M or luxury such as Hermes and Goyard. Where the likes of Zara and H&M and others lead isn’t just in fast fashion but in fast thinking to adopt or adapt to trends and consumer insights.
There are many examples of African talent out there. The young South African designer, Thebe Magugu, the first South African to win the prestigious LVMH Prize for fashion design. The ready-to-wear African fashion retailer, KISUA, founded by Ghanaian Sam Mensah to challenge the likes of Zara and H&M. Alara, the high-end Nigerian retailer founded by Nigerian businesswoman Reni Folawiyo. We have a lot of talent, we have a lot of enthusiasm, we have a lot of excitement and drive but unfortunately we don’t see enough resources, patience and patronage that will support their growth.
Are you saying we need to invest more in brand building or do we need to think about brands differently, in terms of what a brand stands for, in terms of what a brand represents and making that brand go global?
There’s two parts to it. Generally speaking, millennials are less forgiving of and loyal to brands than the older generations. They will move on to the next brand if that brand does not live up to its promise in terms of what it does functionally, but also in terms of how it fits into society or how they see themselves, what it does for the environment. In Africa we’re too forgiving and we have often returned to the very brands that have been less than benevolent or respectful to us – often because of a lack of alternatives.
Two decades ago, while I was marketing director for Nike for the continent, on my first trip to Cannes in France, for the biggest advertising gathering in the world, I was quite astounded to see that a lot of the brands from England were inspired by and leverage their English heritage. The French were selling France. But the brands from Africa were trying to be American, British or French.
It was a woke moment for me. African brands cannot and should not compete with the French on how to be French. They don’t have the authority or the authenticity. We need to take a distinctive African narrative to the world. It’s what at Brand Leadership we call “thinking locally and acting globally”. In other words, we should be inspired by our African identity and heritage but deliver to a global standard.
Where do you think Africa is going to be piercing through? Is it going to be in fashion, the arts, music, culture or is it going to be in tech, innovation, banking, logistics?
The greatest opportunity and low hanging fruit for African brands is in technology and the arts. If you look at a brand like EVC in Somalia, Wari in Senegal and leading the pack, M-Pesa, technology has enabled us to leapfrog many Western nations with bricks and mortar legacy issues. Mobile money is where Africa has probably shown its greatest leadership. They are being referenced. Thus, Rwanda and Kenya are fast-tracking their initiatives to build world class technology cities to leverage technology to drive development not just for Africa but the world.
When it comes to arts and culture, we’ve always been present with a global influence from South Africa’s Miriam Makeba collaborating with Harry Belafonte in the 60s, or the most successful broadway production, the Lion King, or Mantsho, the South African designers collaborating with H&M for their first global Africa-inspired range. Luxury fashion brands are continuously looking to Africa for inspiration.
The problem isn’t our talent, it’s the ownership of our creative output. We are often invited rather than owning the space and dictating our own terms. Thus Stella McCartney can charge $1,000 for an item we sell for $5 or Louis Vuitton can overtly reference a Lesotho blanket and we’ll be the first in line to pay the 3000% premium.
We can reclaim our space because there’s already an appreciation of “African” aesthetic or rather, an appreciation of the design aesthetic that makes Africa different and admired.
We’ve got a Ghanaian and Kenyan at the helm of British Vogue and another Ghanaian at LVMH, so we are seeing these guys in the high profile places in global fashion. Yet African fashion remains a very small component of global fashion.
Unfortunately, while we have assumed those global positions which in theory are influential, the most transformation we’ve seen are the faces on the covers and names behind the titles. It has not yet translated to African-inspired creativity, African sourcing and African wealth. While Virgil Abloh has brought street cred inspired by hip-hop and rap culture to Louis Vuitton, he has yet to bring a compelling Africa narrative. But it’s a good start.
One thing that stands out from the survey: Africa has got tech brands we consume daily, the Googles and the Facebooks, and yet they’re not as prominent as your traditional brands. Why is that?
People’s relationship with brands is quite instructive. Some brands become part of a person’s identity and affiliation and others a necessary evil, so to speak.
Generally, media and financial “brands” aren’t viewed as a “badge of identity” but a necessary evil. They are viewed as essential commodities rather than “brands” that reflect their status or standing. That’s the difference.
