Forbes Magazine reports annually on the world’s 2000 largest publicly traded corporations and ClickAfrique has a look to see how African corporations have performed. The list ranks corporations by a combination of sales, profits, assets and market capitalisation. South African companies as would be expected given South Africa’s economic dominance of the African economic landscape top the list. South African giants Standard Bank Group, FirstRand, Sasol, Sanlam, Telkom SA take the first five positions.

A surprise entry in the list is Royal Caribbean Cruise lines, not so much because of the size of the company itself, it ranks amongst the largest cruise companies in the world, but because it gives Liberia its sole entry into the list at number six. Royal Caribbean Cruise lines, although headquartered in Miami, like quite a few other maritime organisations, is incorporated in Liberia earning the country an expected place in the global financial spotlight.

Egyptian companies make noticeable entries to the list with Orascom Telecom, Alexandria National Iron & Steel and Orascom Construction Industries making the list. Both Orascom are subsidiaries of the Orascom Conglomerate founded by Engr Onsi Sawiris giving them the honour of having 2 companies in the list. The final African country represented in the list is Morocco with their flag flown by Attijariwafa Bank. The bank was formed from a merger between La Banque Commerciale du Maroc and Wafabank in 2004.

The twenty-four African companies that made the list are detailed below as ranked by Forbes.

Rank in Africa - 1
Forbes Global Rank: 285
Company Name: Standard Bank Group
Country: South Africa
Industry: Banking
Sales ($Bil): 9.34
Profits ($Bil): 1.37
Assets ($Bil): 108.55
Market Value ($Bil): 15.39


Rank in Africa - 2
Forbes Global Rank: 361
Company Name: FirstRand
Country: South Africa
Industry: Banking
Sales ($Bil): 6.30
Profits ($Bil): 1.22
Assets ($Bil): 69.47
Market Value ($Bil): 17.03


Rank in Africa - 3
Forbes Global Rank: 390
Company Name: Sasol
Country: South Africa
Industry: Oil & Gas Operations
Sales ($Bil): 10.42
Profits ($Bil): 1.44
Assets ($Bil): 13.18
Market Value ($Bil): 23.28


Rank in Africa - 4
Forbes Global Rank: 454
Company Name: Sanlam
Country: South Africa
Industry: Insurance
Sales ($Bil): 16.35
Profits ($Bil): 0.58
Assets ($Bil): 39.86
Market Value ($Bil): 7.20


Rank in Africa - 5
Forbes Global Rank: 589
Company Name: Telkom
Country: South Africa
Industry: Telecommunications Services
Sales ($Bil): 6.90
Profits ($Bil): 1.08
Assets ($Bil): 9.13
Market Value ($Bil): 14.09


Rank in Africa - 6
Forbes Global Rank: 744
Company Name: Royal Caribbean
Country: Liberia
Industry: Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure
Sales ($Bil): 4.90
Profits ($Bil): 0.66
Assets ($Bil): 11.26
Market Value ($Bil): 9.27


Rank in Africa - 7
Forbes Global Rank: 815
Company Name: MTN Group
Country: South Africa
Industry: Telecommunications Services
Sales ($Bil): 4.64
Profits ($Bil): 1.03
Assets ($Bil): 4.57
Market Value ($Bil): 16.18


Rank in Africa - 8
Forbes Global Rank: 976
Company Name: Remgro
Country: South Africa
Industry: Conglomerates
Sales ($Bil): 1.60
Profits ($Bil): 1.41
Assets ($Bil): 6.34
Market Value ($Bil): 10.12


Rank in Africa - 9
Forbes Global Rank: 1114
Company Name: Bidvest Group
Country: South Africa
Industry: Conglomerates
Sales ($Bil): 9.45
Profits ($Bil): 0.31
Assets ($Bil): 3.11
Market Value ($Bil): 5.08


Rank in Africa - 10
Forbes Global Rank: 1123
Company Name: Investec
Country: United Kingdom/South Africa
Industry: Diversified Financials
Sales ($Bil): 2.47
Profits ($Bil): 0.19
Assets ($Bil): 33.80
Market Value ($Bil): 6.08


