These are South Africa’s most valuable brands – worth R295 billion

South Africa’s biggest brands at worth billions, with many comparable to international players in the banking and retail sectors.

According to Brand Finance’s latest rankings, the brand value of the top 10 most valuable South African brands stands at R295.2 billion.

The company said that 62% of the South Africa 100 ranking’s total value comes from banking, retail, and telecoms brands.

With a brand value of R50.7 billion, MTN is the country’s most valuable brand, retaining its crown which is has held since Brand Finance’s study into South African brands started in 2012.

MTN retaining its top spot comes amidst an extremely volatile period for the group, with its largest market, Nigeria, seeing several inflationary and regulatory challenges.

Despite this, Nigeria remains a large market for MTN, contributing a significant subscriber base.

MTN’s rival, Vodacom, is in second place, with a brand value R43.9 billion. At R37.8 billion, Standard Bank is in third place. The value of both companies is supported by their continent-wide footprints.

FNB (R29.2 billion), Absa Bank (R27.3 billion), Nedbank (R20.3 billion), and Investec (R20.1 billion) all ranked in the top 10 most valuable brands, with banks taking five of the top 10 positions.

Retail brands are also well represented in the top 10, with Checkers (R23.5 billion), Woolworths (R22.2 billion), and Shoprite (R20.1 billion).

The growth of Checkers and Woolworths is underpinned by increasing brand strength, resilting in higher brand revenues.

“This demonstrates the recovery of domestic retail brands due to improved consumer power and increased spending,” said Brand Finance.

Notably, over 62% of the South Africa 100 ranking’s total value comes from banking, retail and telecoms brands.

“The dominance of telecom, banking, and retail brands in brand value highlights their significant role in the lives of South African consumers.”

“The growth of these brands shows that, despite intense competition, South African brands rank amongst the strongest globally, reflecting the high quality of the services and products they offer.”

Brand Strength Analysis 

Brand Finance’s rankings also reveal significant shifts in the nation’s strongest brands, with retail taking the lead over banking.

Brand Finance determines the relative strength of brands by measuring many metrics, including marketing investment, stakeholder equity, and business performance.

Checkers, Clicks and Pick n Pay occupied the the top thee spots, with six of the top 10 strongest brands being in retail.

Financial service providers were lower on the list, with Capitec (5th) and First National Bank (8th) representing banking, while OUTsurance (6th) and Old Mutual (10th) representing insurance.

Notably, all of the top 10 brands earned AAA+ ratings, which is the highest brand strength rating awarded by Brand Finance.

These brands thus outperform leading global counterparts, with Checkers rated higher than Walmart in the US, Marks & Spencer in the UK, and Coles in Australia.

Capitec is also rated the sixth strongest banking brand globally, while OUTSurance and Old Mutual are among the strongest insurance brands worldwide.

Checkers, the strongest South African brand in 2025, rose from third place in 2024, with a rand Strength Index (BSI) score of 97.7 out of 100, a massive 7-point increase from the previous year.

“This surge is driven by outstanding domestic brand perceptions, including perfect 10 out of 10 scores in ‘brand I love’, engagement’ consideration, recommendation, and word of mouth,” said Brand Finance.

Its data also showed that consumers are extremely satisfied with Checkers’ pricing regime. Clicks came in second place, with a BSI score of 97.0, followed by Pick n Pay’s 96.8.

Despite its recent management upheaval and financial problems, Pick n Pay’s strong performance was due to improvements in the ‘brand I know well’, reputation, and several other key brand metrics.

Although the issues facing the group in recent times are being reported on heavily, such as being technically insolvent months ago, these concerns have not hugely impacted consumer perceptions.

Other retail brands in the top 10 include Mr Price, Dis-Chem, and Woolworths, with South African retail brands measuring up well against local and international brands.

“Brand Finance research shows South African consumers rate local retailers much higher than consumers rate retailers in other countries.”

“This highlights the strength and quality of South Africa’s retail market and the variety of options available to South African consumers.”