Finally, right now, we are going through a crisis, a health crisis and an economic one. People say crises make reputations. How do you build brands through a crisis?
As our Africa’s Best Brands initiative shows, we have mostly relied on non-African brands for luxury but on African brands for essentials. During this crisis, where the non-African and other luxury brands have been put on pause, we’ve relied ever more on the essential brands, mostly African, for our day to day.
Out of this crisis those essential brands that have delivered with empathy, urgency and necessity will be rewarded. The time out of the global spotlight due to the pandemic has created an opportunity to deepen local brands’ engagement with African consumers in their time of need beyond just their functional needs and has laid a foundation and an opportunity once more for African brands to rise to the challenge
The African Development Bank’s Fashionomics Africa initiative on Tuesday launched its first webinar series to discuss the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the industry. In total, 136 fashion entrepreneurs, digital innovators and creative minds joined the discussion. The theme of the first episode of the series was: “What does the COVID-19 disruption mean for Africa’s Fashion Market? Opportunities and Threats for Fashionpreneurs and Investors.”
Supporting investment for the micro, small and medium enterprises in the creative and cultural industries, creating the right environment for the financial sector to play its full part in powering growth, lies at the heart of the African Development Bank’s agenda,” said Vanessa Moungar, Director of the Gender, Women and Civil Society Department at the African Development Bank.
The participants exchanged ideas and shared lessons learned on how to take advantage of online tools to strengthen businesses. Panelists included representatives from supply chain giant Maersk, the HEVAFund for financing creative industries, the founder of made-in-Africa online brand Tongoro, and Afrikrea – an African e-commerce platform specializing in fashion and crafts.
“African fashion is rising right now. African designers need to develop their unique business model and have to be innovative. To do so, digital is key,” said Sarah Diouf, founder of Tongoro. “It’s a tool that we can truly leverage to our advantage. Africa has many stories to share and tell.”
Wakiuru Njuguna, Investment Manager and Partner at the HEVA Fund, said sustainability was going to be key to the future of fashion. “Going forward, sustainable fashion is going to be the way to go. The African fashion brands need to be ready to answer the questions they will be asked,” she said.
Subsequent Fashionomics Africa webinars will be available on the Fashionomics Africa Digital Marketplace and Mobile App (available both on IOS and Android). The platform aims to help Africa’s fashion designers, textile and accessories professionals connect with regional and global markets. Sign up on Fashionomics Africa here.Registration is free.
Fashionomics Africa leverages data and communication technologies to help entrepreneurs access business skills, finance and other tools.
Content courtesy of The African Development Bank & Fashionomics Africa
A South African e-commerce fashion retailer has received a vote of confidence from an international private equity firm, which has invested R100-million into the business.
RunwaySale, which operates out of Cape Town, received the funding from SPEAR Capital which invests in consumer-based businesses supported by the spending of the African middle class. It has offices in Scandinavia, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
Exclusive Online Shopping Society
RunwaySale positions itself as an ‘exclusive online shopping society’ – a members-only private online shopping club. It offers 300-plus high-end fashion brands to an exclusive community of shoppers who check the site, mobile app and social media platforms daily in order to take advantage of the latest offers.
Explaining how the Runway Sale business model works in an interview with The Money Show, co-founder and CEO Karl Hammerschmidt said: “We obviously have a lower cost base to work against, so we can pass value on to the consumer and our various brand partners… at the end of the day it helps them to earn revenue… it’s a win-win for everybody.”
Sells Designer Brands At Discounted Prices
Founded in 2012 by the husband-and-wife team of Karl and Elmien, who is now the COO, RunwaySale describes itself as South Africa’s largest such shopping club. It notes on its website that it “sells designer brands at discount prices by hosting flash events”. It claims its prices may be discounted by up to 70%.
“E-commerce accounts for one percent of all retail in South Africa and, even before the coronavirus pandemic, was set to grow exponentially,” said Karl. “The synergies between the SPEAR Capital team and our own gives us the confidence and practical support we need to develop RunwaySale into a leading player in the local and regional e-commerce market.”
Former Tj Maxx Executive Appointed As Advisor
As part of this new partnership, Christophe Gaigneux, who was online chief executive for the European division of American department store chain TJ Maxx, has been appointed to the RunwaySale advisory board.
