The 2026 Business to Brand Summit, convened by Pat on Brands, concluded after two days of high-level dialogue, strategic reflection and practical brand-building insight, bringing together senior corporate leaders, entrepreneurs, marketers, founders and creatives under the theme: “Africa Rising: Building Iconic Brands for a New Era.”
Held in Johannesburg, the summit reinforced the growing importance of brand as a business driver — one tied not only to visibility and reputation, but to trust, performance, growth and long-term enterprise value.
Across both days, the summit challenged delegates to think more deliberately about Africa’s role in shaping the future of brand leadership and brand ownership.
Thebe Ikalafeng opens Summit with challenge to African CMOs
Opening Day 1, brand leadership expert Thebe Ikalafeng delivered a keynote that set the tone for the summit, calling on African chief marketing officers and senior brand leaders to rise to the occasion at a time when Africa’s talent is visible across the world’s most powerful brands, yet too few of the brands admired by Africans are African-owned. Ikalafeng noted that nearly 80% of the brands admired by Africans are not African, despite the continent’s world-class marketing talent.
In a direct message to the CMOs in the room, he said: “You lead the world’s most powerful brands. You carry Africa’s most important story.” He urged African marketing leaders, particularly those working within global organisations, to treat their African origin as a strategic advantage and not a footnote. He called on them to bring Africa’s intelligence, creativity and resilience into global boardrooms, advocate for Africa-specific investment rather than a marginal share of “rest of world” budgets, and push for localisation that reflects genuine African talent, insight and creative intelligence.
Ikalafeng also encouraged senior leaders to invest in the next generation through mentorship, agency partnerships and intentional hiring decisions that build African capability, while remaining connected and accountable to the continent.
His keynote offered a clear mandate: Africa does not have a talent problem. The task now is to ensure that African talent is used more intentionally to build great African brands.
Executive panel puts brand firmly in the language of business
A key highlight of Day 1 was the summit’s flagship executive panel featuring Lunga Siyo, Mosala Phillips, Lindiwe Sangweni-Siddo and ZiphoZinhle Wonci — a rare conversation bringing together the perspectives of the CEO, CFO, CMO and COO on the role of brand in business.
The panel explored how brand must be understood not only as a marketing function, but as a strategic asset that requires alignment across leadership, operations and financial performance.
A central theme from the discussion was the need for marketers to speak in terms that resonate across the executive table, particularly with finance leaders and business decision-makers.
Lunga Siyo, CEO of Telkom Consumer & Small Business, said: “A brand only earns credibility when the business beneath it can translate capability into performance, and performance into trust, loyalty, and commercial value.”
The panel underscored the importance of connecting brand investment to business outcomes and highlighted the role cross-functional leadership must play in building brands that are both culturally resonant and commercially credible.
Day 2 turns focus to growth, scale and the next generation of brand builders
Day 2 of the summit shifted attention to emerging businesses, founders and high-growth brands, with programming focused on what it truly takes to scale in a competitive and fast-changing market.
Delivering the keynote address, Melvyn Lubega shared reflections on building for scale, drawing from his experience as the founder behind South Africa’s first unicorn story. His message challenged founders to think beyond visibility alone and focus on building brands with the commercial substance, strategic clarity and operational strength required to grow.
The day also featured a compelling contribution from Robot Boii, who spoke to the importance of being multifaceted in the modern attention economy and the power of personal brand in shaping business relevance, opportunity and connection. His remarks resonated with founders, creators and emerging brand builders navigating a landscape where identity, creativity and commercial ambition increasingly intersect.
Brand Clinic closes the summit with practical, live diagnosis
The summit concluded with the Pat on Brands Brand Clinic, a live on-stage session designed to move the conversation from insight to application.
Two brands; Corewell and Tekkie Wash — were selected to receive a live brand diagnosis in front of the summit audience. The session gave both businesses practical feedback and strategic direction from experts in attendance, while offering delegates a valuable look into how brand challenges can be unpacked and addressed in real time.
From positioning and clarity to growth readiness and perception, the clinic reflected the summit’s commitment to making brand-building practical, accessible and commercially relevant.
A platform for more deliberate African brand-building
The 2026 Business to Brand Summit closed having advanced an important conversation: that Africa’s future will not be secured by talent alone, but by the intentional building of brands that reflect African excellence, intelligence and ambition.
By bringing together corporate decision-makers and emerging entrepreneurs in one forum, the summit created a timely platform for discussing what it will take to build brands that endure — and brands that Africa can call its own.
