Brand South Africa Takes Business To Nigeria

The company responsible for creating positive and compelling brand image for South Africa, the

Brand South Africa, has identified the Nigerian market as a key focus for its Africa programme.

At a breakfast meeting held in Lagos recently, the outfit’s Chief Executive Officer, Miller Matola, disclosed that the choice of Nigeria alongside Angola, DRC, Ghana, Kenya and Senegal as key markets was informed by South Africa’s foreign policy, both political and economic diplomacy as well as trade and investment imperatives.

The meeting, put together by the Nigeria-South Africa Chamber of Commerce, NSACC, is a monthly affair that brings together individuals and corporate bodies with vested business interest in both Nigeria and the South African economies.

The August edition, sponsored by Brand South Africa, was themed ‘Africa’s Competitiveness: Nigeria/South Africa, Cooperation or Competition’.

According to Matola, the importance of the South Africa nation brand viz-a-viz the promotion of the African brand in view of developing the continent as a whole and competing at par with international standards.

He noted that, “Brand South Africa pursues its Africa Programme with an emphasis on promoting the South Africa nation brand as part of the continent brand, ‘Brand Africa’; therefore Africa’s reputation and competitiveness is central to that agenda.”

Matola challenged the organized African business and corporate brands to invest in changing the perception of Africa from negativity to positivity.

“There is no doubt about the power of commercial brands to convey the overall brand of their country of origin, be it innovation, excellence or quality, which will result in investment in changing the narrative about how Africa as a continent is perceived,” he declared.

He emphasised that the importance of the African nations having in-depth working and friendly relationships drawing conclusions from the 2013/14 Project Thrive Study on the familiarity of Nigerians with South Africa.

The study indicated that the average familiarity rate about South Africa amongst Nigerians stands at 46% and only 18% of the sample has a high knowledge base of South Africa.

Matola advised that it is imperative for each of the African nations to reflect a collective unity of the continent in order to improve the perceptions of Africans and Africa as a whole.

Mzwandile Masina, South Africa Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry was part of the Brand South Africa delegation to the breakfast meeting.