Brand Africa to Announce the Africa’s Top 100 Most Admired and Most Valuable Brands

Merck Living Innovation (http://www.merckgroup.com), UNESCO, and the Minister of State for Health of Uganda will host an interactive webcast on 19 October, 09:30GMT, on the occasion of the UNESCO Merck Africa Research Summit - MARS (http://www.mars2015summit.org) to be held on the 19th and 20th of October in Geneva, Switzerland. Up to 100 scientists/researchers from all over Africa, were selected to attend the Summit in Geneva. Merck Living Innovation will announce the five African winners of the awards for Emergent Young Researchers. The first three award winners will have a fellowship program for 6 month in Merck R&D hub in Germany and Switzerland. Journalists interested in participating in this interactive webcast will be able to ASK QUESTIONS LIVE VIA THE INTERNET. The UNESCO-Merck Africa Research Summit - MARS aims to bring together researchers from across Africa (more than 30 countries) to discuss the generation, sharing and dissemination of research data and to prepare for the road ahead in Africa’s development as an international hub for research excellence and scientific innovation. The annual Summit aims to contribute to building research capacity in the African research community, with special focus on Ebola and emergent infectious diseases. The Summit will also showcase innovative research taking place in projects, programs and initiatives across African universities, and by the wider African research community. It also aims to Identify Scientific Research Priorities for Evolving Health Needs, and identify opportunities to Capitalise on HIV Research Capacities for Emerging Infectious Diseases in Africa such as Ebola. UNESCO-MARS will be conducted on a yearly basis which will ensure significant sustainable impact on access to high quality and innovative healthcare solutions, building research capacity and sustaining innovation across Africa. Brand Africa to Announce the Africa’s Top 100 Most Admired and Most Valuable Brands Brand Africa (www.brandafrica.org) is to release its highly anticipated 4th Brand Africa 100:  Africa’s Best Brands rankings of the Top 100 Most Admired and Most Valuable brands in Africa at a Gala event at Sandton Convention Center on 22 October 2015. The rankings, first launched in 2011 at the second Brand Africa FORUM, have been held in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2011 in partnership with Brand South Africa, in Nairobi, Kenya in 2014 in partnership with the Kenya Securities Exchange and in New York in 2013  partnership with African Business ion the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. This year, the scope and sample countries have been vastly expanded from a base of 8 countries in the past years to 22 countries covering every leading African economy, all 5 political regions and economic zones – making it the only and most representative and comprehensive pan-African study on brands in Africa. Brand Africa 100 is a proprietary approach developed by Brand Leadership Group in partnership with Brand Finance plc, the world’s leading independent valuation consultancy, TNS, the globally respected consumer knowledge and information company and Geopoll, the leading mobile survey platform with a database of nearly 200m users in emerging markets. “These rankings are an important metric of the progress Africa is making in building made in Africa brands and challenging the dominant non-African brands in Africa which over the years have accounted for 80% of the most admired brands in Africa and a dominant 99% share of the value of the Top 100,” says Thebe Ikalafeng, Founder and Chairman – Brand Africa. “While non-African brands dominate Africa because of their sheer volumes, historical admiration and investment, it is important for Africa’s ultimate economic independence that it competes for a larger share of its own consumer base, which is estimated will reach a population of 2bn by 2050 and achieve consumer expenditure of $1 trillion by 2020.  Equally, the license for non-African brands to thrive in Africa will be determined no longer by history and economic might, but by how they adapt to the evolving and increasingly assertive African consumer who demand brands that reflect their needs, conditions and ambitions.” The Gala will be hosted by Brand South Africa and supported by Brand Finance, TNS, Geopoll, SA Mint, Fresh RSVP, SA Mint, African Business, CNBC Africa, M&G Africa, African Media Agency, Blue Media and Fresh RSVP. Simphiwe Dana, a multi-platinum-selling award-winning South African Afro-Jazz-Soul singer and songwriter and Congolese-born TRESOR, a multi platinum selling DRC born singer-songwriter will entertain the guest, who will be feasting on the pan-African culinary delights of award-winning and international culinary star and Foodnetwork host, Siba Mtongana. The Brand Africa 100® results will be published by African Business magazine on sale globally from the 26 October 2015 and online by Mail&Guardian Africa post the awards, and broadcast on CNBC Africa in an awards highlights special. Brand Africa (www.brandafrica.org) is a brand-led pan-African intergenerational movement to inspire a great Africa through creating a positive image of Africa, celebrating its diversity and driving its competitiveness.  Distributed by APO (African Press Organization) on behalf of Brand South Africa.