Largest companies in Africa 2026

Africa’s corporate landscape is larger, more sophisticated and more internationally competitive than most global investors realise. The continent’s biggest companies span financial services, telecoms, mining, oil and gas, retail and industrial manufacturing, generating tens of billions of dollars in combined annual revenue from a combined market capitalisation that now exceeds $1.5 trillion across African exchanges.

This guide covers Africa’s largest companies by market capitalisation in 2026, drawing on data from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, Nigerian Exchange, Nairobi Securities Exchange, Casablanca Stock Exchange, Egyptian Exchange and pan-African listings. Market capitalisations are approximate and fluctuate with currency and commodity price movements.

1. Naspers and Prosus (South Africa): market cap approximately $80-100 billion

Naspers is Africa’s largest company by any measure, although its primary value is held through its subsidiary Prosus, listed in Amsterdam, which owns a significant stake in Chinese technology giant Tencent. Naspers’s $32 million investment in Tencent in 2001 generated one of the most extraordinary returns in investment history. The company also owns OLX, the global classifieds platform, stakes in Indian food delivery platform Swiggy and multiple other global technology investments. Its South African operations include the MultiChoice pay television group and various media assets. Naspers remains listed on the JSE and is the most valuable company in South Africa’s corporate history.

2. Anglo American (South Africa/UK): market cap approximately $35-45 billion

Anglo American is one of the world’s largest diversified mining companies, with its roots in South Africa and a primary listing in London. Its African operations span platinum group metals through Anglo American Platinum (Amplats), iron ore through Kumba Iron Ore, and coal and base metals across multiple Southern African countries. Anglo American has recently been the subject of a major takeover attempt by BHP, which it successfully resisted. The company is restructuring to focus on copper, iron ore and crop nutrients, which aligns its portfolio with the energy transition and food security megatrends.

3. MTN Group (South Africa): market cap approximately $8-12 billion

MTN Group is Africa’s largest telecoms company, operating across 19 African and Middle Eastern markets with over 280 million subscribers. Its largest market is Nigeria, where MTN Nigeria posted N355.5 billion in profit after tax in Q1 2026 alone, up 166%. MTN’s fintech ambitions through its MoMo platform, which is being separated into a standalone business, represent a second major value stream alongside its core telecoms operations. MTN has a primary listing on the JSE and secondary listings on the Nigerian and other African exchanges.

4. Standard Bank Group (South Africa): market cap approximately $10-14 billion

Standard Bank is Africa’s largest bank by assets, with operations in more than 20 African countries and a significant partnership with China’s ICBC. Its primary listing is on the JSE and it generates the majority of its revenue from its Africa Regions business rather than its South African home market. Standard Bank’s investment banking arm, Rand Merchant Bank, is one of Africa’s most active capital markets advisers across M&A, project finance and debt capital markets. The bank has been an anchor institution in the financing of major African infrastructure projects including the Lobito Corridor.

5. Richemont (South Africa/Switzerland): market cap approximately $50-70 billion

Compagnie Financière Richemont is one of the world’s most valuable luxury goods companies, with a primary listing in Zurich and significant South African roots through the Rupert family. Its brands include Cartier, Van Cleef and Arpels, IWC, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Piaget and Vacheron Constantin. While Richemont is functionally a European company, it is included here because of its South African founding, its JSE secondary listing, and the Rupert family’s continued role as its controlling shareholder.

6. Dangote Industries (Nigeria): market cap approximately $13-18 billion (cement alone)

Dangote Cement is the most valuable company on the Nigerian Exchange by market capitalisation. The Dangote Refinery, targeted for a pan-African IPO in 2026 at a valuation of $40-50 billion, would instantly become Africa’s most valuable listed company if the offering completes and the market cap holds at the target level. Dangote Group in aggregate, combining cement, refinery, fertiliser, sugar and other operations, is arguably Africa’s most valuable private industrial conglomerate. Its combined valuation across all businesses would exceed $60-80 billion.

7. Safaricom (Kenya): market cap approximately $4-6 billion

Safaricom is East Africa’s most valuable listed company and the parent of M-Pesa, the world’s most widely used mobile money platform. It dominates Kenya’s telecoms market and has expanded into Ethiopia as one of Africa’s most ambitious cross-border telecoms ventures. Safaricom generates revenue from mobile services, M-Pesa financial transactions, home fibre broadband and a growing enterprise services business. Its Nairobi Securities Exchange listing makes it the flagship stock of East African capital markets.

