- Chain Reactions Africa won Gold in the Travel & Leisure category for the Lagos Shopping Festival and led the continent with ten SABRE Award nominations—the highest of any consultancy in 2026—outperforming global networks and reinforcing its position as one of Africa’s top reputation advisory firms.
- The firm’s shortlisted campaigns spanned corporate reputation, public sector advisory, technology transformation, consumer marketing, sustainability advocacy and measurement, including recognition for Guinness Nigeria’s Premier League Trophy Tour, 9mobile brand work, Indomie’s Show Some Love campaign, and C40 Cities climate advocacy, reflecting its strategic breadth and creative range.
- Building on record-breaking wins in 2024 and 2025 and earning global nominations at the World PR Awards, Chain Reactions Africa continues to expand its influence—demonstrating that engineered reputation is a strategic advantage and positioning communications as a core driver of growth, resilience and longterm enterprise value.
Chain Reactions Africa has set a new benchmark for 2026, winning Gold in the Travel & Leisure category at the 2026 African SABRE Awards for its work on the Lagos Shopping Festival, while leading the continent with an unmatched ten nominations, the highest of any consultancy this year.
In a business climate where trust drives valuation, influence shapes regulation, and perception impacts profitability, this achievement is more than an industry milestone; it is a market signal.
The Nigeria-based firm outperformed regional competitors and global networks, including Edelman and Weber Shandwick, cementing its position as one of Africa’s most formidable reputation advisory firms.
Held in partnership with the Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA), the SABRE Awards recognize superior achievement in branding, reputation, and engagement. With over 500 entries submitted and more than 120 campaigns shortlisted, the 2026 competition was among the most competitive in its history.
Chain Reactions Africa’s success underscores a core belief: reputation is not merely a communications output, but a strategic asset. Organizations that invest deliberately in reputation navigate crises more effectively, restore credibility faster, and sustain stakeholder trust and market influence longer.
The firm’s ten nominations spanned corporate reputation, public sector advisory, technology transformation, consumer marketing, sustainability advocacy, and measurement. Campaigns driving this recognition included Guinness Nigeria’s Premier League Trophy Tour, nominated in the Company of the Year category; 9mobile: A Symphony of Voices in reputation management; the rebranding campaign “The Vibranium” for 9mobile in Measurement & Evaluation; “From Promises to Proofs” for the Presidency in Public Sector; and the Indomie “Show Some Love to Mum” campaign.
Sustainability and advocacy work, such as “Standing for Climate Action. Repping the Future” for C40 Cities and Lagos State Ministry of Environment, also contributed to the shortlist, demonstrating the firm’s sector breadth and strategic range.
This success builds on a sustained trajectory: seven SABRE wins in 2024, the highest ever by a single consultancy on the continent, followed by four wins in 2025, including a Diamond SABRE for Company of the Year for the Indomie Heroes Awards executed for Dufil Prima Foods/Indomie; dual wins for #OdourPandemic for NIVEA in Superior Achievement in Research and Planning and Best in the Healthcare Category; and a public sector victory for “Striking Gold” for the Federal Ministry of Art, Culture & Creative Economy, signaling operational discipline and scalable capability rather than episodic achievements.
Internationally, the consultancy earned five nominations at the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management World PR Awards, reflecting its rising cross-border relevance and exportable intellectual capital.
Managing Director and Chief Strategist Israel Opayemi commented, “Leading the continent with ten nominations and securing Gold affirms a simple truth: when reputation is engineered deliberately, it becomes a strategic advantage. Our focus is helping organizations convert trust into market leadership and narrative into enterprise value.”
As the awards ceremony approaches in Johannesburg, Chain Reactions Africa’s message is clear, it is not simply collecting accolades; it is strengthening influence, expanding its strategic footprint, and redefining communications as a central driver of growth, resilience, and long-term business performance.
