A two-day programme of celebration and collective action, from the Hyatt Regency rooftop to Africa Hall, marks a defining moment for African brand leadership
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, June 2026 -/African Media Agency(AMA)/ –
Against the skyline of Africa’s diplomatic capital, with the sun setting
over the Ethiopian highlands, the inaugural Africa CMO 100 (ACMO100)
celebration brought together marketing and brand leaders from across the
continent and diaspora on the rooftop terrace of the Hyatt Regency Addis
Ababa. The evening, presented by ABSA, was hosted by Brand Africa in
partnership with the African Union Commission and Opportunity Africa,
and marked the first formal recognition of the 100 Most Influential
African and Diaspora CMOs.
Collectively the honourees hail from 21 African nations that together
generate more than US$2.3 trillion, over 80% of Africa’s GDP. The brands
and companies they lead generate, on latest reported full-year figures,
combined revenues approaching US$750 to 800 billion globally. The
African-headquartered brands on the list – the telcos, banks, retailers
and industrials that report mostly African revenue – account for roughly
US$140 billion on their own. It’s a formidable list of the most
influential list.
The two-day programme in Addis Ababa, part of Brand Africa Week 2026,
opened with the ACMO100 celebration on 23 May and continued on 24 May at
Africa Hall, the historic home of the Economic Commission for Africa and
founding site of the Organisation of African Unity, the predecessor to
the African Union, where the honourees convened under the patronage of
the African Union Commission, Brand Africa, Opportunity Africa and ABSA
to develop a blueprint for driving a made-in-Africa and buy-Africa
agenda.
A Historic Evening in the Heart of Africa
Welcomed to the rooftop terrace as the Addis Ababa skyline turned to
gold, guests were addressed by Thebe Ikalafeng, Founder and Chairman of
Brand Africa; Fana Abay, President of the Ethiopian Marketing
Professionals Association (EMPA); and a representation from ABSA
delivered by Mwihaki Wachira, CMO of ABSA Kenya. The African Union
Commission was represented by Faith Ochieng Odhiambo, delivering a
message on behalf of Mrs. Leslie Richer, Director of Information and
Communication, and Biniam Taye Endeshaw, the Deputy Commissioner for the
Addis Ababa City Tourism Commission.
“Tonight is more than a celebration of individuals. It is a celebration
of the unseen influence behind the brands that shape how Africa sees
itself and how the world sees Africa,” Thebe Ikalafeng – Founder and
Chairman, Brand Africa and Convenor, ACMO.
“Africa does not have a talent problem. What became abundantly clear
through this process is that Africa possesses world-class marketing
leadership . . . leaders capable of building globally competitive brands
while understanding perhaps better than anyone what it takes to win the
African consumer,” he concluded.
The African Union: Brands as Instruments of Integration
Delivering a message on behalf of the Director of Information and
Communication of the African Union Commission, Faith Ochieng Odhiambo
underscored the strategic alignment between Africa’s top marketing
leaders and the continent’s ambitions under Agenda 2063 and the African
Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
“CMOs are not simply marketing products or services, they are shaping
perceptions, and influencing consumer behaviour, cultural confidence,
and how Africa positions itself in the global economy,” Faith Ochieng
Odhiambo, on behalf of Mrs. Leslie Richer, Director of Information and
Communication, African Union Commission.
ABSA: The Story as Africa’s Greatest Technology
Delivering the keynote address on behalf of Sydney Nhlanhla Mbhele,
ACMO100 honouree and Group Chief Marketing Officer of ABSA, Mwihaki
Wachira, CMO of ABSA Kenya reflected on African storytelling as the
original and most enduring instrument of marketing. Her address, ‘The
Heartbeat of a Continent: The Power of African Storytelling’, drew on
philosophy, tradition and the demands of modern brand leadership.
“For too long, the ‘African Story’ was a commodity sold by outsiders.
But look around you. The mirror is shattered, and the lion has found his
voice. The campfire is no longer just in the village; it is on every
smartphone, in every boardroom, and on every streaming platform. The
world is hungry for the soul of Africa,” Mwihaki Wachira, CMO – ABSA
Kenya on behalf of Sydney Mbhele, Group CMO – ABSA Group. “Our
stories matter,” she concluded.
