10 Richest Companies in Africa
This article will look at the largest companies in Africa, as measured by market capitalization. Africa is the world’s poorest continent, with the vast majority of its countries classified as developing.
This means that Africa’s largest corporations are smaller than those found elsewhere in the world. This is not to say that traders should ignore these firms. Good knowledge of Africa’s largest companies can help traders gain a competitive advantage in the market.
Surprisingly, all ten of the companies on this list are from South Africa. This is most likely because South Africa has the second largest economy in Africa, trailing only Nigeria, and is one of only eight upper-middle-income economies in Africa.
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It is also the continent’s most industrialised and technologically advanced country, with its favourable economic environment allowing larger companies to thrive more than in other African countries.
What is the definition of the largest?
It is critical that we establish how we rank these companies. Yes, we rank the largest corporations, but what does this mean and how can we quantify it? We will use market capitalisation, which is the market value of a company’s outstanding shares, as our metric.
This is effectively a company’s equity value and can show the public’s opinion on a company’s overall value. Market capitalisation is calculated simply by multiplying the price of a company’s shares by the number of outstanding shares. This market capitalisation value is critical for investors to understand in order to make sound investment and trading decisions.
1. Naspers Inc.
Naspers is a global internet, technology, and multimedia holding company that is the largest in Africa and the 611th largest in the world. Naspers, founded in 1915, dominated the South African market throughout the twentieth century, holding the largest stake in books, newspapers, and magazines.
Throughout the 1980s, the company began to globalise and diversify its assets, allowing it to grow into the multinational holdings company that it is today.
It now owns a majority stake in its investment subsidiary Prosus, which deals with Naspers’ internet interests, such as payments, social media platforms, and food deliveries, among other things. They also own Media24, Africa’s largest publishing company, as well as Takealot, South Africa’s largest online retailer.
This has been strengthened by the establishment of the Naspers Foundry, a venture capital fund focused on South African projects. Naspers Foundry is used to invest in start-up companies in the country, assisting in their development and scaling into larger, more profitable enterprises.
2. FirstRand
FirstRand Limited, or FirstRand Group, is the holding company of South African-based FirstRand Bank. The bank was founded in 1838 and was originally an investment bank until the 1970s, when it was restructured into the holding company it is today.
The company is headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, and it claims to be Africa’s largest financial institution. FirstRand Bank has been licenced as a financial service provider by the Reserve Bank of South Africa.
The company operates as a retail and commercial bank, as well as providing consumers with other services such as asset management, insurance, and investments.
The bank operates not only in its own country, but also in Sub-Saharan Africa, alongside India and the United Kingdom. This is reflected in the fact that its other branches are located in London, Guernsey, and India.
3. Standard Bank Group
Standard Bank Group Limited ranks third on the list of financial services companies. It is Africa’s largest lender by assets and is traded on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) and the London Stock Exchange (LSE).
Standard Bank Group, like FirstRand, is a long-established financial institution that was founded in 1862 and still has its headquarters in Johannesburg. It operates in 20 African countries, including its home market, providing customers with a variety of financial services while also conducting its own operations. As of 2016, the Standard Bank Group employed over 54,000 people.
4. MTN Group
MTN Group Limited is the fourth company on our list. With over 280 million subscribers, it is the world’s eighth-largest telecommunications company and the largest in Africa.
From its headquarters in Johannesburg, the mobile network operator provides services to 20 countries across Africa and the Middle East. MTN Group has a significant stake in Africa’s most populous country, Nigeria, accounting for approximately 35% of the company’s revenue.
The company was founded in 1994 and markets itself regionally and globally by sponsoring a number of major sports teams, including the South African national rugby union team, Manchester United FC, and the Zambian Super League.
MTN Group has several subsidiaries, including Vistafone and SuperSonic, and employs over 19,000 people as of 2020.
5. Capitec Bank
Capitec Bank is Africa’s fifth-largest company by market capitalisation. It was founded relatively recently in 2001, but it is now South Africa’s second largest bank in terms of customer numbers, with an estimated 120,000 new accounts opened each month.
Capitec Bank is a retail bank that serves both individuals and consumers, but it does not offer business banking services to closed corporations, partnerships, corporations, or trusts. The bank is headquartered in Stellenbosch, South Africa, and serves over 15 million customers through 852 branches.
It operates thousands of ATMs across the country and serves the majority of its customers through mobile and online banking, with most customers paying only small fees, and the company claims to simplify banking and the banking experience for consumers.
6. Vodacom
The Western African mobile communications company Vodacom Group limited is next on our list. Vodafone, which western traders may be more familiar with, is Vodacom’s parent company, and it now owns 60.5% of the company, with the rest traded on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE).
Vodacom serves over 130 million customers in 48 African countries through messaging, internet, telecom, text, and data services. The company was founded in 1994 and is now South Africa’s leading cellular network provider, with a market share of approximately 58%.
Vodacom was the second network to roll out 5G networks in Africa, beginning in Johannesburg, Pretoria, and Cape Town. They also market themselves by sponsoring various sports teams, with their most lucrative deal being the title sponsor of South Africa’s Super Rugby tournament since 1996.
7. Sasol
Sasol Limited, which was founded in Sasolburg in 1950 and is now headquartered in Sandton, South Africa, is ranked seventh. The energy and chemical company operates in 33 countries, including its home country of South Africa, and is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), ranking as the 1281st most valuable company in the world.
Sasol employs over 30,000 people worldwide and is South Africa’s largest corporate tax payer. Sasol, the world’s seventh largest coal mining company, has many investment groups as shareholders, one of which is the Government Employee Pension Fund.
8. Impala Platinum
Impala Platinum Holdings Limited is Africa’s eighth largest company. They own several other companies that mine platinum and other metals such as nickel, cobalt, and copper, as the name implies.
Impala Platinum owns several significant mines throughout South Africa and Africa in general, the most important of which is the Impala mine in South Africa’s North West province. Other notable mines include the Marula and Two Rivers mines in South Africa, as well as the Mimoa mine in Zimbabwe.
Impala Platinum earned R35.9 billion in revenue in 2018 and employs over 40,000 people. The company was founded in 1966 and went public on the JSE in 1973, making it 53 years old. Legislation passed in 1970 aided the company by raising global vehicle standards, increasing demand for platinum to reduce vehicle emissions.
9. Gold Fields
Gold Fields Limited is ranked ninth on the list and is one of the largest gold mining companies in the world. Cecil Rhodes founded the company in 1887, and it later merged with Gencor to become the company it is today.
Gold Fields is listed on the JSE and the NYSE, and it operates mines in South Africa, Ghana, Australia, and Peru, among other places. There have been several instances where the company’s operations have gone wrong, resulting in negative environmental consequences. The most significant of these were from 2001, 2003, and 2012, and mostly involved mine-related contaminated water spills.
10. Shoprite
Shoprite Holdings Limited is the final company on our list and the tenth largest in Africa. Shoprite is Africa’s largest supermarket retailer, with over 2,989 locations across the continent. With over 145,000 employees as of July 2022, the company is South Africa’s largest private sector employer.
The supermarket retailer is headquartered in Brackenfell, South Africa, and is traded on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. PEP stores purchased eight grocery stores from the Rogut family in 1979, opening their first store abroad in Namibia in 1990 and expanding ever since to become the billion-dollar business it is today.