8. Attijariwafa Bank (Morocco): market cap approximately $8-10 billion

Attijariwafa Bank is North Africa’s largest bank and one of the most geographically diversified financial institutions on the continent, with operations across 27 African countries. Listed on the Casablanca Stock Exchange, it is a primary constituent of the MASI index and a major beneficiary of Morocco’s growing role as a gateway for African business. Its subsidiary networks across West and Central Africa give it a continental footprint that rivals Standard Bank from the North African axis.

9. Equity Group Holdings (Kenya): market cap approximately $1.5-2.5 billion

Equity Group is East Africa’s most customer-centric bank, with over 21 million customers across Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, South Sudan, Ethiopia and the DRC. Its market capitalisation understates its strategic significance: Equity serves more customers than any bank in the region and has pioneered the inclusion-first banking model that has brought millions of previously unbanked Africans into the formal financial system. CEO James Mwangi was named Overall CEO of the Year at the 2026 Think Business Banking Awards.

10. Prosus (Netherlands/South Africa): separate note

Where Naspers is the South African holding company, Prosus is the Amsterdam-listed subsidiary that holds the Tencent stake and the international technology investment portfolio. Prosus has a market cap of approximately $80-100 billion and is one of Europe’s most valuable technology investment companies. Its value is almost entirely determined by the Tencent stake, which fluctuates with Chinese technology sector performance, regulatory environment and currency movements.

Other significant companies worth tracking

FirstRand Group (South Africa): One of South Africa’s largest banking groups, operating FNB, Rand Merchant Bank and WesBank across the continent. Market cap approximately $12-16 billion.

Absa Group (South Africa): Pan-African bank with operations in 12 countries, market cap approximately $7-9 billion. Previously part of Barclays Africa.

Old Mutual (South Africa): One of Africa’s oldest and most diversified financial services groups, with operations spanning insurance, banking, asset management and property. Market cap approximately $3-5 billion.

Commercial International Bank (Egypt): Egypt’s largest private sector bank by market capitalisation on the Egyptian Exchange. A consistent performer in one of Africa’s most liquid capital markets.

Maroc Telecom (Morocco): Majority-owned by Etisalat (now e&), with operations across West Africa and a Casablanca Stock Exchange listing. One of the most geographically diversified telecoms operators in Francophone Africa.

Ethiopian Airlines: Not publicly listed but the most profitable airline on the continent, valued by analysts at $5-10 billion if listed. A planned IPO has been discussed but not confirmed.

Africa’s capital markets: where to find these companies

Africa’s largest companies trade across multiple exchanges. The Johannesburg Stock Exchange is by far the continent’s most liquid market, accounting for approximately 70% of total African equity market capitalisation. The Nigerian Exchange and Nairobi Securities Exchange are the primary markets for West and East African equities respectively. The Casablanca Stock Exchange dominates North Africa alongside Egypt’s Egyptian Exchange. The pan-African exchanges initiative, which would allow companies to dual-list across multiple African exchanges simultaneously, is being advanced under the AfCFTA framework.

For foreign investors seeking African equity exposure, JSE-listed companies are the most accessible via international brokers. Nigerian Exchange access requires a local custodian relationship. Kenyan and Moroccan markets are increasingly accessible through international platforms. See Africaspoint’s complete guide to investing in Africa for the full mechanics.

The Bigger Picture: Africa’s largest companies are disproportionately concentrated in South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya. That concentration reflects the depth of those three countries’ capital markets relative to the rest of the continent. It also represents an opportunity: as capital markets deepen in Morocco, Egypt, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Ghana, more companies will achieve the valuation and liquidity that brings them to international investors’ attention. The list of Africa’s top 20 companies in 2030 will look materially different from the list today. The sectors driving that change are fintech, critical minerals, renewable energy and digital infrastructure. The names to watch are already operating. Most are not yet listed.

Source: JSE / Nigerian Exchange / Nairobi Securities Exchange / Bloomberg / Africaspoint research, May 2026