Why Brand Finance ranks Sanral a top brand

The South African National Roads Agency’s (Sanral’s) appearance among Africa’s most valuable brands has raised questions about how an entity still associated with Gauteng’s failed e-toll system can rank alongside major consumer and corporate names.

Brand Finance, which compiles the annual survey, told Moneyweb the answer lies not in public popularity alone, but in a broader financial and institutional assessment of the agency.

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Sanral has been ranked as Africa’s 84th most valuable brand, despite its controversial history and the enduring public anger linked to e-tolls.

In South Africa, Sanral is ranked 53rd by brand value, at R2.8 billion, and 25th by brand strength, with a Brand Strength Index score of 86 out of 100 and an AAA rating.

Questions over “brand strength”

The inclusion has prompted questions about whether a state-owned roads agency, which motorists cannot choose in the same way they choose a bank, retailer or mobile network, can fairly be described as a strong brand.

Ollie Schmitz, managing director of Brand Finance Africa, says the ranking should not be interpreted as a popularity contest or an endorsement of every part of Sanral’s history.

“Sanral continues to carry significant historical associations linked to the e-toll era,” he said.

“At the same time, the evidence reviewed as part of this assessment indicates measurable improvement in public sentiment and institutional performance over time.”

Brand Finance says Sanral’s brand value declined by about 20% when the e-toll declaration was formally withdrawn in 2023 and 2024, because future toll revenue expectations were lowered.

The agency’s accumulated credit losses of R28.96 billion, linked to unpaid e-toll debt, were also considered in context, with Brand Finance noting that the debt has already been fully impaired and the carrying value of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project receivables is now zero.

A ‘bespoke’ scoring system

The agency manages total assets of R831 billion, including a road network valued at R680 billion. Toll revenue now represents just 17% of Sanral’s total revenue, down from 35% a decade ago.

Because Sanral is not a conventional consumer-facing company, Brand Finance developed a bespoke assessment framework for it.

While commercial brands are typically measured against 11 brand equity indicators, Sanral was assessed against 47 metrics, including service delivery, stakeholder trust, governance, institutional capability, audit findings, parliamentary reports, annual reports, market research and social sentiment analysis.

Brand Finance says research conducted across all nine provinces, including among Gauteng road users, indicates that Sanral’s public brand equity has tripled since 2016.

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However, the underlying public sentiment research is proprietary to Sanral and therefore not available for independent public scrutiny.

The valuation also uses a standard “royalty relief” methodology, which estimates the hypothetical value of licensing a brand.

Brand Finance says Sanral’s brand-value-to-revenue ratio of 8.6% is aligned with the engineering and infrastructure sector and significantly lower than consumer-facing brands such as MTN, FNB and Checkers.

Not about popularity, but institutional value

Schmitz says Sanral’s ranking reflects a post-e-toll operating environment, improved institutional performance and the economic importance of national road infrastructure, rather than an attempt to erase public resentment.

“The data, assessed rigorously and independently, tells a story of measurable recovery and institutional resilience,” he said.

For motorists who refused to pay e-tolls, that may remain a difficult conclusion to accept.

But Brand Finance insists Sanral’s ranking is not based on affection. It is based on whether, despite a damaged past, the organisation is now building measurable economic and institutional value.