Uniworld Group set to expand footprints in Africa
By Oghale Mafuru
As part of efforts to Integrate African owned agencies globally, Uniworld Group, UWG, an American and longest-running multicultural agency in the world has announced plans to expand footprints in Africa in order to deepen the impact of black creatives in the global advertising ecosystem.
According to the agency, this plan is part of its global expansion initiative earmarked for 2023 to further entrenched the huge opportunities available for Black-owned agencies in the continent, driven by collaboration and cross-border partnerships.
Chair of UWG, Monique Nelson while revealing plans to create a network of Black-owned agencies in South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya, stated that the advocacy for Pan-Africanism in the advertising industry is imperative for the growth of local agencies and that Uniworld Group is committed to enabling that growth by galvanizing increased synergy and support from Africans in diaspora.
“One of the reasons I am so passionate about this is we were the first to do this in the US. We are 53 years old and we know a lot of the bumps and the bruises that we took and we want to make sure that they don’t have to go through all of that. We would love to figure out a way to accelerate the progress of more Black-owned agencies like ourselves and we want to bring our history, our relationships as well as our know-how to these agencies and let them know that they can win.
“In America, we, blacks are the minority and that is not the same on the African continent but there really is no reason why Africans can’t lead with the right resources and support and of course clients” the UGW Chair said.
The UWG boss who decried the marginalisation of Black-owned agencies maintained that local agencies have the requisite capabilities and skills to deliver optimally on brands objectives stressing that it is time for the continent to be recognised for its worth.
Her words: “Our revenue has not always matched this growth and part of what we want is to grow proportionally with our contribution. So the contributions aren’t quite there yet but we have the capabilities to do so and now that we are looking at the diaspora we have one point one billion people which is a significant market for any brand that is trying to grow’.
For his part, Managing Director, UWG, Peter Ukhurebor speaking enthusiastically stated that the expansion into Africa will further position local agencies for global competitiveness.
“UWG is finally coming to Africa and we are coming in the sense that we want to partner with Black owned agencies on giving them the global support that these agencies lack. When we look at opportunities for Black run agencies in South Africa we look at only 2% of the entire market share that they hold.
“We looked at these opportunities that are not given to Black-owned businesses and we decided that across the continent we need to create the first pan-African network or movement of Black-run agencies and thereby give them the opportunity to be agencies of record,” he stressed.
According to him, the partnership will ensure that Black-owned businesses also benefit from multinational brands that enter the African market.
Founded in 1969, UniWorld Group, UWG is the longest-standing, full-service, multicultural marketing and advertising agency in the world.
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