- Telco giant Safaricom is the most valuable Kenyan brand, estimated at $648 million. It also has the highest Sustainability Perceptions Value at $93 million.
- Equity Bank and Kenya Commercial Bank rank second and third most valuable brands and top-two strongest brands with impressive AAA+ ratings.
- Crown Paints Kenya is the fastest-growing Kenyan brand, up 70 percent
Safaricom’s value went up by 14 per cent to $648 million over the past year maintaining its position as Kenya’s most valued brand even as lenders Equity and KCB regional expansion drive also paid dividends as measured by consultancy Brand Finance.
Brand Finance East Africa Regional Director Walter Serem says Safaricom has shown considerable resilience during difficult operating conditions over the past year. In the period under review, East Africa’s most profitable telco registered significant revenue growth, while successfully completing the first two years of its five-year strategy.
This strategy is guided by the purpose of transforming the lives of stakeholders and the communities that it serves. Safaricom is also rolling out its entry into Ethiopia, a market it hopes it can expand to reach the level of its Kenya operation within 10 years.
Safaricom launched commercial operations in Ethiopia on October 6, last year and managed to acquire 740,000 subscribers by the close of that month, and earned just over $0.7 million in revenue from the market in the first month. Already, its subscriber base if close to three million people and plans are underway to launch mobile money transfer service M-PESA in the market of over 100 million population.
“Kenya’s top brands have demonstrated some considerable resilience over the past year, clearly shown by the brand value growth achieved by all the top-five most valuable brands in the ranking. This is all-the-more impressive considering the difficult operating conditions that Kenyan brands have faced over the past few year,” Serem noted.
Safaricom registered the highest in Sustainability Perceptions Value at $93 million highlighting the value that the company has tied up in the sustainability perception of stakeholders. Safaricom also ranked favorably high with a Sustainability Perceptions Score at 6.46 out of 10.
According to the report, the banking sector was the most valuable in the Kenya 25 2023 ranking accounting for seven of the brands included, with a combined value of $1.2 billion. This was 49 percent of the total brand value in the ranking and was up a total 31 percent year-on-year.
Equity Bank
Regional lender Equity Bank, which has had a successful year registered 51 percent brand value growth to $485 million. This helped it maintain its position as Kenya’s second most valuable brand, closing the gap with Safaricom at the top of the ranking.
Equity Bank now has a presence in six African countries and a commercial representative office in Ethiopia. Equity now covers a geographical market with a population of approximately 438 million people. This has helped the bank achieve record net profits this year, up 15 percent year-on-year, driven by a 28 percent growth in total income, the report explained.
In addition to calculating brand value, Brand Finance also determines the relative strength of brands through a balanced scorecard of metrics evaluating marketing investment, stakeholder equity, and business performance.
Brand value refers to the present value of earnings that can be specifically attached to a brand’s reputation. Organizations own and control the trademark rights on a brand, that is, the collection of trademarks and other intellectual properties that can be used for business.
Equity Bank is also the strongest with a Brand Strength Index score of 92 out of 100, earning it an elite AAA+ brand rating for the second consecutive year.
Read: Debt burden, high inflation adding growth vulnerabilities to Africa
Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) brand value went up by 24 percent to $347 million was the only other brand in the ranking to achieve AAA+ status, with a Brand Strength Index score of 90 out of 100. This was a three-point, year-on-year increase. It was also Kenya’s third most valuable brand in 2023.
KCB’s regional expansion drive saw it acquire DRC Congo’s Trust Merchant Bank (TMB) in 2021, a move that came after its recent entry into Kigali through the acquisition of Banque Populaire du Rwanda (BPR). This continued expansion strategy has helped KCB brand reach more customers and ultimately boost its band value growth, Brand Finance said.
The Co-Operative Bank of Kenya, which saw its brand value edge by 40 per cent to $200 million, came in fifth position in the ranking, and the third of the trio of banks that made the top five of the Kenya 25 2023 ranking.
In the review Crown Paints Kenya came out as the fastest growing brand, gaining 70 percent to $15.6 million in value. With new regional operations in Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda, Crown Paints Kenya has benefitted from the phasing out of pandemic-induced curbs in East Africa over the past year. Further, the construction industry in the region has begun to pick up, there has been an increase in demand for its products, contributing to a jump in revenues.
Forex volatility
The re-bound in the construction industry has, however, been slightly slowed by the rising costs of raw materials and volatility in foreign exchange rates, noted Brand Finance.
Every year, leading brand valuation consultancy Brand Finance puts 5,000 of the biggest brands to the test, and publishes over 100 reports, ranking brands across all sectors and countries. The world’s top 25 most valuable and strongest Kenyan brands are included in the annual Brand Finance Kenya 25 2023 ranking.
As part of its analysis, Brand Finance assesses the role that specific brand attributes play in driving overall brand value. One such attribute, growing rapidly in its significance, is sustainability. Brand Finance assesses how sustainable specific brands are perceived to be, represented by a ‘Sustainability Perceptions Score’. The value that is linked to sustainability perceptions, the ‘Sustainability Perceptions Value’, is then calculated for each brand.
According to Brand Finance CEO David Haigh, brand value can inform decision-making related to marketing and branding efforts for a company as well as provide a benchmark for future performance.
Brand value can also be used to attract potential investors and help secure financing. Further, brand valuation can be useful in the event of a merger or acquisition, as it can help determine the value of the brand being acquired. Overall, brand valuation helps organisations understand the worth of their brand and how it fits into their overall business strategy.
