Brand South Africa: Building an enduring relationship

The Eko Hotel & Suites is busy on a cool Thursday morning. The large convention centre has been divided into smaller units with different events taking place in all of it simultaneously. In one of these ball rooms, trade partners from Nigeria and South Africa are seated behind breakfast table at the monthly breakfast meeting organised by the Nigeria-South Africa Chamber of Commerce on Thursday. The meeting has become necessary for the two countries as they both work towards a mutually beneficial trading relationship.

With Brand South Africa’s, the agency responsible for creating positive and compelling brand image for South Africa, identification of Nigeria market as a key focus for its Africa programme, it has become necessary for the two countries to continue to work together as the two powerhouses of the continent.

Miller Matola, Brand South Africa chief executive officer, says the choice of Nigeria along-with Angola, DRC, Ghana, Kenya and Senegal as key markets is informed by South Africa’s foreign policy, both political and economic diplomacy as well as trade and investment imperatives.

 “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 says.

Matola also explains 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 also calls on the organised 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 says.

In addition, Matola says 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 percent and only 18 percent of the sample has a high knowledge base of South Africa.

He advises 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, Trade and Industry, was part of the Brand South Africa delegation to the breakfast meeting.

With the theme Africa’s Competitiveness – Nigeria/South Africa, Cooperation or Competition’, the breakfast meeting was sponsored by Brand South Africa.

The Nigeria-South Africa Chamber of Commerce breakfast meeting is a monthly event which brings together individuals and corporates with vested business interest in both Nigeria and the South African economies.

FUNKE OSAE-BROWN