Nigerian firms missing from top 15 most valuable African companies

Africa’s most valuable company is Algeria’s Sonatrach Petroleum Corporation, with its annual revenue at $23 billion.

HILLARY ESSIEN • March 10, 2021

Insider Monkey, a finance website that provides free insider trading, has released a ranking of the top 15 most valuable companies in Africa, following a survey by McKinsey Africa.

The survey identified 438 African companies making over $1 billion in annual revenue.

Twenty-five percent of these companies are foreign-domiciled multinational franchises, 50 percent are locally owned, 40 percent are publicly listed, and 60 percent are privately held.

No Nigerian company made it to the top 15.

The companies were ranked using annual revenue, market caps and headcount to choose the most valuable African companies.

Africa’s most valuable company is Algeria’s Sonatrach Petroleum Corporation, with its annual revenue at $23 billion despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

The next on the list is Anglo American Platinum Company, with annual revenue of $13 billion and market capitalisation of $34 billion.

It is headquartered in Johannesburg and is responsible for about 35 percent of the total platinum produced globally.

In third is Sasol from South Africa developing liquid fuels, good quality chemicals, and low-carbon electricity. Its annual revenue was $12.25 billion and a market cap of $9 billion.

Rounding up the top five is South Africa’s Eskom and MTN, with the annual revenue at $12 billion and $11.2 billion respectively, and MTNs market capitalisation at $9 billion.

Other companies that make up the list include South Africa’s Shoprite, Imperial Holdings, Steinhoff International Holdings, Vodacom Group, Sanlam, the Bidvest Group, Massmart Holdings.

The Suez Canal Authority, managed by Egypt, reported a turnover of $5.10 billion during the 2020 financial year, making it Africa’s 13th most valuable company.

Coming in 14th place is Woolworths Holdings from South Africa, with its annual revenue at $5 billion and its market cap at $3.1 billion.

The last on the list is South Africa’s Datatec, an ICT company with over 8,000 workers. Its annual revenue is pegged at $4.2 billion as of 2020 and $338 million as its market cap.