The ACMO100: Independent, Pan-African, Comprehensive
The ACMO100 is produced by Brand Africa in association with African
Business magazine, MIPAD and African Media Agency (AMA). The selection
process, drawing on nominations by former CMOs, clients, creative and
strategy advisors and leaders and thought leaders; editorial research;
peer review, and validation covered all six economic regions of Africa
and extended into the diaspora, affirming the breadth and depth of
African marketing excellence. The list is unpaid, unsponsored and not
self-nominated, underscoring its independence and integrity.
The honourees attended alongside over 80 senior agency, government and
local CMOs. Honourees who were represented at the celebration among the
exclusive invite-only cocktail for marketing, business and media guests,
included Africa’s leading CMO’s covering every economic region in
Africa:
Abdulkadir Hussein
CMO
BGI Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Bienvenu Mayamonuswa
Marketing Director
Airtel DRC
Democratic Republic of Congo
Catherine Ndungu
Marketing and Innovations Director
Uganda Breweries
Kenya
Dagmawi Zeleke
Chief Communications Director
Ethiopian Investment Holdings
Ethiopia
El Hadi Mohamed Hamma
Marketing Director
Henkel
Algeria
Frans Mashao
CEO
Wise Media Agency
South Africa
Gugu Mthembu
CMO
Telkom
South Africa
Henok Tsegaye
Marketing Director
Clean Material PLC
Ethiopia
Joseph Kanyamunyu
CEO
Publics Africa
Uganda
Kwame Senou
CEO
THOP
Ivory Coast
Larry Nyenty
CMO
Ecobank
Cameroon
Matilda Nyathi
CMO
CBZ Holdings
Zimbabwe
Maureen Ifada
CMO
Friesland Campina
Nigeria
Mmaphuti Rankapole-Tshifularo
CMO
Brand South Africa
South Africa
Moky Makura
Executive Director
Africa No Filter
United Kingdom
Mounir Jazouli
Chief Communication & Institutional Relations Officer
Bank of Africa
Morocco
Mwihaki Wachira
CMO
ABSA Kenya
Kenya
Oluyomi Moses
Country Marketing Officer
LafargeHolcim
Nigeria
Pat Mahlangu
CEO
Lerato Agency and Youth Owned
Brands Awards (YOBA)
South Africa
Raquel Capitão
Director of Marketing & Communications
Africell Angola
Angola
Sechaba Motsieloa
Former CMO
McDonald’s
South Africa
Sobhuza Ngwenya
Marketing Director
TNM
Malawi
Tim Ekandjo
CMO
MTC
Namibia
Wangechi Gitahi
Head of Marketing
Nile Breweries
Kenya
Zelalem Wondemariam
Founder
Craft Addis
Ethiopia
Day Two: Africa Hall and the CMO Blueprint
On 24 May 2026, the ACMO100 honourees reconvened at Africa Hall, the
landmark United Nations Economic Commission for Africa venue where the
Organisation of African Unity was founded in 1963, for a closed working
session that moved from celebration to collective action. Under the
patronage of the African Union, Brand Africa and Opportunity Africa, the
continent’s most influential marketing leaders spent the day sharing
insights and lived experience to develop a draft blueprint for the AU
and Brand Africa on three interlocking priorities: driving a
made-in-Africa and buy-Africa agenda; leveraging intra-African trade to
build continental brands and industries; and shaping a bold,
self-authored African narrative for the world.
The convening of Africa’s top CMOs inside Africa Hall, a space that
carries the full weight of the continent’s political and institutional
history, was itself a deliberate signal: that brand leadership,
narrative power and economic integration are inseparable instruments of
the Africa that Agenda 2063 envisions.
Opportunity Africa: #NotWaiting
The day closed with the pre-launch of the Opportunity Africa global
campaign, #NotWaiting — presented by Moky Makura, Executive Director
of Africa No Filter. Focused on African youth, the campaign is designed
to fundamentally reshape the global African narrative: replacing deficit
framing with defiance, and aid-dependency tropes with the confidence of
a continent that is not waiting for permission to define itself.
Opportunity Africa (www.opportunityafrica.africa) is a pan-African
movement co-led by Africa No Filter and Brand Africa. The #NotWaiting
campaign marks its first major global activation, channelling the energy
of Africa’s youth as the primary storytellers and protagonists of a new
African identity.
“#NotWaiting is about making our stories more visible to Africans
first. Because if we begin to look at ourselves differently, the world
will see us differently too,” Moky Makura – Executive Director,
Africa No Filter.
