This week, Brand Africa launched Africa’s Best Places, a pan-African initiative that will recognise the top places for tourism, investment and citizen mobilisation on the continent.
The idea was born when Brand Africa’s Africa’s Best Brands survey revealed that only 20% of the most admired brands in Africa are African.
Through the Africa’s Best Places initiative, Brand Africa hopes to inspire pride, raise the standards and grow the competitiveness of African places countries, cities and destinations.
Brand Africa Chairman, Thebe Ikalafeng, revealed plans for the initiative at the Intra-Africa Trade Fair 2021 in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal and shared the hope that it will contribute to the greater development and image of the continent,
“Despite being rich in valued mineral resources, enviable indigenous fauna and flaura, a youthful population and being the second most populous continent accounting for 17.5% of world population, Africa attracts roughly only five percent of the world's inbound tourism and FDI.”, Ikalafeng said.
The Africa’s Best Places initiative is structured into two primary categories:
Adjudicated awards
In the adjudicated awards category, African private and public institutions, agencies and practitioners can submit entries for initiatives and campaigns for tourism, trade and investment, economic development and citizen mobilization implemented internally in Africa or externally for Africa.
Rankings
In the rankings category, an independent pan-African survey among citizens, visitors and investors will be undertaken to determine the best places for tourism, investment and to live.
The awards are open to global and African private and public institutions, agencies and practitioners. Entries open 1 January 2022 and close 30 April 2022.
The adjudication, by a diverse and representative global African panel of eminent of place branding experts, thought leaders, academia, policy and decision makers and practitioners. The inaugural awards will be presented live 1 September 2022. Interested parties can register at www.brand.africa/places to receive further information. This portal will also be the channel to enter the awards.
