MTN Ghana has been named the seventh biggest company in West Africa per its market capitalisation by the African Financials Report for Q1 2021.
The telecom giant placed seventh among the top 20 companies in the West African region.
Per the report, MTN Ghana as of March 2021, had a market capitalisation of $1.806 billion.
The mobile network operator, the report also notes, posted a dividend yield of 9.4 per cent and a 41.8 percent return on equity (ROE) over the last 12 months.
According to the report, MTN Ghana rolled out 36 each of 2G, 3G and 4G sites and also modernized 223 existing sites to 4G sites in the quarter.
“This investment helped them to reach a total of 2,160 4G sites nationwide resulting in an increase in our 4G population coverage from 71.7% to 76.1%, leading to a 64.0% growth in data traffic,” the report said.
Again, over the quarter in review, MTN Ghana’s subscriber base grew by 600,000 to 25.0 million, while data subscribers grew by 400,000 to reach 11.2 million, and mobile money users also shot up by 100,000 to reach 10.7 million.
MTN Ghana is on the path to become a complete digital operator by 2023 and is also embarking on drive dubbed Agenda 2025, aimed at making the company a platform player rather than a mere service provider.
Meanwhile, its sister company, MTN Nigeria was number two on the list with almost $8 billion market cap, a 7.4 per cent dividend yield and 31.4 per cent return on equity same period.
The only other Ghanaian company that made the list was StanChart Ghana, which was at the bottom of the list with a market cap of $423 million and a 34.3 per cent ROE.
Senegalese telecoms leader, SONATAL was the only other telecom company that made the list at number six with a market cap of $2.309 billion, a 10.6 per cent divided per yield and 27.3 per cent ROE.
Meanwhile, Nigeria overwhelmingly dominated the list with 13 companies – Dangote Cement at number 1, MTN Nigeria – 2, BUA Cement – 3, Nestlé Nigeria – 4, GT Bank – 5, Zenith Bank – 8, Nigeria Breweries – 10, Lafarge Africa – 11, Seplat Petroleum – 12, Access Bank – 13, First Bank Nigeria – 14, UBA – 15, and Dangote Sugar – 16.
Find the list of the top 20 companies in West Africa below:
| Company | Cap Rank | Market Cap US$ Millions | Dividend yield | ROE Last 12 months |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dangote Cement | 1 | $8,947bn | 7.4% | 31.4% |
| MTN Nigeria | 2 | $7,963bn | 5.9% | 115.0% |
| BUA Cement | 3 | $6,078bn | 2.4% | 18.8% |
| Nestlé Nigeria | 4 | $2,662bn | 4.4% | 133.8% |
| GTB | 5 | $2,361bn | 9.1% | 25.0% |
| SONATEL | 6 | $2,309bn | 10.6% | 27.3% |
| MTN Ghana | 7 | $1,806bn | 9.4% | 41.8% |
| Zenith Bank | 8 | $1,729bn | 13.3% | 24.2% |
| Stanbic IBTC | 9 | $1,390bn | 2.9% | 21.8% |
| Nigerian Breweries | 10 | $947m | 1.9% | 4.6% |
| Lafarge Africa | 11 | $869m | 4.5% | 8.6% |
| Seplat Petroleum | 12 | $764m | 7.4% | -4.5% |
| Access Bank | 13 | $694m | 8.1% | 14.1% |
| First Bank Nigeria | 14 | $636m | 6.2% | 11.6% |
| UBA | 15 | $589m | 7.4% | 10.6% |
| Dangote Sugar | 16 | $498m | 8.8% | 23.9% |
| Oragroup Togo | 17 | $481m | 1.7% | 0.3% |
| Société Générale-CI | 18 | $443m | 5.1% | 19.4% |
| Coris Bank – Burkino Faso | 19 | $435m | 0.0% | 21.2% |
| StanChart Ghana | 20 | $423m | 0.0% | 34.3% |
