Get Guardian on GoogleNigerian-owned brands have strengthened their dominance in Nigeria’s corporate landscape, accounting for 27 of the 50 brands ranked in the 2026 Top 50 Brands Nigeria assessment, against 23 multinational brands.
The latest ranking, unveiled at the Brand Nigeria Leadership Forum and Awards 2026 in Lagos, represented a shift from the equal representation of 25 indigenous and 25 multinational brands recorded in the 2025 edition.
Dangote Industries retained its position as Nigeria’s most valuable brand for the ninth consecutive year, scoring 89.7 out of 100 on the Brand Strength Measurement (BSM) Index, while MTN Nigeria emerged as the country’s most popular brand.
Seven Nigerian-owned companies also featured among the top 10 brands, underscoring the growing competitiveness of indigenous businesses across manufacturing, banking, telecommunications, consumer goods and other sectors.
The top 10 ranking comprised Dangote Industries, MTN Nigeria, Airtel, Globacom, Access Bank, Zenith Bank, BUA Group, FirstBank, Coca-Cola and United Bank for Africa (UBA).
MTN Nigeria, which ranked second overall with a score of 81.8, secured the most popular brand distinction based on the Top-of-the-Mind (TOM) survey, which measures unaided consumer recall.
Airtel and Globacom occupied the third and fourth positions with scores of 76.3 and 76.1, respectively, while Access Bank ranked fifth with 74.7.
Zenith Bank followed with 72.9, BUA Group scored 70.4, FirstBank recorded 70.3, Coca-Cola placed ninth with 69.2, while UBA completed the top 10 with 68.7.
The 2026 edition also introduced the Top 20 Fintech Brands Nigeria ranking to assess brand strength in the country’s expanding financial technology sector.
OPay emerged as the leading fintech brand with a Fintech Brand Strength Index (FBSI) score of 82.7, followed by Moniepoint with 81.5, PalmPay with 77.5, Flutterwave with 76.7 and Paystack with 75.0.
OPay also recorded the highest year-on-year improvement in the overall Top 50 ranking, gaining 15 points for the second consecutive year.
Moniepoint followed with a 13-point increase, while Tecno, Rite Foods and Fidelity Bank were also among the leading brands recording significant improvements.
Speaking at the event, the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Evaluator of Top 50 Brands Nigeria, Taiwo Oluboyede, said brand strength went beyond visibility and depended on the ability of organisations to deliver on their promises.
“A brand is a promise. It is what people expect when they hear your name, and the reputation you earn through repeated experiences.
“You can buy visibility, but you must earn relevance. You can advertise your promise, but you must deliver it to earn trust,” he said.
Oluboyede said the growing representation of Nigerian-owned brands and the introduction of the fintech ranking provided important insights into the development of indigenous businesses and changing consumer expectations.
He described the ranking as an assessment of how brands were performing in the minds of Nigerians.
