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From left: Fifi Peters, moderator; Sithembile Ntombela, acting chief executive officer of Brand South Africa; Thembisile Sihloho, chief marketing officer of South African Tourism; Esha Mansingh, head: corporate affairs & sustainability sub-Saharan Africa — DP World; Yunus Hoosen, chief executive officer of Invest South Africa and Stavros Nicolaou, strategic trade development of Aspen Pharmacare.

South Africa’s global reputation surpasses expectation

In an effort to assess South Africa’s global reputation in various key areas, Brand South Africa conducted extensive research on the perceptions that other countries have on South Africa. A total of 17 countries were surveyed with over 9,800 respondents and focused on brand audiences related to tourism, investment, talent, exports and general reputation.

Brand South Africa’s general of research, Lefentse Nokaneng, highlighted how the research allowed the country to leverage its strengths and find solutions on how to remedy its perceived weaknesses.

The key findings of the research, which covered five brand dimensions (Investment, Tourism, Exports, Talent, and General Reputation) were delivered by Jose Filipe Torres, chief executive officer of Bloom Consulting. Mr Torres revealed that South Africa was found to perform more favourably than in previous years, with perception scores on the Economy and Natural Assets increasing significantly.

Similarly, he mentioned that while the United Kingdom’s reputation outperformed all the 17 countries included in the study, South Africa was well-ranked, placing third in the dimensions of Investment and Export. These rankings all surpassed the results of the previous study conducted in 2022. When respondents were asked about what makes South Africa stand out from other countries, Wildlife, Scenery and Safaris topped the list. Interestingly, while willingness to invest increased 13 per cent over two years, willingness to travel to South Africa from a touristic perspective only marginally increased by one per cent, even though tourism remained one of the most digitally searched dimensions, with a huge growth of 17 per cent in online searches over the past year. The domain southafrica.net ranked as the seventh top contributor in tourism, when compared to the other countries in the study. Mr Torres also pointed out how South Africa’s Rugby World Cup 2023 win led to a huge spike in the country’s overall reputation and prominence.

While there was much good news on how the country was perceived, there were many aspects wherein South Africa was viewed negatively — signalling room for improvement. Unfortunately, safety and crime are still seen as a major issue of concern — a concern that was similarly highlighted in the previous year’s study. However, when it came to digital searches on safety and crime, Chile, Brazil, and Thailand all faired significantly worse than South Africa.

Overall, the study revealed that South Africa has a ‘moderately positive perception’ in all the brand dimensions studied, and Mr Torres commended Brand South Africa for their ‘good work on growing South Africa’s general reputation’.

In reaction to the findings, moderator Fifi Peters subsequently facilitated a panel discussion, fronted by four revered captains of industry, including Sithembela Ntombela, acting chief executive officer of Brand South Africa; Yunus Hoosen, chief executive officer of Invest South Africa; Thembisile Sehloho, chief marketing officer of South African Tourism; Esha Mansingh, executive vice president: corporate affairs and investor relations — DP World Company and Stavros Nicholaou, strategic trade development for Aspen Pharmacare.

The panel conducted a discursive and solutions-orientated discussion that not only evaluated the positives and negatives of the Global Reputation Study, but also initiated proactive dialogue on how South Africa could best harness its reputation in the next 30 years. 2024 marks the thirtieth year of South African democracy, and the country’s global reputation has evolved substantially since 1994. The panelists unanimously agreed that bettering South Africa’s global perception over the next three decades would require a keen focus on sustainable projects such as Critical Minerals and Green Energy, as well as purposeful ‘collective action’ between government, the private sector and civil society.

Ultimately, the Global Reputation Study revealed reassuring results, and provided Brand South Africa with valuable insight into the country’s global reputation. Ms Ntombela, concluded: “There were many findings in the study that give hope. But there is room for improvement. There is always room for improvement. What this research provides us with is the ability to focus on addressing the more negatively perceived facets of the country, and also determine how we can best dispel misconceptions about South Africa.”