Social capital vital in building sustaining African brands - Aralepo

Rhoda Onaderu; Omotola Adedapo; Omobabinrin Osideko, founder and convener, TIBA; Oluwatoyin Aralepo, and Bright Okere, panelists at the recent unveiling of the rebranded TIBA in Lagos.

‘The founder of Africa Finance and Strategy Hub, Oluwatoyin Aralepo, has urged entrepreneurs to leverage on their social capital in building sustainable African brands that compete on the global stage.’

She stated this during the recent rebranding ceremony of ‘The Iconic Brand Awards’ to ‘The Iconic Brand Africa’ (TIBA) tagged “Unveiling TIBA: Echoes of Africa.”

Aralepo in a keynote titled, ‘Building and optimizing your social capital in business and career,’ noted that social capital is about cultivating mutual relationships in business and life. She stated further that if properly managed, it can lead to opportunities such as referrals and recommendations that can help brands grow.

“This is why businesses spend much money trying to be close to their customers and to dominate their markets so that anytime you think of a particular product or service it is them you remember,” she stated.

Adeola Osideko, founder and convener of TIBA, stated that the initiative that started as a random idea in 2019 has grown bigger with far-reaching impacts on businesses and society. “We are now a global brand and we will be spreading our tentacles across Africa.”

She stated that the name change and rebranding of the organisation was necessary to incorporate other vital areas such as learning and development, and community and networking asides awards and recognition that TIBA has been known for in the last five years.

“At TIBA, there is no competition, only collaboration. Everybody is thinking about how to help the next person while doing their unique work,” Gabriel Ologunwa, stated while unveiling the new brand and logo for TIBA.

Temitope Ogundeji, director of learning and development at TIBA, reiterated TIBA’s network and subscription capability, and encouraged business owners to leverage the brand’s subscription initiative to grow their businesses and career.

The panelists at the session on ‘Elevating African brands on the global stage’ emphasised that personal development, clear communication, self-confidence, trustworthiness, integrity, network and collaboration are vital in brand management and career development.