Another major international company quitting South Africa
Global media analytics and data group Nielsen has given notice that it plans to exit South Africa within the next 12 months.
Nielsen is a global leader in audience measurement, data and analytics and provides services for a host of local industries, including providing data for the Broadcast Research Council (BRC) of South Africa’s Television Audience Measurement (TAMS).
The group, founded in 1923, is one of the world’s biggest market research and data analytics companies with operations in over 100 countries, employing over 30,000 people.
The group has local offices in South Africa, operating at The Link in Rosebank, Johannesburg.
Other local services it offers include media planning, marketing optimisation, content data services and insights reporting.
The group told BusinessTech it decided to exit South Africa after a business review.
“As a best practice, we conduct business reviews in all the markets in which we operate. After considerable review, we have made the difficult decision to close our local operations in South Africa and have notified our employees and the Broadcast Research Council,” the group said.
The BRC is a non-profit industry body which operates as an independent entity that sees to the audience measurement needs of the radio, television, marketing and advertising industries in South Africa.
In addition to the TAMS, the BRC oversees the Radio Audience Measurement Survey (RAMS).
Responding to Nielsen’s planned exit, the BRC said that it would lead a transition to a new company that will manage local audience measurement services.
The group said that a new service provider has been identified to take over from Nielsen, and formal appointment processes are being finalised.
“The BRC is engaging with Nielsen to secure continuity of data during the handover period. Details will be announced within two weeks,” it said.
The full deployment of the new system will take approximately 15 to 18 months. Interim measures are being prepared to ensure continuity of data, it said.
The BRC said that Nielsen indicated to that it would be exiting South Africa within the next 12 months.
NIelsen said it was committed to working with the BRC and its newly identified partner to ensure continuity of service.
“We will continue to fulfill our contractual commitments to our valued clients through a lengthy transition period,” it said.
“This decision does not impact our commitment to the EMEA region and our broader plans to drive growth across a range of markets, clients, and solutions.”
Nielsen also has a wider brand representation in the consumer market research sector through NielsenIQ (NIQ), which was spun off from Nielsen Holdings in 2021.
While NIQ operates from the same offices as Nielsen, it is a separate entity and has confirmed that it has no plans to exit South Africa.
“NielsenIQ is not exiting South Africa. We continue to serve as the independent, trusted leader for global consumer and media data in South Africa and across the region,” it said.
High profile exits
Nielsen is just the latest in a growing list of international companies that have exited or plan to exit South Africa.
Most recently, global consultancy Bain & Company wound up its local operations after failing to get back in the good graces of the South African government and rebuild trust with local companies.
Another notable and historic company, Anglo American, has also largely wrapped up and exited significant parts of its local operations, including the most recent move away from platinum mining.
Shell is another big brand that has downscaled its local presence significantly, offloading its downstream and forecourt operations.
Over the past year, South Africa has seen some wider exits in the finance space, with international banks like HSBC, BNP Paribas, Barclays Plc, Standard Chartered Plc, and Societe Generale also shutting up shop.
While these banks had relatively small operations in South Africa, it signalled a wider downturn for global players in South Africa.
Despite these high-profile exits, South Africa is still drawing international investment with big global groups also landing in the country, particularly in the leisure and travel space.
Club Med is launching its first resort in South Africa in the next year, and luxury brand, OKU Hotels, is also making its debut in the country after purchasing the rundown Ritz Hotel in Seapoint, Cape Town.
Tata Motors will also be returning to South Africa and selling a host of new passenger vehicles, and Australian mining group, West Wits Mining will also open South Africa’s first new underground gold mine in 15 years.
Loading ...