MTN, Dangote, Ethiopian Airlines... Our exclusive ranking of Africa’s leading firms
N° 116 • JUILY - AUGUST - SEPTEMBER 2021
L to R: Tony Elumelu, Aliko Dangote, Herbert Wigwe, Emmanuel Macron, Gilbert Chagoury, Abdul Samad Rabiu, Mike Adenuga.
INTERNATIONAL EDITION Belgium €7.90 • Canada CA$12 • Denmark DK80 • D.R.C. US$10 • France €7.90 • Germany €7.90 • Ghana GH¢35 • Kenya KES1000 • Morocco DH45 Netherlands €7.90 • Nigeria NGN2000 • Rwanda RWF7,500 • South Africa R75 (tax incl.) • Switzerland FS10.90 • Tanzania TZS20,000 • Tunisia DT15 Uganda UGX40,000 • UK £7.20 • United States US$15.99 • Zambia ZMW80 • CFA Countries F.CFA3,900 • Euro Zone €7.90
JEUNE AFRIQUE MEDIA GROUP
M 08980 - 116 - F: 7,90 E - RD
3’:HIKSTI=UU\^UZ:?a@b@b@q@k";
THE NEW SUDAN Hamdok and the rebirth of a nation
GHANA Akufo-Addo’s difficult second act
www.theafricareport.com
CAN MACRON WOO NIGERIA? Trapped in the Sahel, France is trying to reinvent itself in anglophone Africa
EDITORIAL
WHEN THE LEVERS STOP WORKING
Ignore that man behind the curtain! So went the Wizard of Oz’s desperate command when his pretence had finally been exposed. It’s come to be a metaphor for the inflated self-regard of politicians around the world. Like the Wizard, there comes a time when they pull levers and nothing happens. For many governments, that time is now. The levers no longer work and the centre isn’t holding. It has taken the twin threats of a public health emergency and devastating economic inequities to make this picture plain to all. Some have retreated into nationalism; others into epochal pessimism. The latest report from the US National Intelligence Council, ‘Global Trends 2040’, describes the pandemic as ‘the most significant, singular global disruption since World War II’ in terms of its medical, political and security implications. As people sense that governments are losing their grip, they are mobilising in new ways. That portends, according to the US report, ‘more political volatility, erosion of democracy and expanding roles for alternative providers of governance’. It all adds up to an era of heightened competition between systems of governance and a ‘growing mismatch between what publics need and expect
and what governments can and will deliver’. Although these warnings are in the public domain, national leaders and international bureaucrats haven’t got the message. Public health is an area where starting with the grassroots works so much better than top-down policies. Africa’s experience in dealing with epidemics, especially Ebola, river blindness and Guinea worm, shows the key importance of local initiative. That works for prevention and sounding alarms, as well as organising treatment. Vital intelligence about health crises often comes from farmers in remote areas. It depends on trust. National and international resources are needed to manufacture vaccines and protective equipment, but they require well-informed and credible local groups to distribute them. Such life lessons from the pandemic offer a counter to forecasts of ineluctable descent into authoritarianism or government breakdown. Parallels for education, economic and development policy are obvious. Our new digital networks are joining up grassroots organisations across the globe, sharing expertise and building solidarity. Sending resources to local initiatives, especially those run by women, creates more wealth, more jobs and spreads knowledge. Widely shared warnings of global food shortages should concentrate thinking and funds on the local. None of this is to diminish the importance of getting international accords on corporate taxation, the global distribution of vaccines, or the transfer of allocations of the IMF’s reserve currency to developing economies. Those are necessary conditions for progress, but they are far from sufficient. National governments have to ratchet down the hubris. Admitting the levers don’t work is a good first step. Devolving far more resources and power to the regions and the grassroots is the next stage.
THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 116 / JULY-AUGUST-SEPTEMBER R 2021
3
#116 / July, August, September 2021 THE AFRICA REPORT 57-BIS, RUE D’AUTEUIL 75016 PARIS – FRANCE TEL: (33) 1 44 30 19 60 FAX: (33) 1 44 30 19 30 www.theafricareport.com
CHAIRMAN AND FOUNDER BÉCHIR BEN YAHMED
PUBLISHER DANIELLE BEN YAHMED publisher@theafricareport.com
EDITOR IN CHIEF PATRICK SMITH MANAGING EDITOR NICHOLAS NORBROOK editorial@theafricareport.com
To find the full editorial team, all our correspondents and much more on our new digital platform, please visit: www.theafricareport.com
SALES A JUSTE TITRE Tel: +33 (0)9 70 75 81 77 contact-ajt-sifija@ajustetitres.fr
03 EDITORIAL 06 MAILBAG 08 OBITUARY / Béchir Ben Yahmed 10 COFFEE WITH THE AFRICA REPORT / Salim Saleh 12 OPINION 15 Q3 / July, August, September
48 DRC FOCUS President Tshisekedi has finally taken charge by sidelining former president Kabila. A look at his allies and his chances of succeeding with some of his key policies.
CONTACT FOR SUBSCRIPTION: Webscribe Ltd Unit 4 College Road Business Park College Road North Aston Clinton HP22 5EZ United Kingdom
64 AFRICA’S TOP 500 COMPANIES The Africa Report’s exclusive ranking of the continent’s largest companies in terms of revenue.
Tel: + 44 (0)1 442 820580 Fax: + 44 (0)1 442 827912 Email: subs@webscribe.co.uk ExpressMag 8275 Avenue Marco Polo Montréal, QC H1E 7K1, Canada T : +1 514 355 3333 1 year subscription (4 issues): All destinations: €27 - $32 - £24
28 INTERVIEW / Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame He talks about the country’s complicated relationship with France and neighbours in East and Central Africa. And he answers questions about freedom and the role of his family.
34 WIDE ANGLE / Sudan’s New Dawn Diplomatic and debt-relief deals are creating new opportunities for the transitional government, which has tough challenges on the security and economic fronts.
40 WIDE ANGLE / Akufo-Addo’s second-term test Political and economic obstacles stand in the way of the flagship policies of Ghana’s President, who was re-elected in December 2020.
92 NIGERIA/ FRANCE INSIGHT
TO ORDER ONLINE: www.theafricareportstore.com
French firms are betting on the huge market and partnering with Nigeria’s top business leaders.
ADVERTISING DIFCOM INTERNATIONAL ADVERTISING AND COMMUNICATION AGENCY
128 ENERGY DOSSIER The oil majors grapple with the energy transition on the continent.
136 AGRICULTURE DOSSIER Tea, climate change, citrus and more.
4
THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 116 / JULY-AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2021
COVER ILLUSTRATION: DAVI AUGUSTO, COLAGENE.COM
FEATURES
57-BIS, RUE D’AUTEUIL 75016 PARIS - FRANCE Tel: (33) 1 44 30 19-60 – Fax: (33) 1 44 30 18 34 advertising@theafricareport.com
PRINTER: SIEP 77 - FRANCE N° DE COMMISSION PARITAIRE : 0720 I 86885 Dépôt légal à parution / ISSN 1950-4810
THE AFRICA REPORT is published by JEUNE AFRIQUE MEDIA GROUP
MAILBAG
For all your comments, suggestions and queries, please write to: The Editor, The Africa Report, 57bis rue d’Auteuil Paris 75016 - France or editorial@theafricareport.com
FRANCE IS A SPONSORING LOOTING AND TERRORISM
The French are always found in any African country suffering from criminal ruling cliques, terrorism, theft of natural resources and misery. This is not a coincidence. African states and world powers must kick France out of Africa totally. French support for regimes in West and Central Africa is devastating for security, peace and development in many countries. Tarig Anter
COPY AND PASTE
Alas, in many cases entrepreneurship teaching in developing countries merely copies the entrepreneurship teaching from the West. It doesn’t take into account the cultural and institutional differences between Africa and the West. In 2020 I published a book, Cross-cultural entrepreneurship and social transformation: innovative capacity in the Global South. Some
TANZANIA TURNS A PAGE
Tanzania’s late president John Magufuli laid a new foundation: one can clearly see the change in most public sectors, eg. health and government institutions. It will be much easier for President Samia Suluhu Hassan to take over as this foundation was laid. Suluhu, being a woman, may bring compassion and circumspection, which will spear the nation to a new direction. As a nation, we expect to keep the momentum going and support the new regime from Zanzibar to the mainland since our new leaders could bring a totally different Tanzania. Queen Uroki, Banker
important points: on the level of business culture/ management style there are many problems with entrepreneurial capacity: lack of customer orientation, lack of planning, overly hierarchical management. At the level of cooperation/competition between businesses there is lack of trust and a high dependency on vertical networks: important people at the top that may obstruct the business and/or grant privileges in return for favours. At the government bureaucracy level these vertical
networks cause institutional voids, lack of regulation and lack of policies that are conducive to entrepreneurship. Otto Kroesen
AFRICA’S BANKS AND ENTREPRENEURS African banks are more focused on collecting saving monies to invest and get profit from mutual insurance funds than on assisting entrepreneurs. You do all the work and when your turnover is huge, you see them coming to you. They have never
anticipated the growth of SMEs. In fact they don’t want Africa to build a strong industrial sector. That’s why you see microfinance banks holding billions dollars and reinvesting them in Europe or North America. As an entrepreneur myself and managing my own company since 2007, I don’t rely on them for the growth of my company. Our assistance and networks always come from outside the African continent. Martial Harryson Ohomon Managing director, OTC
HOW TO GET YOUR COPY OF THE AFRICA REPORT On sale at your usual outlet. If you experience problems obtaining your copy, please contact your local distributor, as shown below. ETHIOPIA: SHAMA PLC, Aisha Mohammed, +251 11 554 5290, aisham@shamaethiopia.com – GHANA: TM HUDU ENTERPRISE, T. M. Hudu, +233 (0)209 007 620, +233 (0)247 584 290, tmhuduenterprise@gmail.com – KENYA, UGANDA, TANZANIA: THE NEWZ POINT, Dennis Lukhoola, +256 701 793092, +254 724 825186, denluk07@yahoo.com – NIGERIA: NEWSSTAND AGENCIES LTD, Marketing manager, +234 (0) 909 6461 000, newsstand2008@gmail. com; STRIKA ENTERTAINMENT NIGERIA LIMITED, Mrs Joyce Olagesin, info.nig@strika.com – SOUTHERN AFRICA: SALES AND SUBSCRIPTIONS: ALLIED PUBLISHING, Butch Courtney; +27 083 27 23 441, berncourtney@gmail.com – UNITED KINGDOM: QUICKMARSH LTD, Pascale Shale, +44 (0) 2079285443, pascale.shale@quickmarsh.com – UNITED STATES & CANADA: Disticor, Karine Halle, 514-434-4831, karineh@disticor.com – ZAMBIA: BOOKWORLD LTD, Shivani Patel, +260 (0)211 230 606, bookworld@realtime.zm For other regions go to www.theafricareport.com
