JOHANNESBURG, South-Africa, July 6, 2015/African Press Organization (APO)/ — On the 3rd June 2015 Brand SA (http://www.brandsouthafrica.com) held a Roundtable Dialogue that was facilitated by Chris Bishop (Managing Editor of Forbes Africa) and the lead discussants were: Minister Jeff Radebe (Minister of Planning, Performance, Monitoring, Evaluation and Administration, South Africa); Minister Hannah Tetteh, (Minister of Foreign Affairs & Regional Integration, Ghana) and Dr. Petrus De Kock (General Manager: Research & Analysis, Brand SA).
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The main purpose of the session was to augment policy discussions on building competitive Nation Brands. The key issues that came out of the session were the following:
• Commitment to build a competitive Brand Africa includes communication of the brand reality (i.e. Africa’s reality) and this is a shared responsibility by all stakeholders in the continent.
• In doing that government has to lead in the implementation of the resolutions taken at various African multilateral platforms – a case in point should be the implementation of the Continental Free Trade Area (C-FTA) which aims to increase intra-Africa trade thereby building enabling infrastructure.
• Business also needs to play a critical role in building Africa’s competitiveness therefore Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) should be encouraged to take the continent forward.
• It is also important to build and support African brands in order to create an African identity that will support Africa’s growth narrative.
• African need to take a critical view on the WEF-GCI to ensure that those issues that resonate with the continent’s circumstances are taken into consideration when measuring Africa’s competitiveness (e.g. poverty reduction, industrial development, etc.)
These issues will be engaged further in the following Roundtables gain traction and feedback to policy practitioners.
Distributed by APO (African Press Organization) on behalf of Brand South Africa.
For more information or to set up interviews, please contact:
Ms. Tsabeng Nthite
Communications Officer International: Brand South Africa
Tel: +27 11 712 5000 Mobile: +27 (0) 76 371 6810
Email: TsabengN@brandsouthafrica.com
About Brand South Africa
Brand South Africa (http://www.brandsouthafrica.com) is the official reputation management agency of South Africa internationally and locally. The organisation is mandated to build the county’s reputation, by contributing to the objectives of the National Development Plan (NDP) and contribute to improving South Africa’s global competitiveness. Its aim is also to build pride and patriotism among South Africans, in order to contribute to social cohesion and nation brand ambassadorship.
SOURCE: Brand South Africa