VUMA Reputation Management Expands Its Presence In Africa

Prosper Agbenyega, Deputy Editor of The Ghanaian Observer Represents VUMA Reputations In Ghana

VUMA Reputation Management is delighted to announce that it has signed memorandums of understanding (MoU) with four leading African communications agencies, boosting the footprints of this leading South African reputation and Crisis Management Company across the continent.

Vuma Reputation Management is a proudly South African company that is certified AAA Level 1 contributor to broad-based black economic empowerment (B-BBEE) with a proven track record for working with multi-national companies across Africa.

In line with its strategy to grow its presence in Africa, the Johannesburg-headquartered company announced that it had signed MOUs with the following agencies and individuals BSD Group inNairobi-Kenya, Zeleman in Adis Ababa-Ethiopia, Prosper Agbenyega in Accra-Ghana and Design Innovation in Lusaka-Zambia.

Vuma Reputation Management, which is celebrating its 12th birthday in September this year, has quickly built a track record as a leading reputation and crisis management company in South Africa, having provided world-class advisory and consulting services to at least 50 JSE-listed companies. Vuma has also operated in 10 African countries, where it has provided support to multi-national companies.

“With economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa projected by the World Bank to rebound over the next three years, following a lull last year, we want to be part of this growth story and contribute to the advancement of our beautiful continent,” said Janine Hills, CEO and founder of Vuma Reputation Management, and also a board member for Brand South Africa.

Hills said the MOUs that Vuma Reputation Management has signed with its African partners will give the company strong presence in three African regions – namely East, West, and Southern Africa -- where African companies and multinationals can tap into the continent’s growth opportunities by leveraging strategic reputation management, communications, and public relations capabilities.

Tshepo Sefotlhelo, Chief Operations Officer for Vuma Reputation Management, has been instrumental in securing affiliate partnerships with these four leading agencies. “We firmly believe that the journey we have embarked on with our African partners will accelerate our shared and mutual growth, whereby we will provide world class services to our clients doing business in Africa and those businesses that are looking for investment opportunities on the continent. We are Africans working for Africa,” said Sefotlhelo.

According to the World Bank, growth in Sub-Saharan Africa is projected to recover moderately in 2017 to 2.6% after slowing in 2016 to 1.5%. The continent’s economic prospects are expected to improve further in 2018 and 2019, with Africa’s economy projected to expand at 3.2% and 3.5% respectively on the back of improvement in commodity prices and a recovery in the global economy.

As part of its expansion strategy, Vuma Reputation Management has established the Africa Division, which is led by Nonye Mpho Omotola, Business Director - Africa, who is a communications specialist with more than 15 years in strategic brand experience gained in the UK, South Africa, and Nigeria.

Omotola said the four communications agencies are a perfect fit for Vuma Reputation Management as they bring to the table their deep local knowledge of the markets they operate in, while Vuma Reputation Management brings a full range of reputation management and communications services that will benefit its African partners and their clients alike.

“Vuma Reputation Management has more than a decade of experience in reinforcing our clients’ positions in their respective markets, and in creating proactive strategies to build and manage their reputations. We now want to grow our market leadership across Africa, where we have identified market gaps and opportunities to offer services,” said Omotola.

Vuma Reputation Management will work closely with its partners to improve reputation management and communication standards on the African continent. Through the Vuma Training Academy, Vuma Reputation Management will transfer skills and knowledge to help develop a pool of African communication professionals and reputation managers to ensure that companies operating on the continent receive an excellent service.

With a proven track record and an extensive network of connections and influencers, Vuma Reputation Management specialises in building organisational reputations from the inside out, helping companies to take advantage of their strengths, to mitigate risks and to create a competitive advantage. The company specialises in reputation management, stakeholder relationship management, media relations management, crisis communication, and public relations.