ADVERTISERS’ INDEX ACCESS BANK P 98-99; AFRICA CEO FORUM P 14; ALAPALA P 139; AXENS P 121; BARRICK KIBALI GOLD MINE P 62-63; BUA GROUP P 104-105; C2I EASY STEEL SHEDS P 82; CAVERTON P 117; CFAO GROUP P 148; CIB P 21; CIU P 85; DANGOTE GROUP P 7; DASSAULT AVIATION P 95; DREAMOVAL P 43; EKO ATLANTIC CITY P 118-119; EKO HOTELS & SUITES P 125; ENDRESS + HAUSER P 69; ENI SPA P 89; EQUITY BCDC P 57; EURONEWS P 60; FANMILK DANONE P 123; HERBERT SMITH FREEHILLS P 135; KEMPINSKI HOTEL GOLD COAST CITY P 47; KONNECT EUTELSAT P 83; LIEBHERR P 23; MAIRE TECNIMONT P 107; MCB GROUP P 25; MD SERVICES P 55; NESSCO P 115; OCP AFRICA P 2, 140-141; OFID P 87; OLAM P 45; PERENCO P 133; PONTICELLI NIGERIA P 109; PROCADRES P 115; QATAR AIRWAYS P 5; RAWBANK P 53; REP. OF DJIBOUTI P 147; SAFICABLES P 59; SFA P 51; TAGPAY P 85; TANGER MED ENGINEERING P 91; TAR SUBSCRIPTION P 145; TOSHIBA AFRICA P 81; TOTALENERGIES P 19, 112-113; UBA GROUP P 17; VOCALCOM P 101
6
THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 116 / JULY-AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2021
D I G I TA L E D I T I O N
SAVE THE DATE 28 - 30 September 2021 A New World coming: how can Africa and its private sector navigate the change? TO REGISTER www.theafricaceoforum.com CO-HOST
ORGANIZER
MAURO VOMBE, UNTITLED, FROM ‘FACES’ - AFRICAN PHOTOGRAPHY; CAP PRIZE 2021
Quarter
The Africa Report’s exclusive guide to the quarter ahead features key events from the worlds of politics, business and culture. Find out more about how to plan your July, August & September. Election-watching party with your Lungu- and Hichilemasupporting friends? Looking for a beach read? A spot of art in Cape Town? Or to indulge your interest in building hotels on the continent? No matter your tastes and hobbies, there is plenty on. THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 116 / JULY-AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2021
15
Q3
/ JULY POSTPONED POLLS
Somalia’s President Farmaajo has been on the campaign and deal-making trail since late 2020
ABDIRAHMAN YUSUF / AFP
Somalia elections
15.06% South Africans must prepare for a large hike in their electricity bills from 1 July. On 1 April, the National Energy Regulator of South Africa approved the national electricity company Eskom’s request to raise electricity prices for direct customers by 15.06%. Municipalities will announce their own increases, based on their approved budgets, which are likely to be 13.5% for Cape Town and 14.5% for Johannesburg.
16
Somalia’s political stalemate is set to end by July, but those plans – like others before them – could be thrown off course by insecurity and political wrangling. At the end of May, prime minister Hussein Roble and the leaders of five regional states agreed to aim for parliamentary elections to be held within 60 days. Opposition candidates including former presidents Sheikh Sharif and Sheikh Hassan and former prime minister Hassan Ali Khaire complained of attacks against them by government forces in the lead-up to the 2021 election campaign. President Mohamed ‘Farmaajo’ Abdullahi Mohamed had promised to hold ‘one person, one vote’ elections at the end of his term in December 2020, but was unable to do so due to Islamist rebel group Al-Shabaab’s control of territory, and disagreements with the leaders of Somalia’s federal member states. In September, Somalia’s leaders agreed to a deal to hold indirect elections by the Federal Parliament. Political tensions are high. Due to a perceived increase in misinformation shared on social media, the Federation of Somali Journalists has launched a campaign called the ‘Disinformation Lab’ against the spread of fake news, hate speech and propaganda.
BOOK Winner of the Prix Ahmadou-Kourouma, the Grand Prix du Roman Métis, and the French Voices Grand Priz in Alexia Trigo’s translation (Europa Editions), the Senegalese writer Mohamed Mbougar Sarr’s debut novel, Brotherhood, is set in an imaginary world of a fundamentalist Islamist government. Following the public execution of two lovers, the characters show heroism, cowardice, fear and love when faced with a brutal regime.
THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 116 / JULY-AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2021
Q3
/ JULY ‘This training programme represents the strengthening relationship between the United States of America and the Republic of Mozambique’
MTN
APPOINTMENTS
DENNIS HEARNE The US Ambassador to Maputo prepares for a second joint training exercise against Islamic State terrorists in July, as Portugal sends in more troops.
PHUTHUMA NHLEKO The former MTN group executive chairman’s appointment as an independent non-executive director of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) is effective from 1 July. He will also become the board chairman from May 2022.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
40%
Ethiopia is to sell up to 40% of the stateowned telecommunications company, Ethio Telecom, the main internet and telephone service provider in the country, by July. Many international bidders are interested.
EDNAH OTIENO
BOOK A collection of poetry by the Congolese award-winning writer of Tram 83, Fiston Mwanza Mujila, celebrates the Congo River – a metaphor for the post-colonial DRC. Previously the main route for exploitation of the country’s resources, it is now a symbol of life, but also of poverty and insecurity. Mixing history, religion and myths from Africa and Europe, the volume, originally published in French in 2013, is translated by J. Bret Maley for Deep Vellum.
18
ETHIOPIA
Fill and be dammed Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has described preventing the second filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) as an “existential issue” for his country. The dam has a capacity of 74bn cubic metres, and the aim is to generate 6,000MW through 16 turbines, but countries downstream are worried about the long-term effects on their water supplies. The first filling of 4.9bn cubic metres took place in 2020, and Ethiopia has scheduled the second for July 2021. Sudan claimed at the end of May that the filling had already begun, heightening tensions between the two countries.
THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 116 / JULY-AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2021
MAXAR TECHNOLOGIES/AFP
East African Breweries Group human resources director Otieno, who has been in the profession for 18 years, has been appointed to the same role at Diageo Great Britain as of 1 July.
Q3
/ AUGUST
HAKA AINDE LEMA HICHIL
EDGAR LUN NGU Populist appealing to rural and Copperbelt voters, going ffor his second electeed term
SALIM DAWOOD
ROBERTO PAQUETE/AFP
mpt for Sixth attem to presidency; aims a restructurre debt
ZAMBIA
Will the debt crisis mean the end for Lungu? On 12 August, Zambians will head to the polls to vote in general elections, which must be held every five years. Due to heavy borrowing and a combative relationship with mining firms, Zambia is struggling to pay its debts. Will President Edgar Lungu and his Patriotic Front (PF) party hold on to power? Lungu’s backers want him to stay to spend more on infrastructure and talk tough to mining companies. A populist, he has sought to get more support from women and young people with projects to boost agricultural production. However, since the 2016 election that gave him the legitimacy of a popular vote – he originally stepped into the presidency when Michael
Sata died in office – Lungu has been accused of authoritarianism. In 2017 the Conference of Catholic Bishops, who rarely speak out publicly, made a statement concluding that Zambia ‘is now all, except in designation, a dictatorship’. One of their complaints was that opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema had been arrested on a trumped-up treason charge – a claim supported by Amnesty International. Hichelema was released, but the possibility of re-arrest hangs over him. A businessman campaigning on a programme to fix the economy, who lost in the 2016 elections by about 10,000 votes, Hichilema and his United Party for National
23.6m
‘This is a new start, a new deal for Africa’ MACKY SALL
SOLAR
Senegal’s President Macky Sall backs a drive for rich countries to reallocate some $100bn of their special drawing rights at the IMF to provide more finance for African countries.
The government in South Africa is trying to approve 1GW of solar photovoltaic projects as part of its Renewable Energy IPP Procurement Programme.
20
Development are unlikely to have an easy ride. His traditional support base is in the south and west, whereas Lungu polls well in the north and east (the Copperbelt). Hichilema is trying to win over PF-leaning urban voters and says he wants to unify the country, restructure the debt and reduce government spending. The Electoral Commission of Zambia has published a new voters’ register, which addresses many of the opposition and the bishops’ concerns, but Hichilema and his supporters say they still worry that not everyone who is eligible to vote will be able to do so. Lungu has also banned campaign rallies, citing anti-Covid-19 measures.
THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 116 / JULY-AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2021
NGOs are warning of an ‘unprecedented’ rise in the number of people facing acute food insecurity in the Sahel and West Africa in the upcoming lean season, which runs from June until August. The biggest contributor to the rise is the growing number of food-insecure in Nigeria.
Q3
/ AUGUST MUSIC
GALLO IMAGES
FLYING South African Airways, which suspended commercial flights in September 2020 due to Covid-19 and debts, aims to restart in July or August if the health situation permits.
Multi-award winning South African singer-songwriter and recording artist Amanda Black will release her latest album, Mnyama, this month. She first came into the spotlight as a contestant on the TV show Idols SA. Speaking about the new album, the singer said: “We want better days […]. We seek healing from the incredulous [sic] losses we have experienced during this time [the Covid-19 pandemic] and I hope people can find it through my story.”