“The potential for e-commerce to contribute meaningfully to the local economy has never been greater and RunwaySale will be key to meeting the demand we know is building up in consumers across all demographics in South Africa,” Gaigneux is quoted as saying by Business Tech.
When African Business carried out their survey of Africa’s most admired brands for the first time in 2010, things were looking optimistic for African brands, but since then their representation in the ranking has dropped by nearly two-thirds. What will it take to allow African brands to compete with the global giants that dominate the table? Brand Africa founder Thebe Ikalafeng examines the results of the 2020 survey and reflects on what they tell you.
In the midst of the euphoric and successful staging of the first FIFA World Cup in Africa when internal pride and admiration of Africa was arguably at its highest, African brands also enjoyed their most dominant position in the inaugural Brand Africa 100: Africa’s Best Brands ranking. Back in 2010/11, when we launched the ranking of Africa’s best brands, African brands accounted for 34 of the 100 most admired African brands, following a continent-wide poll.
The then president of the African Development Bank, Dr Donald Kaberuka, stated that “Africa’s private sector is poised to become the main engine of growth for the African continent.” Following a decade of growth driven by public investments, the advent of technology, rising exports to China and a fast-growing consumer class, the private sector, the engine of brands, was predicted to fuel the growth of the continent.
With the rise of new African private sector champions, many anticipated the emergence and rise of African brands. Growth was projected to reach 6.2% by 2020. A decade later, in the midst of a global health and economic pandemic, the optimism has been tempered. Growth projections at the start of the year hovered around 3.9% but now there is talk of Africa’s first recession in 25 years.
Africa’s Top 100 Brands 2020
How is this reflecting on African brands? It’s a bleak outcome. This year’s ranking shows a further decline for African brands, representing 13% of this year’s list, little more than a third of their showing a decade earlier. This is their lowest performance to date, down 2% from last year. Asia (16%), Europe (42%) and North America (29%) have all managed to increase their share.
Overall, out of the top 100 most admired brands from our first ranking in 2010/11, only half still appear in this year’s list. This is due to mergers, acquisitions and the obsolescence of many brands. The most prominent changes are in the technology category with the demise of Blackberry (#32 in 2010/11); the consolidation of Vodafone (#54 in 2010/11 and now #13); which acquired Vodacom in 2008 and rebranded in 2011; Etisalat (#40 in 2010/11) rebranding to 9 Mobile in 2017; and Motorola (#39) being acquired by Lenovo in 2014. We’ve also seen the rise of Chinese brand Tecno, which has raced up the ranking from #33 to #5 – a dominant performance for one of China’s premier global brands that’s not even sold in China!
Mergers and acquisitions will impact the rankings in different ways. Following a merger it will take time for a brand to rebuild its presence and this appears to be the case for Absa as it asserts its brand beyond South Africa. Despite rebranding back to Absa in 2018 after UK-based Barclays sold back its shareholding in Barclays Africa to the South African banking group, it has dropped out of this year’s rankings as it rebuilds its brand across the continent, having featured at #76 in 2010/11. The same is true for former South African brewer, SAB Miller, since the multi-billion dollar merger between AB InBev and SAB Miller in 2016. It took the #31 spot in 2011, with its iconic beer Castle at #67, but neither feature this year.
The goddess of victory
American sports brand Nike retained its top spot for the third year in a row as the #1 most admired brand in Africa. Ranked #9 a decade ago, the brand today reigns supreme, buoyed by partnerships with record-breaking African athletes such as Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge, the sub-two-hour marathon runner, and also by global collaborations such as the ones with South Africa designer Poppy Karabo and Nigeria’s music sensation Wizkid on his Starboy brand.
Nike also sponsors the shirts of the Nigerian and South African football national teams, thus being ever visible throughout sub-Saharan Africa. As a result of these high-profile actions, Nike continues to reign as an aspirational and go-to brand for sports, fitness and lifestyle.
What is African?
The dominance of non-African brands is unabated. In the survey question to determine the most admired African brands (see our methodology), a host of non-African brands are identified as African. Brands such as Coca-Cola (#2 in 2011 and #4 in 2020) top the list of such brands. The company has been on the continent for almost 100 years and through innovative distribution and engaging localised campaign strategies tailored to African markets, it has achieved ubiquity and a certain Africanness. Where else would you have someone ordering a warm coke, as is often the case in East Africa?
