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Top 50 Brands: Dangote Now the Most Valuable Brand in Nigeria

Nigeria’s Dangote has emerged the most valuable brand among the top 50 brands in Nigeria for 2018 which were unveiled at the weekend in Lagos.
This is coming barely three months after the brand was adjudged the most admired brand of African origin by Consumers in a brand rating coordinated by South Africa based Brand Leadership in conjunction with Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE).
Brand Nigeria, the Agency that coordinated the survey in Nigeria, in its report lauded the efforts of the handlers of the Dangote Brand because this is the first time a Nigerian brand would be achieving the feat since 2013.
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Unveiling the list of the top 50 brands at an event attended by top executives of leading corporate organizations in the country as well as stakeholders in Marketing and Advertising Industry, Mr. Taiwo Oluboyede, the Head of Brand Nigeria explained that 46 percent of the top brands amounting to 23 are Nigerian brands.
Giving the highlights of the brands rating, he stated that Promasidor Nigeria Limited emerged the highest gainer jumping 15 points from last year, the followed by the trio of BUA, Nine Mobile and Olam all of which moved 12 points from last year position, while seven brands, Conoil, Channels TV, Union Bank, Access Bank, Chi, Toyota, and GTBank maintained their positions.
He stated further that Fidelity bank came as a first entrant this year and Stallion Group making a fresh return to the top 50 brands this having exited before.
The top 50 brands in Nigeria, Soboyede maintained are the brands that have succeeded in delivering their promises to the consumers. “They are fast growing in value and they are the drivers of our economy. The top brands this year are those that have been able to analyse needs, see opportunities by creating solutions to them and communicating same to the consumers.
“They have also become so good at it that the consumers often refer to them with the name of the need they meet that is their products or services. These brands have found how to deliver something special often times.”
Giving insights into how the evaluation of the top 50 brands was carried out, Soboyede said: “we used the Brand Strength Model (BSM index). It is model that measures a brand’s ability to deliver on its promise to the consumers from the consumer’s point of view. The model uses basic qualitative elements and there are seven variables that goes into the BSM model”.
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According to the variables starts with a test of people’s knowledge and affinity with the brands operational in Nigeria. We had a top on the mind survey where people tell us brads that easily come to their mind or brand they can recall.
“Other variables in the model are innovation-this is a test how innovative a brand service delivery is; Quality-this checks some factors that enhance consumer’s confidence in product delivery; Category Leadership-this is a classification of brands within their industry; Online engagements-this checks how active the brand’s online platforms are and how engaging it has been from last evaluation; National Spread-this checks operational presence of a brand across the country.”
Chief Corporate Communication Officer of the Dangote Group, Anthony Chiejina said the management was not surprised at the ranking because the company has continuously deepened and delivered on its core values is to be a world-class enterprise that is passionate about the quality of life of the people and giving high returns to stakeholders.
“And this philosophy is driven by values, which include customer service, entrepreneurship, excellence and leadership. In any of our subsidiaries, the focus is to provide local, value-added products and services that meet the ‘basic needs’ of the populace. Through the construction and operation of large scale manufacturing facilities in Nigeria and across Africa, the Group is focused on building local manufacturing capacity to generate employment, prevent capital flight and provide locally produced goods for the people.
“The expansion of our business especially the Cement which has operations in 14 African countries including Nigeria, Benin, Ghana, Senegal, South Africa and Zambia, among others has added to popularity of our company and the products, Mr. Chiejina stated.
It would be recalled that back in July, the Dangote brand came atop in the ranking of 100 best brands in Africa themed “Brand Africa:100”, the sixth edition announced in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The Brand leadership in the ranking list said of Dangote brand “Nigerian industrial brand Dangote is the number one African brand recalled when consumers are prompted about the continent (Africa) of origin while the South African tele-communications brand MTN is the number one African brand spontaneously recalled irrespective of continent of origin.
The United States sports and fitness brand, Nike, is the overall brand in Africa spontaneously recalled by consumers.
The Brand Africa 100 ranking is based on a survey among consumers 18 years and older, conducted in 23 countries across Africa. The countries, representing all African economic regions, collectively account for 75% of the population and the 74% of the GDP of Africa.
African brands rose slightly to account for 17% of the Top 100 brands in Africa, non-African brands retained their firm position in Africa with 83% share of the Top 100 most admired brands in Africa. Brands from Europe leads the table with 40%, North America at 24% and Asia 19%. West Africa 6% with only Nigerian brands and Southern Africa 6%.
The Top 100 is dominated by technology and electronic brands (29%), consumer (non-cyclical) (19%), apparel (15%), automobile (8%), food (7%) and sports & fitness (5%) categories are the top categories.
News
Twelve Inmates Escape in Kotonkarfe Jailbreak