ART
Waiting for Gebane For six years, South African artist Senzeni Marasela wore the same symbolic dress, through which she inhabited her alter ego, Theodorah Mthetyane. In this solo exhibition, she narrates Theodorah’s story – and a universal story of women waiting – using textiles, embroidery, photography and painting. When Theodorah’s husband, Gebane Hlongwane, leaves her in a rural town to look for work, he gives her an ishweshwe dress, signifiying marriage in Xhosa culture, which she wears in the hope he will return. The exhibition is at the Zeitz MOCAA – Museum of Contemporary Art Africa in Cape Town until 29 August.
BOOK Leïla Slimani’s third novel, released in French last year, is out in translation this month. In the Country of Others (Random House) is story about freedom and belonging in colonial Morocco, and set to be the first part of a trilogy.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
APPOINTMENT
ZEITZ MOCAA
C. SURENDRAN
Telling through textiles
22
THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 116 / JULY-AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2021
C. Surendran takes over as CEO of Airtel Nigeria on 1 August 2021, when Olusegun Ogunsanya moves to Airtel Africa. Surendran was CEO of Airtel’s largest Indian subsidiary in Karnataka.
Experience the Progress.
www.liebherr.com info.lex@liebherr.com www.facebook.com/LiebherrConstruction
Q3
/ SEPTEMBER
Kudita Tamary, ‘African Victoria’ from ‘African Victorian’
AFRICAN PHOTOGRAPHY; CAP PRIZE 2021
AFRICAN PHOTOGRAPHY; CAP PRIZE 2021
Kourkouni Adil, ‘Untitled’ from ‘Utopic Perception’
Mauro Vombe, Untitled, from ‘Faces’
PHOTOGRAPHY
Eyes on the African prize
‘Africa needs [Covid-19] vaccines now. Any pause in our vaccination campaigns will lead to lost lives and lost hope’ MATSHIDISO MOETI The WHO’s regional director for Africa says the continent will need 200m vaccine doses to hit the target of 10% of the population by September.
24
THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 116 / JULY-AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2021
AFRICAN PHOTOGRAPHY; CAP PRIZE 2021
The five winners of the Continental African Photography (CAP) Prize will be announced in September, from a shortlist of 25 projects. From fine art portraits to documentary and experimental photography by photographers from Nigeria, Morocco, Egypt and more, the shortlist is a showcase of continental talent. Previous winners of the CAP Prize have had their work shown in festivals worldwide.
KENYA The Kenyan government is getting serious about developing the country’s export potential. Parliamentarians are expecting to receive reports about the setting up of Kenya Export Promotion and Branding Agency by September and studies about export markets by December.
The calm before the Covid storm. The Africa Report’s exclusive ranking of companies shows that the continent’s top firms were already experiencing problems due to shifts in commodity prices and currency values before the pandemic hit in 2020 By PIERRE-OLIVIER ROUAUD, CHRISTOPHE LE BEC and QUENTIN VELLUET 64
AFRICA
THE AFRICA REPORT’S
EXCLUSIVE
2021 RANKINGS
The effects of the Covid-19 crisis will hit African companies like a tsunami on their 2020 and 2021 earnings. Even before this exogenous shock, the continent’s champions were already struggling. This is what the latest edition of the The Africa Report’s Top 500 African companies shows. This exclusive ranking is marked by a further decline (-1.05%) in the total turnover of companies, expressed in dollars. This follows a drop of 1.6% in the previous ranking. Taking investors on a
decade-long roller-coaster ride, the overall turnover of the Top 500 has grown by just 5.4% since 2009. The peak was in 2012 ($736.8bn), and it could be years, perhaps a decade, before it is matched. The new underperformance of the top 500 is all the more worrying given that the continent’s economies had been growing rather robustly. According to the African Development Bank (AfDB), continental GDP grew by 3.3% in 2019, with 3% for sub-Saharan Africa alone. With the health crisis,
AFRICA
65
Africa, like the rest of the world, has been mired in an However, it includes two exits: Morocco’s OCP Group unprecedented recession with an estimated 2.1% drop (#19), affected by low fertiliser prices, and South Africa’s in GDP in 2020. According to the latest AfDB forecasts, Imperial Holdings. The latter split into two companies: Imperial Logistics (#39) and Motus (#18) on the autohowever, the continent’s GDP should recover 3.4% in 2021. motive distribution side. Our ranking shows, once again, that two external factors play a key role in the evolution of our champions’ These outgoing companies are replaced in the top 15 by activity transcribed in US currency: commodity prices two South African groups: Anglo American Platinium and exchange-rate fluctuations. The rand continued to (#10), which benefited from the strength of platinum weaken. Its average price against the dollar declined by prices, and the refiner and distributor of fuels Engen Petroleum (#14), a subsidiary of Malaysia’s Petronas. about 9% in 2019. The Algerian dinar and Moroccan Sonatrach (#1) of Algeria remains the regular number dirham depreciated by about 2%, and the euro, to which one. Like Sonangol, its activity is affected by the price the CFA franc is pegged, by 5%. of hydrocarbons and was down by 4%. Conversely, the Nigerian naira remained stable throughout the year and the annual average rate of the Egyptian pound appreciated by about 5%. As a sign of the times, South Africa bent but not broken our ranking includes seven more Egyptian companies By major regions, two areas saw their relative weight drop: Central Africa (from 2.23% to 2.13% of the total than last year, and the country’s weight in the cumulative Top 500) and Southern Africa (55.8% vs. 57.3%) – again turnover of the Top 500 rose from 7.3% to 8.5%, with the Suez Canal Authority (#16) and Orascom Construction an illustration of the currency devaluations in Angola and Industries (#45) leading the way, as they did last year. the persistent sluggishness of South Africa. The country led by President Cyril Ramaphosa recorded only 0.2% In monetary terms, a few countries experienced unusual situations in 2019, such as Angola, whose growth in 2019. Despite these difficulties, currency, the kwanza, collapsed by around South Africa remains by far the country with 50% against the dollar. This explains the the most companies ranked (156, eight fewer sharp drop – more than 40% – in Sonangol’s than the previous year). These companies still dollar-denominated turnover (#7, down five account for 51.4% of the total weight, but their companies represent places). cumulative turnover is slightly down (-1.8%). almost half the total Conversely, West Africa improves its relAnother major variation factor was the price turnover of the Top 500, of raw materials in 2019. For oil, the price of ative weight by more than a point (10.1% led, as always, by Sonatrach with $46.3bn. West Texas Intermediate, the reference oil on against 9.06%) and returns to a level close to the New York Stock Exchange, fell by more the 2015 fiscal year after a continuous slide since then. The top three in the region are, as last year, than 10%, according to the annual average price published by the World Bank. Figures from the same source show MTN Nigeria (#44), Dangote Cement (#59) and Sonatel that cotton, palm oil and coffee fell slightly. Cocoa and Orange (#154). East Africa changed little, at 3.8% comrubber prices were up. So were precious metals, led by pared to last year’s 3.7%. Its largest company, Ethiopian gold. The price of iron ore jumped by a third: a good Airlines (#33) has shown outstanding resilience during the pandemic, which is likely to raise it even further on trend for the Société Nationale Industrielle et Minière next year’s rankings. in Mauritania, which moved up 79 places (#152). In this economic context, the top 15 of our ranking In North Africa, Morocco, which traditionally comes in second in terms of the number of companies, lost seven represented almost half of the value of the turnover representatives (with 54 total companies on the list) and of the top 500 companies, and showed little change. also a percentage point, to drop to 7.7% of the total. Finally, on the profitability side, out of 387 companies 2014 TOTAL TURNOVER Total turnover of the Top 500 companies for which we have complete data, the average net profit 690 (in billions of US$) over six years (including loss-making companies) is 5.1%. This is down sharply from 7.3% last year. This is mainly because we have now removed the financial sector from the ranking, which is instead included in our Top 200 Banks ranking. In this top 500, the number of profitable companies 2017 for which we have data is 306. They have generated a 2018 2019 2015 total of $38.1bn in profits, including $24bn for the 100 637 627 620 610 most profitable companies, with a net profit of 23%. The 2016 largest profit in absolute terms this year was made by 569 Algeria’s Sonatrach, with $3.9bn. It is followed by the TAR RESEARCH
15
66
THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 116 / JULY-AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2021
BREAKDOWN OF TURNOVER BY SECTOR Steel
$11.6bn
TOT AL $
Number of companies Electrical Equip.
6
$6.3bn
Communication
0 50
62 0.4 b
n
11
5 $8.7bn Agribusiness
$47.3bn
71
Wood Paper 6
Water, electricity 27 & gas
Mining
$59.7bn 53
$36.5bn
$21.9bn
8
Chemicals Utilities
Energy
$5.8bn 11
$113.2bn
Nigeria
678 157
237%
CEC Africa Investments (#195)
Zambia
712 934
170%
RBPlat (#246)
South Af.
532 824
112%
Remgro (#29) Tasiast Mauritanie (#247)
South Af.
4 051 564
88%
Mauritania
532 800
73%
COUNTRY
TURNOVER 2019 (THOUSAND US$)
TURNOVER CHANGE
$19.5bn
Telecoms
61
TOP CLIMBERS Krystal Digital (#199)
$71.7bn 56
12
COMPANY
Construction
$34.2bn
48
Transport
Retail
Diversified
$42.5bn 28
Automobile
$12.4bn
$35.7bn 32
$60.6bn 23
14 Financial services $7.2bn
11 Tourism
$2.2bn 8
4
Trinity Energy (#349)
South Sudan
332 597
-34%
Driefontein Mine (#429)
South Af.
234 916
-34%
Trident Steel (#412)
South Af.
