MTC and Windhoek Beer lead brand rankings

MTC has won the Brand Africa Grand Prix as Namibia's best-performing brand across multiple categories, while Windhoek Beer was ranked the country's most admired brand overall, in results that mark the most significant edition of the rankings since Namibia's participation began seven years ago.

The results were unveiled in Windhoek at the 16th annual Brand Africa 100 | Africa's Best Brands rankings, Africa's most comprehensive brand survey, now spanning 30 countries and conducted in eight languages across Africa's five economic regions.

Windhoek Beer, Tafel Lager and Namibia Breweries occupied all three podium positions in the beer and alcohol category, while MTC and Telecom Namibia held the top two spots in telecoms, with no international brand in contention.

Telecom Namibia ranked third among Namibia's most admired brands overall, and Bank Windhoek led the banking category, with Nampost and Capricorn behind it.

Thebe Ikalafeng, founder and chairman of Brand Africa, said the results reflected brands built with discipline over time.

"Namibia wins where it has the infrastructure, as MTC's Grand Prix and Windhoek Beer's #1 positions demonstrate. They are the result of brands that have been built with discipline, purpose and a deep understanding of the Namibian consumer," Ikalafeng said.

"The work now is to extend that brand-building discipline into categories where Namibian brands are not yet competing, luxury, technology, personal care, and to build the distribution, financing and policy environment that allows admiration to translate into market share and export revenue."

A highlight of the ceremony was the announcement of the Brand Namibia Council, a body tasked with promoting and celebrating Made in Namibia brands, by Lazarus Jacobs, chairman of Brand Africa Namibia.

"Today, we did not just celebrate brands, we announced the formation of the Brand Namibia Council, a body dedicated to inspiring, promoting and celebrating Made in Namibia brands," Jacobs said.

"This Council will bring together business and civil society and support government, in ensuring that the admiration Namibians have for their own brands translates into deliberate choices, policy support and investment. We believe that a strong brand Namibia is the foundation of a competitive, prosperous Namibia."

Pupkewitz received the Brand Africa Heritage and Homegrown Brand Excellence Award, which recognises entities with their origins, ownership and operational base in Africa that have operated continuously over a sustained period to become synonymous with their communities.

Two Namibian leaders received distinguished leadership awards: James Sankwasa was honoured for distinguished leadership in public service, and David Namalenga for distinguished leadership in the private sector.

Dries van der Sandt, chief marketing officer of Windhoek, and Tim Ekandjo, chief marketing officer of MTC, were both named among the Top 100 Most Influential African CMOs.

MTC also led Namibia's rankings in sustainability and Good for Africa, with Namib Mills ranked second and Bank Windhoek third in sustainability. In the Good for Africa category, Bank Windhoek ranked second among Namibian brands and Woermanbrock third.

In other category results, Nammilk led non-alcoholic beverages among Namibian brands, MobiPay topped mobile money and fintech, Woermanbrock led retail and supermarkets, Namib Mills led consumer staples, NBC led media and entertainment, Gondwana led tourism and hospitality, and Meatco led agribusiness.

Mshasho was ranked the most admired Namibian sportswear and footwear brand, and MTC led the African Brand ranking among Namibian entries, followed by Mshasho Clothing and Namibian Breweries.

The Brand Africa 100 study is aligned with ISO 20252 standards and independently conducted by GeoPoll in partnership with Brand Leadership. Rankings are based on weighted brand affinity scores from spontaneous and prompted recall.