A common theme among the top 10 such brands is their deep local insights, localised marketing and outsize marketing budgets. As a result they have managed to create an intimate and infectious relationship with the African consumer. The strategy for these global brands has been, as Brand Leadership terms it, to “think locally and act globally”.
This is the case for brands such as Vlisco, the Dutch wax fabric designer, which is dominant in its sector, and Guinness, consumed by more people in Africa than its own domestic market in Ireland. The same is true for Vodafone and Airtel.
Africans don’t prefer local
Among the 27 countries surveyed, which account for over 85% of the continent’s population and GDP, only in Zimbabwe (through Econet), in Zambia (through Trade Kings) and in Tanzania (with Azam) do we have a local brand taking the country’s #1 spot.
In Liberia, an African brand from another country, MTN, takes the #1 spot, but in all the other countries, it is a non-African brand: Nike (11 out of 27), Samsung (4/27), Coke (3/27) and Adidas (2/27) lead the way, with Tecno, Orange and Airtel each dominant in one country.
Powerhouse African brands, such as Dangote in Nigeria, Safaricom in Kenya and MTN in South Africa, don’t even make the top spot in their domestic markets, and in North Africa, all the Top 10 most admired brands in Egypt and Morocco are non-African.
Kings of finance
GTBank claimed back the #1 spot this year, in a specific question and ranking of brands in financial services, after falling out of the top five in 2019. Its clever marketing, global presence and some of its flagship food and fashion events have undoubtedly helped make it a fixture of daily life in some of its key markets, especially its home base Nigeria. The bank has taken banking and finance to the people, and associating this with something fun and useful.
Interestingly, every brand in last year’s top five (FNB, Bank of Africa and Standard Bank) has lost ground in the rankings, with only Ecobank and Absa managing to stay within the top five. The industry is dominated by African giants. International brands do feature in some cases but these are payment companies as opposed to traditional banks – Paypal, Western Union and Visa. We expect to see mobile money and other disruptors muscle their way up the ranking as we see an increase in digitisation and digital-led economies, something which this pandemic has only accelerated.
Where’s the African media?
As part of the survey, we also ask media-specific questions. The top 25 media is once again dominated by international groups, led by the BBC, CNN and Al Jazeera. Only seven of our top 25 originate from Africa which begs the question how much of our narrative do we control.
The major shift has come as non-traditional media have entered the sway. Streaming giant Netflix comes in at #10, ahead of traditional media stalwarts such as SABC, France24 and Sky News. Just outside the top 10, at #12, social media juggernaut Facebook also ranked above traditional media brands such as Sky (#21), France24 (#15) and Fox (#23). Making up our list are other digital players: YouTube comes in at #20, Google at #24 and Instagram at #25. These non-traditional players have increasingly positioned themselves as, and are, preferred media channels among African consumers.
Made in Africa
When prompted to choose their favourite African brand, the split is pretty even between South, East and West Africa. Compared to last year, East Africa increased its contribution by 4% to 36%. West Africa came in with 28% of those brands represented and Southern Africa with 36%. A key driver for East Africa’s growth is the Tanzanian conglomerate Azam, with a diverse portfolio that spans media and consumer goods, and a rebranding that has started to reap rewards and endearment from the region’s consumers.
While its peers are on their knees, the crown jewel of the African skies, Ethiopian Airlines, continues to grow its brand, moving 14 spots to #7. Increased market share from a bigger fleet and new routes, an ambitious growth strategy and its status as an airline that actually manages to make money have turned it, it appears, into the “Pride of Africa”, as it likes to call itself.
Zimbabwe’s stalwart brand, Econet, has slid eight places to #13. It is hard to pinpoint exact reasons but it’s been a tough year for the group which last year pulled the plug on its pay-TV venture, Kwese media. The group has an important African footprint through Liquid Telecom, an internet solution provider, and its reputation will only increase if it manages to acquire a telecoms licence in Ethiopia, which is opening up its market to foreign entities.
