NIGERIA DOMINATES TOP 10 COMPANIES IN WEST AFRICA!

Shalom Solomon 16th October, 2021

After the pandemic hit, a lot of economies were crippled. According to a report by African business, over 30bn africans fell into poverty as a result of the effects of the pandemic. Companies were not left out as they were forced to adjust their operations to accommodate the changes brought on by the pandemic.

While other countries had to deal with border lockdown and internal lockdown as well as managing COVID 19 cases, companies in West-Africa had to deal with the drop in the price of petrol. Since most West African countries depended on oil and gas to fund their economy, this led to a fall in the value of their currencies.

The aftermath of the pandemic saw a lot of West African companies struggle to maintain their market cap. In 2020, a lot of companies registered their lowest revenue since 2016 especially in the first half of the year when the price of oil crashed.

In the second half though, oil recovered and by the beginning of 2021, there was full scale recovery in West Africa.

Despite the global economic recession, Nigeria has managed to maintain a high percentage among the top 10 companies in West Africa.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

See the list below:

Number 1: Airtel Africa

London based Airtel Africa, is a telecommunications giant operating mainly across Africa it is also listed on The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NGX). Its market capitalization soared from 2,923 million dollars in 2020 to a tripled value of 9,272 million dollars in 2021. Moving it from number 37 in 2020 to number 16, 2021 in the ranking of the Top 250 African Companies.

2. Dangote Cement

Dangote Cement Plc based in Nigeria, is the largest producer of cement in the West African region. It operates plants for the preparation, manufacture and distribution of cement and related products. It has three manufacturing plants in Nigeria and its Pan African operations includes factories in seven African countries. It has subsidiaries in South Africa, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Cameroun and Senegal. With strong gains in market capitalization up to 8.9 billion dollars, Dangote cement is the 2nd top company in West Africa and ranked #20 in the whole of Africa.

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3. MTN Nigeria Communications Ltd

Following closely behind Dangote Cement is MTN Nigeria, another telecommunications giant with subsidiaries including XS Broadband Limited, Yello Digital Financial Services Limited and Vidafone Communications Limited. Ranked #23 in the 2021 list of top African companies MTN Nigeria with a market cap of 7,963 million dollars making it #3 on our list of top West African companies.

4. BUA Cement

BUA Cement Plc is a Nigerian based cement manufacturing company. The raw materials company is the second largest producer of cement in Western Africa. It has a manufacturing capacity of 3.5 million MT of cement. It doubled its market cap in 2021 from 3,133 million dollars to 6,078 million dollars making it #4 top West African Company.

5. Nestle Nigeria

Following far behind BUA Cement which is ranked #27 top African company is Nestle Nigeria at #53. Nestle Nigeria is a food production and marketing company, engaged in manufacturing, marketing and distribution of food products across Nigeria. Its market cap rose from 1,589 million dollars to 2,662 million dollars in 2021 making it #5 top company in West Africa.

6. Guarantee Trust Bank

Nigerian based Guarantee Trust Bank Plc (GTB) is the top financial institution in West Africa, ranked #58 top company in Africa. Guarantee Trust bank has a market capitalization of 2,662 placing it as the #6 ranked top company in West-Africa.

7. SONATEL

Following the six Nigerian companies is the Senegal based SONATEL. SONATEL is the primary telecommunications network provider in Senegal. Headquartered in Dakar, Senegal, the telecommunications company is the second mobile phone service provider in Mali. It also provides network for DR Congo, Egypt, Madagascar, Guinea-Bissau, and three others.

8. Scancom Plc (MTN Ghana)

Scancom Plc also known as MTN Ghana Ltd is a provider of telecommunications services. The Company offers various products and services, such as cloud services; communication and collaboration; network and data centre; Internet and messaging, and security solutions. It's is ranked #8 and has a market cap of 1,806 million dollars.

9. Zenith Bank

Zenith Bank Plc is one of the leading financial institutions in the banking industry. Headquartered in Nigeria, the financial institution has a market cap of 1,729 million dollars and it is ranked #9 top company in West Africa and #74 top company in Africa.

10. Stanbic IBTC Holdings

Last but definitely not the least is Stanbic IBTC Holdings is a financial service holding company in Nigeria. It is a member of the largest banking group, Standard Bank Group which is located in South Africa. Headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria, Stanbic IBTC has a market cap of 1,390 million dollars a big step away from its 2020 market cap which was 669. It is ranked #88 top African company.