A Review of “Place Images and Nation Branding in the African Context: Challenges, Opportunities, and Questions for Policy and Research”, (Nicolas Papadopoulos and Leila Hamzaoui-Essoussi)

This review of Nicolas Papadopoulos and Leila Hamzaoui-Essoussi's paper “Place Images and Nation Branding in the African Context: Challenges, Opportunities, and Questions for Policy and Research” touches upon the authors’ objectives and the extent to which they have been carried out. A main question that the authors proceed to answer is whether nation branding is an opportunity that can promote the strengths of African countries and regions in order to “reduce the negative aspects of the continent brand effect”. In doing so, the authors present a well-balanced discussion of the concepts of “country image” and “nation branding“ and their relevancy for African countries. As this review article points out, such relevancy may apply to some but not all of the countries on the continent. In any case, the authors give a good review of the sort of nation branding research that has been carried out in Africa and suggest ways to buttress what has been done. They are cautiously optimistic that there is opportunity for nation branding campaigns, if well carried out, to improve the images of African countries. Their suggestions should give food for thought to researchers interested in the African continent.