What Ask Afrika does

Ask Afrika is a South African market research firm headquartered in Pretoria, founded in 1995, that delivers social research, decisioneering, data fusion, and analytics solutions to corporate clients across 26 industries. The company's commercial offering centers on two proprietary index products: the ASK AFRICA Orange Index — now in its 24th consecutive year and built on nearly 60,000 annual customer interviews covering 200 brands — and the sector-specific ASK AFRICA Banking Brand Index, which evaluates trust, brand connection, and emotional satisfaction among major South African banks. An embedded Digital Experience Barometer extends the Orange Index to 87 brands across 11 industries, measuring digital channel performance separately from overall CX. The firm's go-to-market is B2B, targeting financial institutions, retail brands, and multi-industry corporates seeking benchmarking, brand-performance tracking, and competitive positioning analysis; research outputs are distributed via South African business media (fanews, mynewsdesk, themediaonline) and through 2025 strategic partnerships with World Wide Worx, Mastercard, and Peach Payments for the joint 'Online Retail in South Africa 2025' report. Ask Afrika monetizes through enterprise benchmarking subscriptions and custom research engagements; pricing is not publicly disclosed. The firm is privately held with 101–250 employees and no disclosed funding, valuation, or M&A activity.

Name

Ask Afrika

Legal name

Ask Afrika

Website

https://askafrika.co.za

Company type

Private

Founded year

1995

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

South African market research firm operating since 1995, providing proprietary customer experience benchmarking and brand performance indices across 26 industries and 200 brands, serving corporate clients in financial services and retail.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Pretoria

HQ country

South Africa

HQ region

Africa

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Ask Afrika is a South African market research company that sells syndicated customer experience benchmarks and brand performance indices to corporate clients. Its core offerings are the ASK AFRICA Orange Index (an annual cross-industry CX benchmark covering 26 industries and 200 brands via ~60,000 interviews), the ASK AFRICA Banking Brand Index (a sector-specific ranking for South African banks), and the Digital Experience Barometer (proprietary digital CX measurement across 87 brands in 11 industries).

Product overview

Ask Afrika operates as a research company offering two primary index products: the ASK AFRICA Orange Index (South Africa's annual customer experience benchmark spanning 26 industries and 200 brands, based on nearly 60,000 interviews) and the ASK AFRICA Banking Brand Index (a sector-specific ranking measuring bank brand performance). These indices provide benchmarking and ranking services for brands across industries.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• ASK AFRICA Orange Index

Quantifiable outcome

• 70% of South Africans affected by financial stress, informing targeted CX strategies
• +1 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• World Wide WorxcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Strategic research partnership for the 'Online Retail in South Africa 2025' report. World Wide Worx leads the research methodology while Ask Afrika contributes market expertise and customer experience benchmarking data.
• MastercardcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Mastercard partnered on the 'Online Retail in South Africa 2025' report, contributing to the comprehensive analysis of South Africa's e-commerce growth trajectory and cross-border retail dynamics.
• Peach PaymentscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Peach Payments collaborated on the 'Online Retail in South Africa 2025' research, providing payment ecosystem insights alongside Ask Afrika's customer experience benchmarking data.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Emerging players

• Toluna: Global online consumer research panel and survey technology provider offering self-serve brand and CX tracking that competes for technology-enabled research budgets.

Broad incumbents

• Kantar: Global brand and customer experience research powerhouse (formerly TNS/Millward Brown) with a South African office, providing overlapping brand equity and CX benchmarking services at multinational scale.
• YouGov: Online-first brand tracking, reputation, and CX research firm operating in multiple African markets, offering an alternative subscription-model approach to large-scale brand measurement.
• Nielsen: Global measurement and analytics firm (NielsenIQ) operating consumer and media research in South Africa, directly overlapping with Ask Afrika's brand and retail benchmarking scope.
• Ipsos: Global market research group with established South African presence, offering brand tracking, customer experience, and public opinion research across the same buyer personas Ask Afrika serves.
• GfK / NIQ: Global consumer research firm (now part of NielsenIQ) providing brand and shopper insights across markets, including a regional presence that competes for cross-border CX mandates.

Regional players

• Afrobarometer: Pan-African public opinion and survey research network applying similar large-N interview methodology across multiple African countries - a regional alternative for cross-border research mandates Ask Afrika does not cover.
• GeoPoll: Mobile-based survey research provider operating across Africa, using SMS/CATI panels that compete for the same consumer insights budget in markets Ask Afrika could target for expansion.

Direct peers

• Plus 94 Research: South African consumer and youth-focused research firm operating in the same local market with comparable survey-based brand and CX insights offerings to corporate clients.
• BMi Research: South African quantitative and qualitative research firm serving enterprise clients with consumer insights, brand tracking, and CX measurement - the closest direct competitor in scale and geographic focus.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/asksmartonline
• Facebookfacebook.com/askafrikanow
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ask-afrika

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Ask Afrika