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Each year, The Africa Report chronicles the fortunes of the top 500 companies in Africa's key business sectors. These rankings, which were published in February 2012, are based on firms' 2010 performance, point to some of the important longer-term changes affecting African economies. Read more analysis of companies' performance in Outlook: turbulence.

Use the search bar below to browse the ranking by company name, country or sector.

 METHODOLOGY

Of 7,093 African companies in our database, 6,127 receive a detailed questionnaire. After crosschecks and verification, we establish a ranking of Africa's top 1,550 companies. The first 500 are published. To allow comparison, we apply the same rules to all our data. 1) All financial data must have a clearly-defined source, generally communicated to us by the companies themselves, and must refer to the 2010 financial year (in some cases 2010/11). 2) If presented in local currency, we convert the data into US dollar amounts according to the rate prevailing on 31 December 2010. 3). We include all companies who fall under the legal juristiction of at least one of the 54 countries in Africa, which is why a holding company and a subsidiary can both feature in the list. 4) Where we cannot obtain up-to-date figures, we use those of the previous year (marked with an asterisk). After two years of silence a company is struck off our ranking.

It was growth in domestic consumption that helped African companies' impressive stamina in 2010. Read more analysis inA pause on the way up.

Company name:  Country:  Sector:

Rank 2011	Rank 2010	Company name	Country	Sector	Turnover (Thds $)	Turnover change	Net profits
1	1	SONATRACH	ALGERIA	PETROLEUM	58 793 251	19,24%	9 305 439
2	2	SONANGOL	ANGOLA	PETROLEUM	22 244 664	-0,89%	2 515 973
3	3	SASOL	SOUTH AFRICA	CHEMICALS	18 393 415	-1,03%	2 398 323
4	5	MTN GROUP	SOUTH AFRICA	TELECOMS	17 254 208	12,53%	2 151 435
5	4	THE BIDVEST GROUP	SOUTH AFRICA	DIVERSIFIED	16 517 786	8,24%	503 282
6	6	ESKOM	SOUTH AFRICA	ELECTRICITY	13 758 201	30,22%	1 257 160
7	8	SHOPRITE HOLDINGS	SOUTH AFRICA	RETAIL	10 140 697	21,14%	340 998
8	7	SANLAM	SOUTH AFRICA	INSURANCE	10 123 028	19,20%	980 182
9	9	VODACOM GROUP	SOUTH AFRICA	TELECOMS	9 207 089	14,29%	1 240 460
10	11	IMPERIAL HOLDINGS	SOUTH AFRICA	DIVERSIFIED	8 039 747	8,97%	340 318
11	10	PICK'N PAY STORES HOLDINGS	SOUTH AFRICA	RETAIL	7 815 246	5,58%	117 878
12	13	STEINHOFF INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS	SOUTH AFRICA	DIVERSIFIED	7 227 618	10,39%	532 743
13	14	MASSMART HOLDINGS	SOUTH AFRICA	RETAIL	7 139 003	18,55%	176 989
14	12	VODACOM SOUTH AFRICA	SOUTH AFRICA	TELECOMS	6 979 676	2,59%	N/A
15	19	ANGLO PLATINUM CORP.	SOUTH AFRICA	MINING	6 924 461	28,06%	1 498 332
16	16	SAPPI	SOUTH AFRICA	PAPER	6 572 000	18,30%	66 000
17	15	BARLOWORLD	SOUTH AFRICA	DIVERSIFIED	6 142 874	7,31%	7 673
18	32	DE BEERS CONSOLIDATED MINES	SOUTH AFRICA	MINING	5 877 000	34,66%	-546 000
19	29	ANGLOGOLD ASHANTI	SOUTH AFRICA	MINING	5 842 425	29,05%	95 837
20	43	KUMBA IRON ORE	SOUTH AFRICA	MINING	5 823 017	45,80%	2 154 895
21	20	TRANSNET	SOUTH AFRICA	TRANSPORT	5 709 878	15,92%	618 801
22	25	MTN SOUTH AFRICA	SOUTH AFRICA	TELECOMS	5 389 420	17,08%	N/A
23	26	SPAR GROUP	SOUTH AFRICA	RETAIL	5 242 310	17,04%	137 782
24	46	OFFICE CHERIFIEN DES PHOSPHATES	MOROCCO	MINING	5 128 650	41,28%	1 048 131
25	22	AVENG	SOUTH AFRICA	DIVERSIFIED	5 112 457	10,94%	281 778
26	24	MTN NIGERIA	NIGERIA	TELECOMS	5 038 871	10,83%	N/A
27	17	TELKOM	SOUTH AFRICA	TELECOMS	5 033 154	-2,60%	183 850
28	34	NASPERS	SOUTH AFRICA	MEDIA	4 977 638	24,17%	791 367
29	23	MURRAY & ROBERTS HOLDINGS	SOUTH AFRICA	CONSTRUCTION	4 808 743	5,34%	165 239
30	28	SAB MILLER SOUTH AFRICA	SOUTH AFRICA	BEVERAGES	4 777 000	11,79%	N/A
31	30	GOLD FIELDS	SOUTH AFRICA	MINING	4 748 999	17,42%	546 344
32	31	ORASCOM CONSTRUCTION IN/AUSTRIES	EGYPT	CONSTRUCTION	4 719 726	18,19%	572 896
33	21	GROUPE ONA*	MOROCCO	DIVERSIFIED	4 684 968	N/A	381 540
34	38	ARCELOR MITTAL SOUTH AFRICA	SOUTH AFRICA	METAL, STEEL	4 547 201	24,10%	202 355
35	36	GRIN/AROD	SOUTH AFRICA	SEA TRANSPORT	4 544 024	17,84%	126 204
36	27	SUEZ CANAL AUTHORITY	EGYPT	PORTS	4 542 000	5,56%	N/A
37	41	SAMIR	MOROCCO	REFINING	4 365 837	22,53%	98 564
38	35	DATATEC	SOUTH AFRICA	ICT	4 302 972	13,13%	41 893
39	42	EDGARS CONSOLIDATED STORES	SOUTH AFRICA	RETAIL	3 849 414	12,88%	-247 189
40	37	IMPALA PLATINUM HOLDINGS	SOUTH AFRICA	MINING	3 828 351	8,01%	709 372
41	45	OLD MUTUAL LIFE ASSURANCE CO.	SOUTH AFRICA	INSURANCE	3 775 543	17,54%	381 842
42	33	MAROC TELECOM	MOROCCO	TELECOMS	3 733 304	-1,98%	1 124 294
43	18	ORASCOM TELECOM	EGYPT	TELECOMS	3 693 228	-37,14%	150 915
44	49	WOOLWORTHS HOLDINGS	SOUTH AFRICA	RETAIL	3 519 477	16,02%	189 266
45	48	LIBERTY GROUP	SOUTH AFRICA	INSURANCE	3 432 065	13,59%	397 038
46	47	ALLIED ELECTRONICS CORP.	SOUTH AFRICA	ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT	3 431 765	12,25%	81 544
47	50	THE ARAB CONTRACTORS	EGYPT	CONSTRUCTION	3 428 433	19,38%	249 468
48		TRANSNET FREIGHT RAIL	SOUTH AFRICA	TRANSPORT	3 401 223	N/A	N/A
49	44	NETWORK HEALTHCARE HOLDINGS	SOUTH AFRICA	HEALTHCARE	3 381 213	7,37%	193 479
50	39	NAFTAL	ALGERIA	PETROLEUM SERVICES	3 367 077	-2,08%	91 011
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