Africa’s MTN among the world’s top brands

MTN came in at position 88 globally at US$9.273 billion valuation.

Technology based firms occupied the top three slots. Apple Company became the world’s most valued company at a staggering US$182 billion. IBM came in second at US$115 billion and Google slipped to third place, from second last year, with valuation of US$107 billion.

Jennifer Roberti, Executive for Marketing MTN Group, said she was humbled by the mention of the company.

Launched in 1994, the MTN Group is a multinational telecommunications group operating in 21 countries across Africa, Asia and the Middle East. The company is listed at South Africa’s Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), the largest stock exchange in Africa.

Brand Finance Global 500 grading also listed MTN among the most valued brands worldwide. According to Brand Finance Global 500, this is due to its coverage of 170 million users in 22 Africa and the Middle East.

In 2011, MTN was graded as the most valuable brand in South Africa. This came after the company was valued at US$4.7 billion, last year. The report showed MTN South Africa’s revenues grew by 13 percent. MTN Nigeria contributed 25 percent of the revenue growth.

This shows the positive underlying factor in the company’s performance.

The study, now in its seventh year, was conducted by Millward Brown Optimor and was commissioned by WPP (Wire and Plastic Products) one of the largest advertising companies in the world.

The study concentrated on the market value of the companies. It was carried out across 40 countries with over 2 million interviews.

It evaluated brand strength among category users by asking consumers to compare brands within a specific competitive frame, BrandZ can determine market dynamics based on the way consumers shop the category.

Earlier this month, MTN released its report Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) for the company ending March 31.