North Africa’s Top Companies in 2022

For over 16 years African Business has been running an annual ranking of Africa’s 250 Top Companies, taking the top listed companies from national and regional stock exchanges across Africa. In this article we focus on the top 20 companies from North Africa in the 2022 ranking.

Morocco’s Bourse de Casablanca is the second largest component of the Top 250 Companies ranking, with 31 companies making up a combined market capitalisation of $64.8bn, or 9.3% of the total. The Egyptian Exchange (EGX) has slipped back, with only 30 companies in the ranking and total market capitalisation of $28.6bn, down from 44 in 2021 (market capitalisation of $37.8bn).  

The EGX30 stock index has climbed 13.4% over the period, more than Casablanca’s MASI Free Float index which rose 11.5%, but the Egyptian pound has retreated further against the US dollar than the dirham.  

The IMF highlights Egypt’s growth prospects and recent years have seen a wave of inward investments. However, as the world’s biggest wheat importer the country has been hit hard by the increase in commodity prices following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Annual inflation reached over 12% in March and the country’s foreign exchange reserves dropped by nearly 10%.

In April ADQ Holding, one of Abu Dhabi’s sovereign funds, bought stakes in five companies listed on the EGX and included in our ranking: the Commercial International Bank (CIB), Fawry, Alexandria Container & Cargo Handling Company, Misr Fertilizers Production Co. (MOPCO), and Abou Qir Fertilizers & Chemicals, in trades worth approximately $1.8bn. The move was described by Bloomberg as an effort to help shore up Egypt’s economy.

Maroc Telecom tops North Africa table

The biggest North African company on the listing is Maroc Telecom, now out of the top 10 after its value retreated $13.5bn to $11.8bn and its ranking slipped back from #8 to #13. Attijariwafa Bank also slipped lower, from #15 in 2021 to #19 even as its market capitalisation climbed from $9.9bn to $10.3bn, showing the competitive growth climate across the biggest African businesses. Many of the other Moroccan companies held steady in the ranking.  

A new arrival on the listing is construction company Travaux Généraux de Construction de Casablanca at #172 with market capitalisation of $522m. The company was founded in 1991 and builds residential, hotel, commercial and industrial properties. It raised an extra Dh600m ($61m) through issuing and selling 4.4m shares in December 2021.  

Egypt’s biggest listed company, CIB, with market capitalisation of $5bn (down from $5.4bn), fell back from #30 to #37. The highest new entry on the list at #91, with market capitalisation of $1.6bn, is Egyptian firm e-finance for Digital and Financial Investments which was listed in October 2021. Raising $372m and 61 times oversubscribed it was the biggest initial public offering on the EGX since 2015 and paves the way for more privatisations.  

Consumer goods firm Société de Fabrication des Boissons de Tunisie (SFBT) is the biggest listed firm on the Bourse de Tunis although down on the list from #67 to #95. The market capitalisation is down to $1.4bn from $1.8bn a year earlier, reflecting both a decline in the Tunisian dinar against the US dollar and a market whose main index, TUNINDEX, was almost unchanged over the year.

© Data provided by Emerging Markets Investment Management Limited and also in-house research. Data as at 31/03/2022. Data relates to listed companies only. Listed companies with less than 50% of their revenues in Africa and companies that are not listed or dual-listed on an African exchange were excluded.