Jumia, dubbed “The Amazon of Africa” at its audacious launch on the NYSE, has struggled to match expectations, dropping five spots to #18. Jumia, and many e-commerce brands in Africa have their work cut out, especially with e-commerce giants Alibaba (#92 in the main table) and Amazon (#56 in the main table) lurking in the background. The African consumer may be their next battle ground. Jack Ma, the billionaire founder of Alibaba, launched the Africa Netpreneur Prize last year to support the next generation of African entrepreneurs, with the understanding, as he sees it, that “a digital revolution, will make it possible to turn Africa into a global hub”.
One company trying to create a hub in motor manufacturing is Nigeria’s Innoson. The brand, which comes in at #10 in our most admired African brand category, whose ambition is to eradicate tokunbo (used foreign automobiles) from Africa, manufactures cars and motorbikes in the industrial heartland of Nigeria in Anambra state. Our main top 100 list, however, only features non-African automobile majors such as Toyota (#11), Mercedes Benz (#19) and BMW (#40).
Winners and losers
In the main table, one of this year’s big winners is Indomie, which comes in at #34. An Indonesian based company that entered the Nigerian market over 30 years ago has today managed to turn instant noodles into a staple food in Africa’s most populous country, challenging jollof rice for main billing in Nigerian households. It controls 74% of the market and the brand is so popular that the Indonesian trade minister Enggartiasto Lukita said that most Nigerians make the common mistake thinking of Indomie as a local product. To many Nigerians, all noodles are Indomie!
The second highest mover is Vlisco, moving 50 places to #45. Vlisco is arguably the most dominant brand representing African fashion. Its success has shone a light on African fashion and undoubtedly inspired other global brands, such as LV Basotho’s range of blankets or Christian Louboutin’s collaboration with Senegalese artists to launch the Africaba Tote Bag incorporating bold Ankara prints that originated in West Africa.
The world of fashion has helped African style go global. More recently we saw English designer Stella McCartney also use Ankara inspired prints in her Paris show and Thai-American designer Thakoon taking inspiration from the Maasai for his latest collection. In a resurgence and appreciation of “African fabrics” most of which are inspired by Vlisco, among the “brands” mentioned by respondents were Mozambique’s “Capulana”, Ghana’s “Kente” and Zambia’s “Kitenge”.
The company that has moved most in our rankings is French dairy company Danone, moving up 60 places to #30. It hasn’t all been plain sailing, however, for this brand that celebrated its 100th birthday last year. In Morocco, a major market for the company, it suffered a wide boycott in 2018. However, following some consumer engagement sessions and nationwide awareness-raising it has managed to build back this brand equity. The brand won an award at the Peace and Sport Awards in late 2019 and the year saw the return of the Danone Nations World Cup, with Danone taking kids from all around the world to Barcelona to compete in this prestigious competition.
One brand that has dropped significantly since we compiled the first rankings is Dolce & Gabbana, dropping from #58 in 2010 to #98 today. In a YouGov survey in the US conducted in February 2020, it was the least popular luxury brand in the rankings. This slide of the popularity of the former global trendsetter in America appears also to be the case in Africa.
Another brand that seems to have lost its lustre is Turkey’s LC Waikiki, falling 32 places to #99. Its higher position last year coincided with a campaign they ran as they expanded their footprint in Kenya and South Africa. This year’s ranking is probably a truer reflection of its position.
Conclusion
So what does this year’s ranking tell us? After an exciting early start to the decade, and despite a vibrant entrepreneurial environment with pockets of excellence, the scramble for the much trumpeted value and size of the African consumer spend is still taking place between brands from outside the continent rather than from within.
What Africa isn’t short of are ideas, blueprints and enthusiasm. But they require financial and government support to really grow and take off. We appear to be moving in the right direction: the African Continental Free Trade Area will help our brands reach new markets; the removal of travel barriers with the African Union Passport will also enable Africans to discover new brands as they travel the continent.
But to compete with the global behemoths will require greater ambitions for our brands to be the ones our people aspire to and respect – “top-of-mind” brands that we don’t only consume but which represent the lives we want to live. That will require a change of mindset from the top down. It can’t be someone else’s story or success. It needs to come from within. The next decade cannot be another promise for an “Africa rising”, an “African renaissance” or “Africa’s time”. Africa’s time is NOW.
Contributors: Tshepang Makofane, Reahile Ramathesele (Brand Leadership), Karin du Chenne (Kantar) and Thabani Khumalo (Malo & Fynn Group).
This article originally appeared on African Business