251 125
-34%
ADI (#448)
Morocco
212 615
-38%
Angola
9 248 437
-41%
Sonangol (#7)
Technology
TOP FALLERS
$6.2bn
South African group Naspers (#32), which made significant capital gains on the sale of its shares in the media group MultiChoice and in the e-commerce business of the Indian company Flipkart. Some sectors are booming while others are stagnating. The past 12 months have been fruitful for Sébastien de Montessus and his teams at Endeavour Mining (not on our ranking as it is listed in Toronto). The French CEO, who joined the Canadian gold group in 2016 after heading up La Mancha – owned, like Endeavour, by the Egyptian tycoon Naguib Sawiris – completed the mergers and acquisitions of Semafo (#377) in April 2020, then Teranga Gold at the end of January 2021. These successive mergers are unprecedented in West Africa, a region on which Endeavour has set its sights: C$1bn (US$827m) for the absorption of Semafo, well established in Burkina Faso, and C$2.44bn (US$2bn) for Toronto-listed Teranga, the leading miner in Senegal.
In the telecoms sector, the move into financial services has been a game-changer, especially for Airtel Africa, which is represented in the Top 500 by its largest African operation, Airtel Nigeria (#106), as well as Airtel Uganda (#314), Airtel DRC (#381), Airtel Tanzania (#432) and Airtel Kenya (#447). Eleven years after Airtel’s arrival on the continent, the fourth largest pan-African operator in terms of customers – more than 118 million – has raised new capital and intends to return to the forefront. “I do not go two or three days without an investor soliciting me via consulting firms to discuss mobile money in Africa,” says an employee who requests anonymity. A decade ago, the African subsidiary of Indian billionaire Sunil Mittal’s mobile operator Bharti Airtel was heavily indebted after its 2010 takeover of Zain (whose Sudanese operation, Zain Sudan is at #373) and was struggling to implement its low-cost operator strategy. Its financial difficulties, combined with tougher competition in the Indian market for its parent Striding among giants company, stopped it from investing as much as it would have liked on the continent, and Endeavour is now established among the Place in the global world’s 10 largest gold producers. With an the group even raised doubts among observers gold-mining pyramid estimated annual production of 1.5 million as to whether it would be able to maintain its shared by Endeavour and presence in all its African markets. ounces by 2021, it is neck and neck with South South Africa’s Harmony Gold Mining Company. Africa’sHarmonyGoldMiningCompany(#72) Present in 14 African markets, where it for the title of 10th-largest gold miner in the achieved revenue of $401m (+35% at constant world. However, it is still far below the two behemoths: US exchange rates) in the fiscal year ending May 2021, Airtel company Newmont (6.2m ounces) and Canada’s Barrick Money is one of the main growth drivers for the operator. At the end of March, a few weeks before MTN followed Gold (4.6m ounces). The latter remains a heavyweight on the continent, from where it drew around 2m ounces suit by hiving off its mobile-money operations, Airtel Africa, led by Raghunath Mandava – with a turnover of in 2020. Endeavour can also boast the third-lowest all-in cost of production among the majors, at around $850 per $3.9bn dollars for the financial year ending in May 2021 – announced the arrival of the US investor The Rise Fund ounce, well below Barrick’s $1,000 and Newmont’s $980.
10
THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 116 / JULY-AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2021
67
TAR RESEARCH
Health
$14.9bn
REGIONAL WEIGHT BY TURNOVER Number of companies
Southern Africa 207 $346.1bn
North Africa 142 $174.9bn
amongst the shareholders of Airtel Money. Mastercard also participated in its funding round, contributing $100m. This first share sale enabled the company to raise $300m in order to develop the distribution network for its payment solutions (via agents, kiosks or affiliated partners), microcredit, savings and money-transfer solutions. After long being accused of mobilising funds initially intended for the Indian market, Airtel Africa seems finally to be able to claim some financial emancipation.
28.19%
TOTAL
$620.4bn
55.78%
500 10.10%
First African CEO
2.13%
14
Methodology This year, we sent our questionnaire to more than 10,000 companies active on the continent. After cross-checks and verification, we established a ranking of approximately 1,200 companies, which includes responses from previous years. The top-ranking 500 are published here. To allow for comparison, we apply the same rules to all our data: 1) All financial data must have a clearly defined source, generally
68
communicated to us by the companies themselves, and must refer to the year 2019 (in some cases 2019/2020); 2) If presented in the local currency, we converted the data into US dollar amounts according to the rate on 31 December 2019; 3) We include all companies that fall under the legal jurisdiction of at least one of the 54 countries in Africa, which is why a holding company and a subsidiary can
THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 116 / JULY-AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2021
both feature in the list; and 4) Where we cannot obtain up-to-date figures, we use those of the previous year (marked with an asterisk and italics). After two years of silence, a company is struck off the rankings. The turnover change is based on the latest available data and not necessarily what was published in the previous ranking, as firms regularly update their financial statements.
TAR RESEARCH
3.80%
In addition to the liquidity provided by the increase in the value of mobile money, the group closed a loan West Africa 91 facility of up to $500m at the end of April. Investors $62.7bn East Africa 34 include Bank of America, HSBC, Citibank, JP Morgan $23.6bn and BNP. This sum is in addition to the funds recovered Central Africa 26 from the sale of 4,500 of its telecom towers to Helios $13.2bn Towers. On 23 March, Airtel confirmed the sale of its infrastructure in Madagascar and Malawi to the British to regain the confidence of the markets. Airtel Africa’s company for about $108m. The transaction should take share price has stagnated around £70 ($99) on the London Stock Exchange since the listing of 25% of the group in place between October and December, and will also include the sale of its towers in Gabon, Chad, and, “if June 2019. Airtel Africa is experiencing more success on the Lagos Stock Exchange, where its share price has all goes well” according to our source, in Tanzania. The operation is estimated at a total of $600m. increased by 250% in a year, reaching N837 ($2) on 5 May. In a few months, the group, which emAt the beginning of 2019, the possibility ploys more than 3,000 people, is due to have raised a total of $1.3bn. “This sum should that the operator would simplify its portfolio still haunted it, with rumours of the sale of be reinvested in the deployment of the 4G African countries served by network and the acceleration of services to Nigerian and Chadian operations, which Airtel Money, Airtel Africa’s businesses. A portion should be allocated were never confirmed. Two years later, it new subsidiary offering to debt payments,” says the source, without seems that Airtel is still convinced that it microcredit, saving and revealing specific figures. money transfers. can find growth. Reducing the $3.5bn debt – 2.1 times its Watch this space for more tales of business gross operating profit – which has been stagnant for two opportunities seized and squandered, as next year’s Top years, will be one of the priorities of Nigerian Olusegun 500 rankings will begin to show which African companies Ogunsanya, the first African appointed to head Airtel adapted to the Covid-19 crisis and which ones buckled under the pressure. Africa, who will take office on 1 October. His goal is
ADVERTORIAL
Ensuring food safety and public health in Africa Around 50% of all food recalls are caused by microbiological contamination of food products. Prevent this by using hygienically designed equipment in the production facility.
Hygienic design prevents food contamination
A large part of the world’s population relies on others when it comes to food supply. Meat, vegetables and crops are no longer obtained from own cultivation, but rather purchased in retail stores. Some countries or regions depend on supplies from external sources to a large extent – so-called net food importers. Meaning that the value of the imported goods exceeds that of their exports. Shipping perishable goods over long distances holds a risk of contamination by bacteria and viruses such as salmonella, e. coli or others. In the worst case, interrupted cooling chains and other food safety issues can result in the outbreak of foodborne diseases.
EHEDG
Surface
Design Material
Health
HACCP
Food Safety
FDA
3-A
Food safety is not only an obligation - it is crucial for public health. Endress+Hauser puts its focus on food safety. As global leader in measurement instrumentation, services and solutions for the food & beverage industry, the company provides measurement solutions for flow, level, pressure, analytics, temperature, recording and digital communications. By designing and producing reliable, proven-in-use instrumentation that meets global standards and regulations for hygienic design, Endress+Hauser helps food producers globally to achieve their food safety goals. Scan the QR-Code in the box to read the full article “Ensuring food safety and public health in Africa”.
Scan it now!
Hygiene
Cleaning
Certification
Sanitation
Risk Contamination
Food safety is not only an obligation - it is crucial for public health
Want to know more about Endress+Hauser? Visit our website www.easc.endress.com
‘We’ve sold 1.2bn data bundles this year, up 15.8% year-overyear. […] Customers are truly growing into higher data usage.’ SHAMEEL JOOSUB, CEO of Vodacom South Africa (#25)
1 - 50 Rank 2019
Rank 2018
Diff.
Company
Sector
Country
Turnover (2019)
Net profits
Turnover change
1
1
0
Sonatrach
Petroleum
Algeria
46,296.7
3,939.4
-4%
2
4
2
Sasol
Chemicals
South Africa
14,478.3
432.0
15%
3
5
2
Eskom
Utilities
South Africa
14,186.2
-1,458.1
-1%
4
3
-1
Steinhoff International Holdings
Wood
South Africa
13,431.0
-2,065.3
3%
5
7
2
MTN Group
ICT/Telecoms
South Africa
10,771.8
872.6
16%
6
6
0
Shoprite Holdings
Retail
South Africa
10,696.1
360.9
6%
7
2
-5
Sonangol
Petroleum
Angola
9,248.4
94.0
-41%
8
9
1
Bidcorp Group
Food & drink
South Africa
9,192.3
346.3
13%
9
10
1
SPAR Group
Retail
South Africa
7,786.0
126.5
11%
10
22
12
Anglo American Platinum Corp.
