MTN retained its top spot as the most valuable African brand for the 13th consecutive year, with an estimated brand value of just over $2.9 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While MTN’s value remained stable over the last year, second-place holder Vodacom showed significant growth in its brand value during the same period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vodacom’s brand value, as reported in the 2026 report, had reached $2.75 billion, an increase of 8.6% from the previous year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This represented a significant closing of the gap between the two rival companies, not only due to an increase in Vodacom’s brand value but also a significant decline in MTN’s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
MTN’s brand value was more than double that of Vodacom’s in 2022 and reached a peak of almost $4.4 billion the following year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since then, however, MTN’s absolute brand value has contracted by approximately a third of its high, while Vodacom’s has increased by around 17.4% in the same period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
BFA attributed MTN’s declining lead to macroeconomic pressures and geographic risks, rather than an actual deterioration in its brand strength.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Specifically, the report highlighted economic volatility, inflation, and regulatory challenges in MTN’s Nigerian market as major drivers of this decline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The cumulative depreciation of the Nigerian Naira between 2023 and 2024 sharply reduced the dollar value of Nigeria’s revenue contribution to the group,” BFA said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“At the same time, the high discount rates applied to Nigerian and other higher-risk market cash flows further compress the present value of future brand earnings.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
MTN’s Nigeria operation contributes approximately 27% of the group’s revenue but nearly half of its profit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Aside from Nigeria, BFA pointed to increasingly volatile markets for MTN, such as Ghana, Sudan, and Iran, as compounding pressure on the company’s value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Alongside MTN’s brand value decline, Vodacom’s ability to consistently increase its value in recent years has narrowed the gap considerably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n BFA said this consistency was in large part due to Vodacom’s stronger operational focus and financial resilience compared to its rival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Vodacom has benefitted from stronger brand strength fundamentals in its core South African market, consistently outperforming MTN on customer-centric metrics,” the BFA said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These metrics include customer consideration, company reputation, and the quality of Vodacom’s products and services, BFA said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Combined with sustained network investment, such as 5G rollout now covering over 50% of South Africa’s population, this enabled steady value growth and narrowed the gap.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n The report pointed to Vodacom’s diversification strategy as one of the main drivers of the company’s value growth, citing its expansion into other territories across Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2017, Vodacom acquired a 35% ownership in Kenya’s largest telecoms provider Safaricom, which also appeared on BFA’s Top 200 report as Africa’s 45th most valuable brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Vodacom announced in December 2025 that it would acquire an additional 15% stake in Safaricom from the Kenyan government, but the Kenyan High Court has deferred this deal pending an investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The two telcos previously partnered in 2007 to launch the M-Pesa mobile money platform in Kenya, which has since been expanded to other countries across Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n M-Pesa appeared in BFA’s report at 65th place, bolstered by its strong sustainability credentials, and was described by BFA as a brand to watch in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The partnership has also allowed Vodacom to expand into markets such as Ethiopia, where it has held a 6.2% ownership stake in Safaricom’s Ethiopian operations since 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Vodacom-MTN-Chart-1200x701.png\")
Vodacom’s strategy is helping it succeed<\/h2>\n\n\n\n