WHY THIS, WHY NOW
Two events make this urgent now: the 16th Brand Africa 100 (3 June 2026) shows African brands rebounding to 15% of the most-admired list — the sharpest single-year gain on record — yet Africans still rank non-African brands highest for the 16th straight year; and Brand Africa just launched the inaugural Africa CMO 100, the first authoritative map of African marketing leadership. The structural question — why African cultural influence doesn't translate into African brand dominance on the continent's own shelves — is his life's work, and the data just got sharper.
THE QUESTIONS WE’D PUT
- 01
African brands recovered to 15% of the most-admired list — the sharpest single-year gain on record. What drove it, and why should we believe it's structural, not cyclical?
- 02
ACMO 100 effectively maps African marketing leadership for the first time. What does that map reveal about where power actually sits inside the continent's brand economy — and where the gaps are most dangerous?
- 03
From Brand Africa's research, how long can African cultural equity keep subsidising non-African brand value before the reputational arbitrage closes — and what would closing it actually look like?
- 04
Rooted and Rising urges Africans to be originators, not imitators. Having built your toolkit at Colgate and Nike, how do you navigate that tension — and what do you tell the next generation of African CMOs?
- 05
Brand Africa targets ≥50% indigenous brands among Africa's most admired by 2050. Given the barriers you measure yearly, is that a credible horizon or principled optimism?
A conversation we’re pursuing — the brief and questions, openly. Sourced, never fabricated.