Mining
South Africa
7,081.5
1,320.6
37%
11
12
1
Massmart Holdings
Retail
South Africa
6,674.1
-92.2
6%
12
13
1
Vodacom Group
ICT/Telecoms
South Africa
6,453.9
1,183.7
3%
13
14
1
Pick N Pay Stores Group
Retail
South Africa
6,349.7
85.0
6%
14
18
4
Engen Petroleum
Petroleum
South Africa
6,346.3
120.8
6%
15
11
-4
NLNG
Petroleum
Nigeria
6 314,9
ND
-8%
16
16
0
Suez Canal Authority
Ports
Egypt
5,800.0
ND
0%
17
17
0
Sappi
Wood
South Africa
5,746.0
211.0
-1%
18
-
-
19
15
-4
Motus
Auto industry
South Africa
5,669.0
134.8
6%
OCP Group
Mining
Morocco
5,574.7
310.8
-5%
20
20
21
21
0
The Bidvest Group
Diversified
South Africa
5,487.1
270.5
3%
0
The Bidvest Group South Africa*
Diversified
South Africa
5,252.2
ND
-7%
22 23
23
1
Transnet
Transport
South Africa
5,338.6
280.1
4%
35
12
Sibanye Gold
Mining
South Africa
5,141.6
30.8
47%
24
25
25
24
1
Woolworths Holdings
Retail
South Africa
5,091.9
-85.6
7%
-1
Vodacom South Africa
ICT/Telecoms
South Africa
4,949.5
ND
26
-
-
0%
Pepkor
Retail
South Africa
4,823.8
ND
27
41
2%
14
Kumba Iron Ore
Mining
South Africa
4,571.9
1,516.0
44%
28 29
27
-1
Datatec
ICT/Telecoms
South Africa
4,304.8
14.2
-1%
65
36
Remgro
Diversified
South Africa
4,051.6
551.3
88%
30
30
0
31
26
-5
Mediclinic Corporation
Healthcare
South Africa
4,043.7
-175.4
2%
Barloworld
Diversified
South Africa
4,042.0
176.2
-3%
32
38
6
Naspers
Media
South Africa
4,001.0
3,404.0
22%
33
29
-4
Ethiopian Airlines
Air transport
Ethiopia
4,000.0
189.0
0%
34
44
10
Naftal
Petroleum
Algeria
3,945.6
ND
2%
35
39
4
ONEE*
Utilities
Morocco
3,839.1
204.6
-3%
36
33
-3
Groupe Maroc Telecom
ICT/Telecoms
Morocco
3,763.4
280.9
0%
37
36
-1
Multichoice Africa
Media
South Africa
3,654.6
133.0
5%
38
34
-4
Al Mada (Ex S.N. d’Investissement)* Diversified
Morocco
3,544.9
486.2
-3% 5%
39
-
-
Imperial Logistics
Diversified
South Africa
3,536.1
254.8
40
31
-9
Anglogold Ashanti
Mining
South Africa
3,525.0
-7.0
6%
41
57
16
Impala Platinum Holdings
Mining
South Africa
3,458.5
-747.2
39%
42
40
-2
Sonelgaz*
Utilities
Algeria
3,264.3
ND
16%
43
43
0
MTN South Africa
ICT/Telecoms
South Africa
3,232.2
ND
5%
44
49
5
MTN Nigeria
ICT/Telecoms
Nigeria
3,205.1
553.8
13%
45
46
1
Orascom Construction Industries
Construction
Egypt
3,184.0
131.1
6%
46
45
-1
Transnet Freight Rail
Rail transport
South Africa
3,173.9
ND
5%
47
48
1
Telkom
ICT/Telecoms
South Africa
3,061.2
43.2
6%
48
54
6
Gold Fields
Mining
South Africa
2,967.1
344.8
15%
49
42
-7
ArcelorMittal South Africa
Metals
South Africa
2,941.0
-332.6
-6%
50
47
-3
Afriquia SMDC*
Petroleum
Morocco
2,941.0
92.3
5%
2019 results in millions of US dollars; *in italics 2018 results; ND: no data
70
THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 116 / JULY-AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2021
Petroleum distributor Afriquia SMDC (#50) has partnered with non-profit platform Mécano Al Maghrib to offer 3,000 garage mechanics training, leading to a qualification.
51 - 100 Rank 2019
Rank 2018
Diff.
51
62
11
52
61
9
53
52
54
53
Company
Sector
Country
Turnover (2019)
Net profits
Turnover change
Elsewedy Electric
Electr. equip.
Egypt
2,901.7
250.3
22%
Wilson Bayly Holmes-Ovcon
Construction
South Africa
2,888.5
39.0
19%
-1
Ezz Steel Company
Metals
Egypt
2,844.8
-385.5
4%
-1
Aspen Pharmacare Holdings
Pharmaceuticals
South Africa
2,748.6
327.9
12% 6%
55
55
0
Foschini
Retail
South Africa
2,736.4
173.8
56
59
3
Super Group
Transport
South Africa
2,692.7
115.4
9%
57
72
15
EgyptAir Holdings
Diversified
Egypt
2,660.8
57.7
33%
Safaricom
ICT/Telecoms
Kenya
2,447.8
611.2
7%
Dangote Cement
Construction
Nigeria
2,443.2
549.4
-1%
58
60
2
59
58
-1
60
69
9
Middle East Oil Refineries
Refining
Egypt
2,429.0
57.0
15%
61
66
5
Clicks Group
Retail
South Africa
2,373.7
121.1
11%
62
71
9
Al Ezz Dekheila Steel Company
Metals
Egypt
2,175.2
ND
8%
63
64
1
Maroc Telecom
ICT/Telecoms
Morocco
2,162.1
335.9
0%
64
74
10
Masscash
Retail
South Africa
2,153.3
ND
8%
65
73
8
Masswarehouse
Retail
South Africa
2,088.6
76.2
5%
66
75
9
Tiger Brands
Agribusiness
South Africa
2,079.0
276.7
6%
67
50
-17
Global Telecom Holding
ICT/Telecoms
Egypt
2,077.0
-115.0
-27%
68
88
20
EgyptAir Airlines
Air transport
Egypt
2,050.9
17.4
28%
69
118
49
Vodafone Egypt
ICT/Telecoms
Egypt
1,985.1
306.8
47%
70
79
9
RCL Foods
Food & drink
South Africa
1,977.4
-68.2
10%
71
96
25
STEG
Utilities
Tunisia
1,953.8
38.0
30%
72
103
31
Harmony Gold Mining Company
Mining
South Africa
1,914.0
-185.4
35%
73
77
4
Oando
Petroleum
Nigeria
1,861.7
78.9
36%
74
76
2
Sonatel
ICT/Telecoms
Senegal
1,858.4
336.5
-3%
75
81
6
Exxaro Resources
Mining
South Africa
1,829.6
716.1
4%
76
68
-8
Aveng
Diversified
South Africa
1,826.1
-119.5
-14%
77
86
9
Life Healthcare Group
Healthcare
South Africa
1,825.8
204.2
12%
78
89
11
Kap International Holdings
Diversified
South Africa
1,820.8
77.5
14%
79
87
8
AECI
Chemicals
South Africa
1,763.7
94.4
9%
80
82
2
Cevital*
Food & drink
Algeria
1,744.4
46.5
-14%
81
93
12
Cosider
Construction
Algeria
1,738.9
314.6
14%
82
97
15
Dis-Chem
Pharmaceuticals
South Africa
1,705.8
44.7
15%
83
85
2
STIR
Petroleum
Tunisia
1,683.3
ND
2%
84
-
-
Dangote Cement Nigeria
Construction
Nigeria
1,671.9
ND
-1%
85
83
-2
Royal Air Maroc
Air transport
Morocco
1,659.5
-13.5
-4%
86
80
-6
Blue Label Telecoms
ICT/Telecoms
South Africa
1,658.0
15.6
-7%
87
91
4
Mr Price Group
Retail
South Africa
1,637.9
192.3
5%
88
113
25
Telecom Egypt
ICT/Telecoms
Egypt
1,602.5
216.6
26%
89
78
-11
Distell Group
Food & drink
South Africa
1,591.0
28.1
-12%
90
105
15
Pioneer Foods Group
Food & drink
South Africa
1,584.0
65.1
14%
91
84
-7
Kansanshi Mining
Mining
Zambia
1,581.0
ND
-5%
92
101
9
Ghabbour Auto
Auto industry
Egypt
1,580.5
13.9
11%
93
100
7
Flour Mills of Nigeria
Food & drink
Nigeria
1,572.1
31.2
9%
94
117
23
The Arab Contractors
Construction
Egypt
1,544.7
ND
25%
Network Healthcare Holdings
Healthcare
South Africa
1,535.4
176.2
7%
Ethio Telecom
ICT/Telecoms
Ethiopia
1,479.7
ND
17% 14%
95
102
7
96
116
20
97
98
1
Petrojet*
Petroleum
Egypt
1,478.2
ND
98
92
-6
Vivo Energy Maroc
Petroleum
Morocco
1,476.0
ND
-5%
99
95
-4
Murray & Roberts Holdings
Construction
South Africa
1,434.3
24.6
-5%
100
106
6
Massdiscounters
Retail
South Africa
1,407.9
ND
3%
2019 results in millions of US dollars; *in italics 2018 results; ND: no data
THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 116 / JULY-AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2021
71
Airtel Nigeria (#106), the country’s second-largest telecoms company by number of customers, experienced revenue growth of 12% to $422m for the quarter ended March 2021.
101 - 150 Rank 2019
Rank 2018
Diff.
Company
Sector
Country
Turnover (2019)
Turnover change
Net profits
101
133
32
Hassan Allam Holding
Construction
Egypt
1,400.2
71.1
102
115
13
Katanga Mining Ltd
Mining
DRC
1,386.3
-923.3
55% 10%
103
107
4
Marikana (Ex-Lonmin)*
Mining
South Africa
1,345.0
62.0
15%
104
112
8
Mohammed Enterprises Tanzania
Retail
Tanzania
1,334.0
ND
4%
105
111
6
Omnia Holdings
Chemicals
South Africa
1,332.6
9.2
3%
106
129
23
Airtel Nigeria
ICT/Telecoms
Nigeria
1,288.8
316.4
17%
107
119
12
Truworths International
Retail
South Africa
1,286.8
175.3
6%
108
90
-18
SNH
Petroleum
Cameroon
1,275.4
754.3
23%
109
108
-1
Total Maroc
Petroleum
Morocco
1,268.7
61.8
-3%
110
104
-6
Tullow Ghana
Petroleum
Ghana
1,261.5
ND
-10%
111
114
3
Vivo Energy Kenya
Petroleum
Kenya
1,256.0
ND
-1%
112
127
15
Kenya Airways
Air transport
Kenya
1,254.9
-127.0
12%
113
148
35
Jumia Group
Retail
Nigeria
1,230.2
ND
30%
114
-
-
Afinitas
Financial serv.
