Brand South Africa and UNISA host the South African Competitiveness Forum and the Pan-African University Dialogue
Johannesburg, Wednesday 05th September 2018 – Brand South Africa and the University of South Africa (UNISA) have partnered to host the South African Competitiveness Forum (SACF) and the Pan-African University Dialogue in a two-day programme from 11th -12th September 2018.
The conference will bring together academics, and industry representatives from South Africa and African markets such as Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, and Nigeria to provide expert input on key issues that impact positively and negatively on the competitiveness and reputation of the Pan-African brand, and Africa’s Nation Brands.
Further to that, the unpacking of the identified theme – Interrogating the Pan-African Nation Brand: re- and de-constructing state capacity & the stories we tell to market the African brand reality, will form a golden thread for the dialogues.
Speaking on the theme, Brand South Africa’s General Manager for Research, Dr Petrus De Kock said; “Brand South Africa understands that the reputation of the nation, nation brand, or in this case, the African continent, is shaped by a multitude of factors. Due to divergent perceptions and public discourses on the condition of the African continent, the 2018 Pan-African Nation Brand Dialogue aims to interrogate two inter-related dimensions of the Africa’s Nation Brands through the subthemes – ‘State’ of the African Nation Brand that focuses on how governance capability impacts on reputation, as well as Telling and taking African Stories to Market that focuses on marketing in the African environment.”
Brand South Africa’s main objective as an award-winning organisation in research, aims to identify opportunities and lessons from contributions made by delegates which will be followed through in various project collaborations.
“Brand South Africa will showcase its social segmentation model research that won the annual Southern African Market Research Association’s Best Research award, as well as research on the Development of the BRICS brand. It has been a fruitful journey for the organisation since its first SACF in 2013 where Brand South Africa developed several interventions to address some of the issues outlined. In 2017 the Nation Brand University Dialogue was entitled – From Ubuntu Foreign Policy to a Democracy of Jazz – lessons from the Nation Brand University Dialogue and this year we eagerly envision collaborating with the continent,” adds Dr De Kock.
The two-day programme will wrap up with a panel discussion and brainstorming with panellists, Prof K.M Makhitha, Mr Oyewole Simon Oginni, Dr Rasheed Akinyemi, Dr David Okello, Dr Joash Ntenga Moitui, Dr Timothy Esemu, Dr Kobby Mensah and Dr A. Adesoga in finding a way forward in the Pan-African Marketing & Nation Brand research in the era of the Continental Free Trade Area.
For interviews and RSVP kindly see below;
Dates: 11-12 September 2018
Venue: UNISA, Kgorong Function hall, Kgorong Building
Contact Details: Ntombi Ntanzi; ntombin@brandsouthafrica.com or Cell: 081 704 1488
Time: 09h00 – 17h00
