BUSINESS REPORTER / STATISTA
South African businesses are dominating the rankings in the top 20 leading companies in Africa, it has been learnt.
The South African companies make up the vast majority of the Top 20 companies in the continent. Infact, the South African companies account for 80% or 16 out of 20, meaning only four companies are non-South African companies.
Several companies in Zimbabwe are not included in the Top 20 rankings. These include the country’s largest brewer, Delta Corporation, Innscor Africa Holdings, an expansive, cash-rich manufacturing and retail conglomerate and the country’s largest mobile telecommunications operator, Econet Wireless Zimbabwe. Multiple analysts told Business Times yesterday that persistent exchange rate distortions and other economic impediments was making doing business in Zimbabwe extremely challenging for corporations.
One intriguing finding is that several of the South African companies on the list are managed by black Zimbabweans, implying that local businesses could have made the list if the right economic conditions were present.
According to Statista, a global data and business intelligence platform, South African (SA) multinational Naspers Limited is the largest company in Africa by market value.
The company was founded in 1915 as a publishing house in South Africa. In 1994, the company became public by listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Over time, Naspers evolved and expanded to become a major player in the global technology and digital sectors.
Naspers has a market value of over US$49.6bn while Anglo American Platinum, another South African resources firm, is ranked second with a value of around US$36.4bn.
Standard Bank Group, a financial services company, comes in third place with over US$20.9bn followed by MTN Group (SA) (US$24.5bn), Standard Bank Group (US$20.9), Vodacom Group(US$20.1bn), Capitetec Bank Holdings (US$18.6bn) and Sasol (SA) (US$15.3bn) respectively.
Others are Kumba Ion Ore (US$14.4bn), Gold Field (SA) (US$13.9bn), Safaricom (Kenya) (US$11.8bn, Maroc Telecom (Morocco) (US$11.7bn), Sibanye-Stillwater (SA) (11.5bn), Dangote Cement (Nigeria (US$11.2bn), Absa Group (SA) (US$11.04bn), Sanlam (SA) (US$11.003bn), MTN Nigeria (SA) (US$10.4bn), Attijariwafa Bank (Morocco) (US$10.2bn) and AngloGold Ashanti (SA) (US$10.03bn).