Botswana
1,224.0
-741.0
72%
115
121
6
Ghana Oil Company
Petroleum
Ghana
1,215.2
18.5
3%
116
122
6
Allied Electronics Corporation
Electr. equip.
South Africa
1,188.6
47.8
9%
117
131
14
Sonabhy
Petroleum
Burkina Faso
1,186.7
71.6
10%
118
147
29
Gold Fields Ghana
Mining
Ghana
1,162.0
131.1
22%
119
161
42
Axian Group
Diversified
Madagascar
1,145.0
15.0
29%
120
110
-10
Comilog
Mining
Gabon
1,140.6
48.7
-12%
121
155
34
Compagnie Ivoirienne d‘Électricité
Utilities
Côte d’Ivoire
1,140.3
11.2
12%
122
150
28
Alviva Holdings
Electr. equip.
South Africa
1,132.4
27.8
20%
123
139
16
Mota-Engil Africa
Construction
South Africa
1,127.8
ND
9%
124
137
13
Kibali Gold Mine
Mining
DRC
1,123.0
194.0
8% 18%
125
152
27
Kenya Power and Lighting
Utilities
Kenya
1,099.6
2.6
126
134
8
Total Kenya
Petroleum
Kenya
1,094.2
24.8
4%
127
153
26
Rand Water
Utilities
South Africa
1,090.6
24.8
17%
128
149
21
Label' Vie
Retail
Morocco
1,071.3
32.8
13%
129
141
12
Hosken Consolidated Investments
Diversified
South Africa
1,061.4
-521.0
7%
130
135
5
IBL Group
Diversified
Mauritius
1,042.7
37.1
0%
131
109
-22
Nampak
Wood & paper
South Africa
1,041.4
107.6
-6% -3%
132
132
0
Marjane Holding
Retail
Morocco
1,036.4
44.1
133
146
13
Massbuild
Construction
South Africa
1,011.3
ND
6%
134
167
33
Société des Mines de Loulo
Mining
Mali
1,007.0
158.0
19%
135
165
30
MTN Ghana
ICT/Telecoms
Ghana
982.9
ND
16%
136
156
20
Transnet Port Terminals
Ports
South Africa
982.1
ND
8%
137
142
5
Société Africaine de Raffinage*
Refining
Senegal
979.0
-2.5
3%
138
170
32
PetroSA
Petroleum
South Africa
973.7
-396.8
16% 4%
139
154
15
Anglovaal Industries
Food & drink
South Africa
967.2
176.0
140
151
11
Holmarcom Group
Diversified
Morocco
962.3
ND
3%
141
158
17
PSG Group
Financial serv.
South Africa
960.3
182.3
6%
142
159
17
Astral Foods
Agribusiness
South Africa
959.1
99.3
7%
143
160
17
Taqa Morocco
Utilities
Morocco
939.7
108.6
6%
144
136
-8
Adcorp Holdings
Services
South Africa
928.7
-42.9
-8%
145
195
50
Qalaa Holdings
Financial serv.
Egypt
928.3
-94.9
26%
146
186
40
Etisalat Misr
ICT/Telecoms
Egypt
915.3
-
23%
147
143
-4
Renault Commerce Maroc
Auto industry
Morocco
910.9
ND
-6%
148
140
-8
Choppies Enterprises
Retail
Botswana
893.1
-39.8
-9%
149
188
39
Orange Egypt
ICT/Telecoms
Egypt
891.6
ND
6%
150
145
-5
Nigerian Breweries
Food & drink
Nigeria
885.0
44.1
0%
2019 results in millions of US dollars; *in italics 2018 results; ND: no data
72
THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 116 / JULY-AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2021
‘Communication prices have dropped by at least 80% between 2016 and now. No other sector has had such a price drop.’ SEKOU DRAMÉ, CEO of Sonatel Orange (#154)
151 - 200 Rank 2019
Rank 2018
Diff.
Company
Sector
Country
Turnover (2019)
Net profits
Turnover change
151
163
12
Pétrole du Maghreb
Petroleum
Morocco
884.7
ND
1%
152
231
79
SNIM
Mining
Mauritania
880.0
288.0
51% 20%
153
196
43
PGI Holding – Amen Group
Diversified
Tunisia
879.4
87.3
154
169
15
Sonatel Orange
ICT/Telecoms
Senegal
876.4
ND
4%
155
-
-
The Industrial Development Corp.
Institutions
South Africa
870.5
-269.5
-6%
156
164
8
Transnet National Ports Authority
Ports
South Africa
865.7
ND
0%
157
190
33
Eastern Company
Agribusiness
Egypt
864.6
232.3
16%
158
176
18
Cosumar
Agribusiness
Morocco
846.3
95.2
6%
159
198
39
Transnet Rail Engineering
Rail transport
South Africa
844.8
ND
16%
160
173
13
Algérie Télécom
ICT/Telecoms
Algeria
841.0
106.8
3%
161
126
-35
EOH Holdings
ICT/Telecoms
South Africa
838.6
-7.2
0%
162
207
45
Johannesburg Water Company
Utilities
South Africa
833.4
124.7
19%
163
217
54
Volta River Authority
Utilities
Ghana
826.2
ND
25%
164
202
38
Poulina Group Holding
Diversified
Tunisia
824.4
46.6
14%
165
171
6
Orange Côte d’Ivoire
ICT/Telecoms
Côte d’Ivoire
822.5
93.6
-1%
166
185
19
Growthpoint Properties
Construction
South Africa
809.9
523.9
7%
167
172
5
Lafargeholcim Maroc
Construction
Morocco
809.6
175.3
-2%
Total Gabon
Petroleum
Gabon
807.8
50.4
-11%
East African Breweries Group
Food & drink
Kenya
807.3
112.6
13%
Groupe SIFCA
Agribusiness
Côte d’Ivoire
805.4
-33.6
-16% 19%
168
157
-11
169
204
35
170
174
4
171
212
41
AGIL
Petroleum
Tunisia
801.3
ND
172
168
-4
Total Nigeria
Petroleum
Nigeria
800.6
6.2
-5%
173
205
32
Metair Investments
Auto industry
South Africa
799.2
46.8
12%
CMH Group
Auto industry
South Africa
793.4
13.5
3%
Mpact
Wood & paper
South Africa
787.7
-51.3
7%
174
183
9
175
194
19
176
182
6
Al Ezz Rolling Mills
Metals
Egypt
783.3
ND
5%
177
197
20
Nestlé Nigeria
Food & drink
Nigeria
778.3
125.2
7%
178
192
14
Total Côte d’Ivoire
Petroleum
Côte d’Ivoire
774.9
17.8
5%
179
179
0
Djezzy (Ex-Optimum Telecom Algeria) ICT/Telecoms
Algeria
773.3
ND
-3%
180
187
7
Lyonnaise des Eaux de Casablanca
Utilities
Morocco
769.0
17.4
2%
181
216
35
Total Sénégal
Petroleum
Senegal
766.5
10.0
15%
182
181
-1
Alexandria Minerals Oils Co.
Petroleum
Egypt
765.7
17.4
-12%
183
199
16
Reunert
ICT/Telecoms
South Africa
762.0
57.2
5%
184
177
-7
Hulamin
Metals
South Africa
761.6
-85.7
-5%
185
251
66
Northam Platinum
Mining
South Africa
757.4
4.3
45%
186
224
38
RMB Holdings
Financial serv.
South Africa
740.9
709.6
21%
187
191
4
Sanam Agro*
Food & drink
Morocco
741.9
ND
-2%
188
225
37
Talaat Moustafa Group
Construction
Egypt
730.8
113.6
20% 37%
189
247
58
Julius Berger Nigeria
Construction
Nigeria
730.0
24.0
190
203
13
Pretoria Portland Cement Co.
Construction
South Africa
728.3
-169.8
0%
191
193
2
Ooredoo Algeria
ICT/Telecoms
Algeria
721.0
ND
-2%
192
215
23
Tarkwa Mines
Mining
Ghana
720.4
101.3
8%
193
206
13
Cashbuild
Construction
South Africa
717.7
19.4
-4%
194
200
6
Invicta Holdings
Auto industry
South Africa
713.9
ND
-1%
195
-
-
CEC Africa Investments
Financial serv.
Zambia
712.9
329.0
170%
196
144
-52
Algérie Télécom Mobilis
ICT/Telecoms
Algeria
688.0
112.3
-29%
197
213
16
Orange Mali
ICT/Telecoms
Mali
686.3
ND
2%
198
219
21
African Rainbow Minerals
Mining
South Africa
682.5
274.1
6%
199
493
294
Krystal Digital Network Solutions
ICT/Telecoms
Nigeria
678.2
21.3
237%
200
218
18
Orange Maroc
ICT/Telecoms
Morocco
674.3
ND
2%
2019 results in millions of US dollars; *in italics 2018 results; ND: no data
THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 116 / JULY-AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2021
73
In May, the Botswanan retail group Sefalana Holding Co. (#242) acquired a 40% stake in Seasons Group, an Australian supermarket chain, for $6.1m.
201 - 250 Rank 2019
Rank 2018
Diff.
201
214
13
202
120
-82
203
223
204
233
Company
Sector
Country
Turnover (2019)
Net profits
Turnover change
Liquid Telecom*
ICT/Telecoms
Mauritius
668.9
-116.1
-2%
Tongaat-Hulett Group
Food & drink
South Africa
664.8
ND
10%
20
Société Nationale d’Électricité
Utilities
Senegal
657.9
ND
7%
29
Afriquia Gaz
Petroleum serv.