Twelve inmates have escaped from the Federal Correctional Centre in Kotonkarfe, Kogi State, following an early morning jailbreak on Monday.
Confirming the incident, the Kogi State Commissioner for Information, Kingsley Fanwo, described it as “unfortunate” and assured the public that the government, in collaboration with security agencies, was taking measures to prevent a recurrence.
According to Fanwo, law enforcement officers have already re-arrested one of the escapees.
“The theory that the inmates escaped through the tower without causing any structural damage raises serious concerns. This calls for a thorough investigation to determine the exact circumstances of the escape, arrest the fleeing inmates, and identify possible saboteurs within the system,” he stated.
The commissioner further disclosed that Governor Usman Ododo has directed security agencies to ensure that such breaches do not happen again.
“We call on the public to report any suspicious individuals in their communities. Anyone found harbouring an escaped inmate will be held accountable,” Fanwo warned.
Reassuring residents, he added: “There is no cause for panic. We encourage citizens to go about their daily activities as normal, knowing that the security of lives and property remains our top priority.”
Authorities have yet to disclose further details about the escapees or ongoing efforts to apprehend them.
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Trump Ends Legal Status for Over 500,000 Immigrants, Orders Mass Expulsions

The United States has announced the termination of legal status for over 500,000 immigrants, ordering them to leave the country within weeks, as President Donald Trump pushes forward with what he calls the largest deportation campaign in American history.
The sweeping directive, issued on Friday, affects approximately 532,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans who arrived under a programme launched by Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, in October 2022 and later expanded in January 2023.
According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the affected immigrants will lose their legal protections 30 days after the order is published in the Federal Register on Tuesday. This means they must leave the United States by 24 April, unless they secure another immigration status permitting them to stay.
Welcome.US, an organisation that supports asylum seekers, has urged those impacted to “immediately” seek legal counsel regarding their options.
A Reversal of Biden’s Immigration Policy
The Processes for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans (CHNV) programme, introduced in January 2023, allowed up to 30,000 migrants per month from these nations to enter the United States for two years. The initiative was designed to offer a “safe and humane” alternative to the dangerous crossings at the US-Mexico border, which had seen a surge in arrivals.
However, the DHS reiterated on Friday that the programme was never meant to provide permanent residency.
“Parole is inherently temporary, and parole alone is not an underlying basis for obtaining any immigration status, nor does it constitute an admission to the United States,” the agency stated.
Mass Deportations Under Trump
Trump, who has made immigration control a cornerstone of his presidency, has vowed to crack down on migrants—particularly those from Latin America.
Last week, he invoked rare wartime legislation to deport more than 200 alleged members of a Venezuelan gang to El Salvador, a country that has controversially offered to imprison both migrants and U.S. citizens at a discounted rate.
The latest order signals Trump’s intent to follow through on his hardline immigration policies, raising concerns among human rights advocates about the humanitarian impact of such mass deportations.
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Trump’s Foreign Aid Cuts Push 80,000 Nigerian Children to Brink of Starvation – UNICEF

Tens of thousands of malnourished Nigerian children face a dire future as lifesaving food supplies are set to run dry, the United Nations Children’s Agency (UNICEF) warned on Friday, attributing the crisis to a funding shortfall exacerbated by U.S. foreign aid cuts under President Donald Trump’s administration.
The agency said that within the next two months, 80,000 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition in Nigeria could lose access to vital treatment, while a total of 1.3 million children under five in Nigeria and Ethiopia remain at risk of starvation this year.
“Without new funding, we will run out of our supply chain of Ready-to-Use-Therapeutic-Food by May, and that means that 70,000 children in Ethiopia that depend on this type of treatment cannot be served,” UNICEF’s Deputy Executive Director, Kitty Van der Heijden, said in a video press briefing from Abuja. “Interruption to continuous treatment is life-threatening.”
The situation in Nigeria is even more urgent, with UNICEF warning that food supplies for malnourished children could be exhausted as early as the end of this month. Van der Heijden recounted a harrowing experience at a hospital in Maiduguri, where she saw a child so severely malnourished that her skin was peeling off.
U.S. Aid Suspension Escalates Crisis
UNICEF’s funding crisis follows a significant drop in international donor contributions in recent years, compounded by the U.S. government’s decision to halt all foreign aid for 90 days upon Trump’s return to the White House in January.
According to Reuters, the U.S., a major donor to UNICEF, implemented sweeping suspensions on USAID programmes worldwide, disrupting the delivery of essential food and medical aid. The impact has been catastrophic, with global humanitarian efforts thrown into disarray.
“This funding crisis will become a child survival crisis,” Van der Heijden warned, adding that the abrupt nature of the cuts left UNICEF unable to cushion the impact.
Health Services Crippled in Ethiopia
Beyond food shortages, UNICEF highlighted the devastating effects of the funding crunch on health services in Ethiopia. Programmes providing nutrition and malaria care for pregnant women and children have suffered, with 23 mobile health clinics shut down in Afar, leaving only seven operational.
As the crisis unfolds, humanitarian organisations continue to urge global donors to step in and prevent a full-blown catastrophe. Without urgent intervention, tens of thousands of children in Nigeria and Ethiopia may not survive the coming months.
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