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Top 500 African Champions 2023: a user’s guide to our annual ranking

In depth

This article is part of the dossier: Wealth creators

By The Africa Report

Posted on Wednesday, 15 March 2023 17:13

Which are the best performing companies on the continent? Who, among the 1,200 largest African companies, have best withstood successive crises, from the Covid pandemic to the consequences of the war in Ukraine? In other words, who are our 2023 African champions?

Our 24th edition of the African 500 Champions Ranking 2023 offers a snapshot of the reshuffling of the cards among the continent’s largest companies.

Based on a detailed analysis of our database of more than 1,200 companies, the ranking provides a series of encouraging figures on Africa’s economic health: $665 billion in cumulative revenues, a record average profitability rate of 14.9%… And 76 new entrants.

Who are they? To find out, we invite you to browse through the rankings in their entirety, before diving deeper into the regional and sectoral rankings.

And because behind the numbers, there are men and women, decisions, successes and failures, we also invite you, through our analysis, interviews and portraits, to go deep into the strategy of the largest companies in Africa.

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Ranking Breakdown

Top 500 Companies: A year of rebound as cumulative turnover hits $665bn

A fanfare of recovery is how our ranking of the top 500 African companies might be best described, with profits amount to $80,84bn in total. For this 24th edition, which covers 2021, our cumulative continental turnover for the ranking has jumped nearly 12%.

heavy hitters

Renowned for his execution skills and mastery of financial matters, Peter Ndegwa is a man who avoids the political sphere. After nearly three years at Safaricom’s helm, he has successfully revitalised the Nairobi-headquartered group, which was once too focused on the domestic market.

Boosting growth

South Africa: Shoprite’s Africa downsizing, home consolidation pay off

Two years after it culled a number of its stores across Africa to consolidate their operation at home, Shoprite feels emboldened by its decision with sales growth in South Africa jumping 17%, amounting to ZAR100 billion ($5.3bn) in a period of 26 weeks ending 1 January.

Still competitors

With eight companies in the Top 10 of the leading West African companies, including NNPC and Dangote Cement, Nigeria is positioning itself as the factory of regional champions in 2021. Behind it, the Uemoa countries have established a strong presence.

miners climb

The mining companies of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are steadily moving up in our regional ranking of Central Africa's corporate champions. There are now three in the top 10, including one in first place, compared to none just five years ago.

info deficit

Open up the books! To attract capital, Africa’s corporate titans must be legible

Ranking the 500 largest groups operating in Africa is a collective exercise like no other. As tedious and methodical as it is, it requires time, patience, and sometimes even a certain spirit of conviction from our data teams.