Morocco
654.2
72.1
13%
205
-
-
Centamin
Mining
Egypt
652.3
172.9
8%
206
229
23
East African Breweries Kenya
Food & drink
Kenya
648.9
ND
10%
207
220
13
Ciel Group
Diversified
Mauritius
642.9
-31.6
0%
208
281
73
Electricidade de Moçambique
Utilities
Mozambique
637.1
-34.4
27%
209
230
21
Zimplats Holdings
Mining
Zimbabwe
631.0
144.9
8%
210
232
22
Oriental Weavers Company
Textile
Egypt
630.6
ND
9%
211
209
-2
Eterna Oil & Gas
Chemicals
Nigeria
628.2
-0.4
-9%
212
228
16
Raubex
Construction
South Africa
621.2
21.4
5%
213
222
9
Tanzania Electric Supply Co.*
Utilities
Tanzania
617.5
-9.5
-1%
214
237
23
Redefine Properties
Construction
South Africa
614.3
248.5
9%
215
211
-4
Stefanutti Stocks Holdings
Construction
South Africa
610.6
-76.2
-11%
216
273
57
SIIC Egypt
Agribusiness
Egypt
609.6
21.6
-6%
217
226
9
Vivo Energy Côte d’Ivoire
Petroleum
Cÿÿôte d’Ivoire
605.8
9.4
0%
218
208
-10
Mondi Group South Africa
Wood & paper
South Africa
603.7
ND
-13%
219
283
64
Kaap Agri Ltd
Agribusiness
South Africa
601.1
20.0
33%
220
227
7
SA des Brasseries du Cameroun
Food & drink
Cameroon
587.2
23.6
-2%
221
221
0
Seplat Petroleum Development Co.
Petroleum
Nigeria
586.8
221.9
-6%
222
166
-56
Lafarge Africa
Construction
Nigeria
583.6
49.0
-31%
223
272
49
Pioneers Holding
Financial serv.
Egypt
582.6
84.2
23%
224
321
97
IHS Towers Group
ICT/Telecoms
Mauritius
580.6
-64.3
48%
225
236
11
Essakane Gold Mine
Mining
Burkina Faso
579.2
ND
3%
226
244
18
Assore
Mining
South Africa
579.0
424.2
7%
227
234
7
Clover Holdings*
Food & drink
South Africa
575.5
-2.6
-29%
228
260
32
Zalar Holding
Agribusiness
Morocco
574.9
-7.7
15%
229
239
10
Nigerian Bottling Co.
Food & drink
Nigeria
573.6
ND
3%
230
-
-
Vivo Energy Ghana
Petroleum
Ghana
571.0
ND
-5%
231
235
4
Air Mauritius*
Air transport
Mauritius
570.8
-24.8
-7%
232
252
20
Société Tunisienne de l’Air
Air transport
Tunisia
569.4
ND
9%
233
248
15
Biopharm
Pharmaceuticals
Algeria
567.1
63.6
7%
234
241
7
ETAP
Petroleum
Tunisia
560.2
53.5
2%
235
-
-
Egyptian Pharmaceuticals Trading
Pharmaceuticals
Egypt
559.7
6.4
34%
236
253
17
Bell Equipment
Auto industry
South Africa
556.4
4.3
7%
237
262
25
Famous Brands
Tourism
South Africa
553.3
30.4
3%
238
254
16
Eneo Cameroon
Utilities
Cameroon
549.0
-40.9
6%
Al Ezz Flat Steel*
Metals
Egypt
546.0
ND
44%
Raya Holding
Electr. equip.
Egypt
545.6
-5.3
24%
Oceana Group
Agribusiness
South Africa
543.9
46.1
2%
18.4
12%
239
242
3
240
293
53
241
246
5
242
267
25
Sefalana Holding Co.
Food & drink
Botswana
541.8
243
240
-3
CMDT
Agribusiness
Mali
535.3
4.8
-3%
244
305
61
AFC
Chemicals
Egypt
534.2
196.5
27%
245
249
4
Zeder Investments
Agribusiness
South Africa
532.8
42.6
1%
246
425
179
Royal Bafokeng Platinum
Mining
South Africa
532.8
4.6
112%
247
375
128
Tasiast Mauritanie
Mining
Mauritania
532.8
ND
73%
248
286
38
11 Plc (Ex Mobil Oil Nigeria)
Petroleum
Nigeria
525.2
24.3
16%
249
288
39
Pharmacie Centrale de Tunisie
Pharmaceuticals
Tunisia
524.7
ND
18%
250
276
26
Egypt Kuwait Holding Co.
Diversified
Egypt
523.9
151.1
13%
2019 results in millions of US dollars; *in italics 2018 results; ND: no data
74
THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 116 / JULY-AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2021
Société de Fabrication des Boissons de Tunisie (SFBT, #296) recorded a 9.71% decrease in turnover for the first quarter of 2021 compared to the same period in 2020.
251 - 300 Rank 2019
Rank 2018
Diff.
251
325
74
252
-
-
253
274
21
Company
Sector
Country
Turnover (2019)
Net profits
Turnover change
Kenya Ports Authority
Ports
Kenya
520.9
67.2
Hyproc Shipping Co.
Petroleum
Algeria
518.6
ND
18% 2%
ONCF
Rail transport
Morocco
513.7
-196.7
10% -4%
254
256
2
CDG Développement*
Services
Morocco
512.3
ND
255
270
15
Vodacom DRC
ICT/Telecoms
DRC
511.5
ND
8%
256
284
28
Adcock Ingram Holdings
Pharmaceuticals
South Africa
509.6
49.5
13%
257
258
1
Group Five Holdings
Construction
South Africa
508.7
-94.5
-37%
258
285
27
Comair
Air transport
South Africa
506.8
63.8
12%
259
264
5
Airports Co. of South Africa
Air transport
South Africa
506.6
68.0
3%
260
271
11
Tradex
Petroleum
Cameroon
498.3
12.2
5%
261
308
47
Italtile
Construction
South Africa
496.1
89.1
18%
262
245
-17
Ascendis Health
Pharmaceuticals
South Africa
495.2
-76.3
22%
263
263
0
MTN Côte d’Ivoire
ICT/Telecoms
Cÿÿôte d’Ivoire
491.9
ND
-1%
264
238
-26
Kloof Gold Mining Co.
Mining
South Africa
484.2
-106.8
-14%
265
331
66
Ardova (Ex-Forte Oil)
Petroleum
Nigeria
483.7
10.7
31%
266
-
-
BUA Cement
Construction
Nigeria
480.9
166.1
47%
267
360
93
TAQA Arabia
Petroleum
Egypt
480.7
24.4
47%
268
315
47
Umeme
Utilities
Uganda
479.7
37.6
19%
269
292
23
Hudaco Industries
Auto industry
South Africa
476.8
33.5
8%
270
329
59
MTN Uganda
ICT/Telecoms
Uganda
476.5
ND
27%
271
318
47
Juhayna Food Industries
Food & drink
Egypt
475.2
20.5
20%
272
250
-22
Holding Al Omrane
Construction
Morocco
471.1
41.0
-10%
273
261
-12
Centrale Danone
Food & drink
Morocco
471.0
-56.3
-1%
274
280
6
Groupe Managem
Mining
Morocco
469.3
-44.0
3%
275
279
4
Namibian Power Corp.
Utilities
Namibia
467.9
53.4
2%
276
304
28
North Mara Gold Mine
Mining
Tanzania
462.0
147.0
9%
Eclosia Group*
Food & drink
Mauritius
461.4
23.3
2%
Total Petroleum Ghana
Petroleum
Ghana
459.9
12.0
-6% 8%
277
277
0
278
265
-13
279
302
23
Lewis Group
Retail
South Africa
459.0
13.0
280
278
-2
Aenergy
Petroleum
Angola
456.8
28.9
4%
281
259
-22
Auto Hall
Auto industry
Morocco
456.0
16.3
-9% 21%
282
282
0
Maurel & Prom Gabon
Petroleum
Gabon
454.0
ND
283
-
-
Industries Chimiques du Sénégal
Mining
Senegal
450.0
ND
ND
284
295
11
Prosuma Group
Retail
Cÿÿôte d’Ivoire
453.2
1.7
3%
Kenya Electricity Generating Co.
Utilities
285
394
109
286
296
10
Kenya
449.5
77.1
2%
Caxton & CTP. Publishers & Printers Media
South Africa
449.5
25.3
287
-
3%
-
Petroci
Petroleum
Cÿÿôte d’Ivoire
449.4
42.8
288
294
8%
6
Vodacom Tanzania
ICT/Telecoms
Tanzania
444.0
19.7
1%
289
313
24
290
275
-15
Dangote Sugar Refinery
Agribusiness
Nigeria
441.4
61.3
7%
Tanzania Breweries
Food & drink
Tanzania
441.2
64.6
-5%
291
301
292
316
10
Office National des Aéroports
Air transport
Morocco
437.1
58.4
4%
24
Ooredoo Tunisia
ICT/Telecoms
Tunisia
436.2
ND
24%
293
298
5
SGTM*
Construction
Morocco
435.0
ND
36%
294
299
5
Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinée*
Mining
Guinea
432.9
48.6
5%
295
309
14
African Oxygen
Chemicals
South Africa
432.8
45.1
3%
296
327
31
SFBT
Food & drink
Tunisia
429.4
78.5
14%
297
335
38
Espitalier Noël Group
Diversified
Mauritius
426.6
36.1
17%
298
310
12
Sofitex*
Agribusiness
Burkina Faso
417.6
ND
ND
299
320
21
Mustek
ICT/Telecoms
South Africa
415.8
7.6
6%
300
307
7
Ciments du Maroc
Construction
Morocco
412.0
111.4
-2%
2019 results in millions of US dollars; *in italics 2018 results; ND: no data
THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 116 / JULY-AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2021
75
‘We are seeing lower than anticipated market conditions and so we evaluate all our operations on a monthly basis.’ ZANELE MATLALA Merafe Resources (#322)
301 - 350 Rank 2019
Rank 2018
Diff.
Company
Sector
Country
Turnover (2019)
Net profits
Turnover change
301
306
5
Copperbelt Energy Corp.
Utilities
Zambia
408.3
12.2
-3%
302
332
30
Transnet Pipelines
Petroleum
South Africa
407.7
ND
12%
303
383
80
Orange Guinée
ICT/Telecoms
Guinea
406.7
ND
10%
304
311
7
Suez Cement Co.