Rank in Africa - 11
Forbes Global Rank: 1145
Company Name: Impala Platinum Holdings
Country: South Africa
Industry: Materials
Sales ($Bil): 1.89
Profits ($Bil): 0.79
Assets ($Bil): 3.13
Market Value ($Bil): 11.41


Rank in Africa - 12
Forbes Global Rank: 1155
Company Name: Imperial Holdings
Country: South Africa
Industry: Transportation
Sales ($Bil): 6.40
Profits ($Bil): 0.35
Assets ($Bil): 4.31
Market Value ($Bil): 4.67


Rank in Africa - 13
Forbes Global Rank: 1280
Company Name: Barloworld
Country: South Africa
Industry: Conglomerates
Sales ($Bil): 6.19
Profits ($Bil): 0.29
Assets ($Bil): 4.41
Market Value ($Bil): 4.03


Rank in Africa - 14
Forbes Global Rank: 1301
Company Name: Orascom Telecom
Country: Egypt
Industry: Telecommunications Services
Sales ($Bil): 2.06
Profits ($Bil): 0.33
Assets ($Bil): 4.03
Market Value ($Bil): 13.24


Rank in Africa - 15
Forbes Global Rank: 1508
Company Name: Naspers
Country: South Africa
Industry: Media
Sales ($Bil): 2.23
Profits ($Bil): 0.42
Assets ($Bil): 2.35
Market Value ($Bil): 5.66


Rank in Africa - 16
Forbes Global Rank: 1524
Company Name: Metropolitan Holdings
Country: South Africa
Industry: Diversified Financials
Sales ($Bil): 3.02
Profits ($Bil): 0.30
Assets ($Bil): 7.79
Market Value ($Bil): 1.32


Rank in Africa - 17
Forbes Global Rank: 1717
Company Name: Alexandria Nat’l Iron & St
Country: Egypt
Industry: Materials
Sales ($Bil): 1.36
Profits ($Bil): 0.41
Assets ($Bil): 1.64
Market Value ($Bil): 3.91


Rank in Africa - 18
Forbes Global Rank: 1763
Company Name: Orascom Construction Inds
Industry: Construction
Country: Egypt
Sales ($Bil): 1.41
Profits ($Bil): 0.18
Assets ($Bil): 2.10
Market Value ($Bil): 8.11


Rank in Africa - 19
Forbes Global Rank: 1766
Company Name: Attijariwafa Bank
Country: Morocco
Industry: Banking
Sales ($Bil): 0.93
Profits ($Bil): 0.02
Assets ($Bil): 13.11
Market Value ($Bil): 3.55


Rank in Africa - 20
Forbes Global Rank: 1812
Company Name: Gold Fields
Country: South Africa
Industry: Materials
Sales ($Bil): 1.77
Profits ($Bil): 0.03
Assets ($Bil): 3.61
Market Value ($Bil): 10.75


Rank in Africa - 21
Forbes Global Rank: 1841
Company Name: Sappi
Country: South Africa
Industry: Materials
Sales ($Bil): 4.88
Profits ($Bil): -0.21
Assets ($Bil): 5.62
Market Value ($Bil): 2.86


Rank in Africa - 22
Forbes Global Rank: 1892
Company Name: Steinhoff Intl Holdings
Country: South Africa
Industry: Consumer Durables
Sales ($Bil): 2.88
Profits ($Bil): 0.24
Assets ($Bil): 3.62
Market Value ($Bil): 3.71


Rank in Africa - 23
Forbes Global Rank: 1894
Company Name: Alexander Forbes
Country: South Africa
Industry: Diversified Financials
Sales ($Bil): 0.74
Profits ($Bil): 0.07
Assets ($Bil): 14.66
Market Value ($Bil): 1.17


Rank in Africa - 24
Forbes Global Rank: 1989
Company Name: Tiger Brands
Country: South Africa
Industry: Food, Drink & Tobacco
Sales ($Bil): 2.35
Profits ($Bil): 0.25
Assets ($Bil): 1.41
Market Value ($Bil): 4.00