The 2026 Africa SABRE Awards, recognising outstanding achievements in branding, reputation, and engagement, concluded on March 17 at The Venue Melrose Arch in South Africa. The event saw more than 120 campaigns shortlisted from over 500 entries, with a jury of industry leaders evaluating submissions across multiple sectors and practice areas.
The Platinum SABRE Award for Best in Show was awarded to The Unburied Casket campaign by Women For Change in collaboration with Edelman Africa. Finalists in this category included Behind The Label by Salvation Army with Clockwork, From Promises To Proofs by The Presidency with Chain Reactions Africa, Afrobeats: Culture in Motion by Spotify with Irvine Partners, and AfroBEATanicals by AB InBEV – Black Crown with Retroviral & Run Jump Fly.
Brandspur Brand News reports that the Diamond SABRE Awards also recognised companies and individuals for excellence across multiple dimensions. KFC Africa won Company of the Year for The Recipe for Hope, Growth and Respect: How KFC Africa Redefined Brand Purpose, while Shameel Joosub of Vodacom was named CEO of the Year for Beyond the Headlines: How Vodacom’s CEO Reframed Risk Into Reputation.
Other practice area winners included Spotify with Afrobeats: Culture in Motion for superior brand-building, BMW Group South Africa with Board and Presidential Visit to BMW Plant Rosslyn for reputation management, and Blast Burson with From Monitoring to Meaning for research and planning. T2’s The Vibranium campaign received the award for measurement and evaluation.
Regional winners included Safaricom Ethiopia’s One Move Away campaign for Eastern Africa, GITEX Africa Morocco 2025 for Northern Africa, Salvation Army’s Behind The Label for Southern Africa, and Bluemind Foundation’s Heal by Hair for Western Africa. The International Finance Corporation won the Regional Campaign award for Changing Lives – One Credit Report at a Time, while African Development Bank Group’s AFAWA: Banking on Women was recognised as the Global Campaign winner.
The awards also highlighted excellence across industry sectors including corporate social responsibility, digital campaigns, public affairs, financial communications, and consumer marketing, celebrating campaigns from The Walt Disney Company Africa, Mastercard Africa, Microsoft, and other leading organisations.
The 2026 Africa SABRE Awards reaffirmed the growing sophistication and creativity of public relations and marketing across the continent, setting new benchmarks for brand strategy, social impact, and corporate reputation in Africa.
