The energy sector remained the leading contributor to the Top 500 (27 per cent), followed by the mining sector (14 per cent) in the 27th edition of The Africa Report exclusive ranking of the 500 largest African companies (excluding the financial sector).

The Top four remained unchanged, with Sonatrach retaining first place, Nigeria’s
NNPCL firmly in second position, and VIVO Energy Group and ESKOM ranking third and fourth respectively. The 2026 ranking also marks the strong comeback of Libya’s national oil company NOC (absent for many years due to lack of data), which ranks fifth with more than $18 billion in revenue.

This new edition highlights a historic performance: never before has the combined revenue of Africa’s leading companies reached such a level.

With $782.8 billion in cumulative revenue, the 2026 Top 500 records a 6.2 per cent increase compared to the previous edition, offsetting the decline observed in 2025 (-3.1 per cent) and significantly surpassing the previous record set in 2022 ($759.6 billion).

Dangote Industries Limited (DIL) did not appear in the 2026 ranking due to insufficiently reliable consolidated data. However, the ramp-up of the Lekki refinery, which reached full capacity in early 2026, could significantly reshape the hierarchy as early as the next edition. With estimated potential revenue of around $50 billion, Dangote Industries could become one of the continent’s leading groups and strongly contribute to the growth of the Top 500 in 2027. To date, no other unranked company displays such magnitude.

Julien Wagner, Director of Special Content, Partnerships and Media Diversification, said: “This 2026 edition shows one very clear thing: the narrative about Africa is often lagging behind the reality of African companies. While discussions still focus on risk and instability, our data document a thriving private sector, from north to south and east to west, breaking records, investing, exporting, and gaining market share – even in a turbulent monetary and geopolitical environment. The Top 500 is not just a ranking; it is a working tool to understand where value and economic influence are truly being created across the continent.”