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Purpose Over the years, a considerable depth of research has established the link between trust, commitment and relationship marketing and its relevance to consumers’ brand preferences. Nonetheless, there is a dearth of research on how they are linked to religiosity. Accordingly, this paper aims to address the palpable gap. Design/methodology/approach This paper is conceptual and draws from the eclectic review of the extant literature that revolves around the key themes associated with the topic. Findings The paper emphasises the significance of trust and religiosity in consumers’ commitment to specific market offerings and brands which invariably strengthen relationship marketing. A model entitled Brand-faith Relationship model (BFR) is proposed to understand brand positioning in the marketplace in relation to faith. With this model, a four-category typology of brand position scenarios is suggested in this paper. Passive brand-faith relationship, faith trust established in the absence of brands, brand loyalty without any faith associations and brand loyalty, with positive brand-faith relationship. Practical implications This paper has significant implications for brand management in relation to segmentation, targeting and the positioning of brands in the marketplace. It also raises marketers’ consciousness on the potency of trust embedded in consumers’ faith/religiosity in their brand preferences. Originality/value This paper explores the concepts of trust and consumers’ brand choices within the relationship marketing literature vis-à-vis the role of religion, which is rarely examined.

Purpose -The purpose of this conceptual paper is to explore how Africa has been branded, and to suggest ways the continent could be re-branded to attract both international and domestic investments. Design/methodology/approach -An extensive review of literature that encapsulates branding, nation branding, place/destination branding, foreign direct investment and issues associated with investment opportunities in Africa was conducted towards exploring how Africa has been branded and could be re-branded. Findings -This paper finds that the extant literature is replete with publications that essentially associate Africa, as a brand, to poverty, underdevelopment, corruption, doom, pestilence and several other inauspicious features. Nonetheless, the article also shows that there are several existing virtues especially in the form of business opportunities in several sectors that could be accorded extensive publicity to espouse the continents' brand equity. These range from agriculture, to tourism, to real estate, to sports and several existing foreign direct investments already thriving in several parts of the continent. Hence, the suggestion for re-branding Africa as a viable continent for global business transactions is strongly emphasised in the article. Practical implications -This paper has a significant implication for positioning Africa as a relevant business partner in the global marketplace by echoing the extensive business opportunities that await both the indigenous and foreign investors in the continent. Originality/value -The article espouses the brand equity of Africa as a continent and suggests avenues for constantly communicating the inherent virtues of the content to the world towards maintaining her rightful position in the international business community.

While many issues about the entrepreneurial engagements of African-Caribbean (AC) have been discussed in the literature; there is far less studies documented about the link of these activities to faith, especially in the context of Pentecostalism. Hence, this research unravels how membership of Pentecostal fellowships aids the entrepreneurial activities of AC members.