Despite the economic gloom, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (now NGX, rebranded from Nigerian Stock Exchange after its demutualization a few weeks before time of writing) had a record-breaking 2020. Airtel Africa, a telco based in London but operating across Africa and dual-listed on the NGX, continued to soar up the main table of the Top Companies rankings from #37 in 2020 to #16 in 2021, as market capitalization tripled to $9.3bn. Its valuation does diverge with its London listing which has a valuation of $4bn at the time of writing. Giant Dangote Cement was at #20 (up from #21) with strong gains in market capitalization to $8.9bn with telco MTN Nigeria not far behind (#23). BUA Cement, which listed in January 2020 and was a dynamic new entry to last year’s top 250 at #34, climbed well to #27 this year, with market capitalization almost doubled to $6.1bn. Valued at $2.3bn, Senegal’s Sonatel, a telco operating across many African countries, is by far the biggest company listed on the Bourse Régionale des Valeurs Mobilières (BRVM), the regional market for eight West African economies.
Growth prospects are good in many countries. Star performer Côte d’Ivoire is forecast at 6.2% growth in 2021 and 6.5% in 2022, driven by many sectors including agriculture, construction, investment and consumption. Still, not many Ivorian companies are listed on the regional bourse. Senegal expects 5.1% and 6% growth driven by restored public investment and the hydrocarbon sector. There is optimism in Ghana, with forecast growth of 4.1% in 2021, buoyed by gold and cocoa prices and recovery in construction and manufacturing.