Construction
Egypt
402.1
-73.3
-3%
305
290
-15
South African Broadcasting Corp.
Media
South Africa
402.0
-36.4
-9%
306
323
17
Tunisie Télécom
ICT/Telecoms
Tunisia
399.1
ND
11%
307
416
109
Arise (Ex-Gabon SEZ)
Transport
Gabon
398.9
99.4
51%
308
351
43
Vodacom Mozambique
ICT/Telecoms
Mozambique
396.3
ND
17%
309
319
10
Société Africaine de Cacao*
Agribusiness
Côte d’Ivoire
395.5
2.5
-20%
310
297
-13
Lesieur Cristal
Food & drink
Morocco
393.0
16.5
-10%
311
300
-11
Waco International
Construction
South Africa
392.2
ND
-8%
312
268
-44
Salam Gaz
Petroleum serv.
Morocco
391.6
ND
-19%
313
339
26
Aveng Steel
Metals
South Africa
390.0
ND
8%
314
354
40
Airtel Uganda
ICT/Telecoms
Uganda
389.8
82.3
15%
315
312
-3
Palm Hills Development Co.
Construction
Egypt
387.3
56.4
-6%
316
343
27
Rhodes Food Group Holdings
Food & drink
South Africa
385.0
15.3
11%
317
344
27
Solibra
Food & drink
Cÿÿôte d’Ivoire
384.8
22.4
9%
318
-
-
Hidroelectrica de Cahora Bassa
Utilities
Mozambique
384.1
97.7
7%
319
389
70
Société des Mines de Tongon
Mining
Cÿÿôte d’Ivoire
384.0
-29.0
32%
320
349
29
MTN Cameroon
ICT/Telecoms
Cameroon
383.3
ND
12%
321
355
34
Conoil
Petroleum
Nigeria
382.9
4.9
14%
322
324
2
Merafe Resources
Mining
South Africa
382.6
-96.9
-1%
323
340
17
Tigo Tanzania
ICT/Telecoms
Tanzania
382.0
ND
-4%
324
366
42
Société Magasin Général
Retail
Tunisia
377.3
-5.0
13%
South African Post Office*
Services
South Africa
376.4
-76.1
3%
Société Gabonaise de Raffinage
Refining
Gabon
375.0
ND
-11%
325
328
3
326
314
-12
327
338
11
NSIA Participations
Diversified
Cÿÿôte d’Ivoire
374.5
ND
3%
328
341
13
Maghrébail
Financial serv.
Morocco
373.9
11.0
5%
329
317
-12
Société Nationale de Sidérurgie
Metals
Morocco
373.3
-4.3
-7%
330
334
4
ASECNA
Air transport
Senegal
366.6
64.9
1%
331
376
45
ADvTECH Group
Services
South Africa
363.3
33.3
20%
332
357
25
International Breweries
Food & drink
Nigeria
362.6
-76.1
10%
333
330
-3
C. N. de Prévoyance Sociale
Services
Cameroon
362.6
126.2
-2%
334
322
-12
Guinness Nigeria
Food & drink
Nigeria
360.3
15.0
-8%
335
359
24
Orange Burkina Faso
ICT/Telecoms
Burkina Faso
360.0
ND
26%
336
336
0
Bamburi Cement
Construction
Kenya
359.9
3.5
-1%
337
303
-34
Groupe Addoha Douja Promotion
Construction
Morocco
358.6
41.2
-16%
338
-
-
Perseus Mining Ghana
Mining
Ghana
355.7
5.3
34%
339
385
46
Orange DRC
ICT/Telecoms
DRC
354.0
ND
14%
340
356
16
Bissa-Bouly Gold
Mining
Burkina Faso
352.7
ND
7%
341
352
11
Orange Cameroon
ICT/Telecoms
Cameroon
351.0
ND
3%
342
476
134
SODIC
Construction
Egypt
346.6
44.8
58%
343
400
57
Délice Holding
Agribusiness
Tunisia
344.6
15.4
23%
344
345
1
SEEG
Utilities
Gabon
344.1
ND
-1%
345
365
20
IPS West Africa
Diversified
Cÿÿôte d’Ivoire
343.8
24.3
7%
346
361
15
Autoroutes du Maroc
Construction
Morocco
339.8
10.4
4%
347
353
6
Sania Compagnie*
Agribusiness
Côte d’Ivoire
339.6
-1.1
-8%
Sonabel
Utilities
Burkina Faso
334.9
3.9
5%
Trinity Energy
Petroleum
South Sudan
332.6
2.1
-34%
Aveng Grinaker-LTA
Construction
South Africa
328.4
ND
-28%
348
368
20
349
-
-
350
424
74
2019 results in millions of US dollars; *in italics 2018 results; ND: no data
76
THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 116 / JULY-AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2021
In July 2020, Tsogo Sun Hotels, part of Tsogo Sun Holdings (#356) sold its stake in United Resorts and Hotels, which has assets in the Seychelles, for R465m ($28m).
351 - 400 Rank 2019
Rank 2018
Diff.
Company
Sector
Country
Turnover (2019)
Net profits
Turnover change
351
348
-3
Entreprise Nationale de Forage
Petroleum
Algeria
325.4
ND
352
377
25
ENGTP
Petroleum
Algeria
324.3
31.2
7%
353
373
20
Ciel Textile
Textile
Mauritius
322.7
ND
4%
354
402
48
One Tech Holding
Electrical equip.
Tunisia
321.3
8.1
15%
355
420
65
MTN Benin
ICT/Telecoms
Benin
319.9
ND
25%
356
128
-228
Tsogo Sun Holdings
Tourism
South Africa
318.3
-87.1
5%
357
369
12
ENL Land Ltd*
Agribusiness
Mauritius
317.8
39.0
9%
358
370
12
Energie du Mali*
Utilities
Mali
317.2
-114.9
3% -10%
359
-
-
360
445
85
361
471
110
-5%
Houndé Gold Corp.
Mining
Burkina Faso
316.1
ND
Brimstone Investment Corp.
Financial serv.
South Africa
315.8
5.4
35%
South Deep Gold Mine
Mining
South Africa
314.8
7.2
50%
362
396
34
Quantum Foods Holdings
Food & drink
South Africa
314.2
13.5
10%
363
333
-30
Vivo Energy Mauritius
Petroleum
Mauritius
314.1
10.3
-14%
364
464
100
Tullow Gabon
Petroleum
Gabon
312.9
ND
46%
365
387
22
Santova Logistics
Transport
South Africa
308.8
4.6
6%
366
364
-2
Sidi Kerir Petrochemicals Co.
Petroleum
Egypt
308.7
30.3
-4%
367
358
-9
368
374
6
369
410
370
466
371
372
1
372
384
12
373
371
-2
374
347
-27
375
378
3
376
391
15
377
382
5
378
388
10
379
362
-17
380
379
381
406
382
-
383 384
Maghreb Steel
Metals
Morocco
307.9
-30.2
-6%
Dangote Flour Mills*
Agribusiness
Nigeria
307.8
-3.2
-11%
41
Kenya Pipeline Co.
Petroleum
Kenya
307.7
20.0
14%
96
FEICOM
Services
Cameroon
305.3
ND
11%
Ceca-Gadis
Retail
Gabon
304.4
-8.2
-4%
Delta Holding
Diversified
Morocco
304.3
22.7
2%
Zain Sudan
ICT/Telecoms
Sudan
304.0
ND
-4%
Puma Energy Zambia
Petroleum
Zambia
302.1
7.6
-13%
Ciments de l’Atlas
Construction
Morocco
301.0
61.2
4%
Marsa Maroc
Ports
Morocco
299.8
67.1
4%
SEMAFO Burkina Faso*
Mining
Burkina Faso
296.7
-6.9
15%
Press Corporation
Diversified
Malawi
294.9
33.2
1%
Moolmans (Ex-Aveng Mining)
Mining
South Africa
294.7
-15.4
-10%
-1
Novus Holding
Wood
South Africa
292.5
-24.5
-2%
25
Airtel DRC
ICT/Telecoms
DRC
291.2
49.3
6%
-
Orascom Hotels and Development
Tourism
Egypt
290.0
43.9
55%
390
7
Leal Group*
Diversified
Mauritius
289.5
7.1
3%
452
68
Abosso Goldfieds – Damang Mine
Mining
Ghana
288.3
25.5
26%
385
413
28
BGI Ethiopia
Food & drink
Ethiopia
286.5
ND
7%
386
398
12
Alexander Forbes
Financial serv.
South Africa
286.0
3.3
2% 58%
387
-
-
Seaharvest Corp.
Agribusiness
South Africa
282.1
28.1
388
393
5
Chirano Gold Mine
Mining
Ghana
281.6
ND
-2%
389
481
92
Mauritius Telecom
ICT/Telecoms
Mauritius
278.7
17.1
36%
390
411
21
Groupe des Boissons du Maroc
Food & drink
Morocco
275.1
38.9
2%
391
421
30
Cairo Poultry
Food & drink
Egypt
274.7
7.3
8%
392
415
23
Rogers & Co
Diversified
Mauritius
273.5
29.5
3%
393
439
46
Grindrod
Sea transport
South Africa
272.7
21.3
15%
394
450
56
Engen Botswana
Petroleum
Botswana
271.5
12.0
17%
395
407
12
Wescoal
Mining
South Africa
271.0
-9.7
-1%
396
-
-
Resilient Property Income Fund
Construction
South Africa
270.7
ND
49%
397
367
-30
Beatrix Mine
Mining
South Africa
270.2
-60.7
-15%
398
434
36
Sodecoton
Agribusiness
Cameroon
268.5
ND
19%
399
430
31
Nestlé Côte d’Ivoire
Food & drink
Cÿÿôte d’Ivoire
267.3
2.9
7%
400
-
-
S. N. de Génie Civil et Bâtiments
Construction
Algeria
265.6
ND
5%
2019 results in millions of US dollars; *in italics 2018 results; ND: no data
THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 116 / JULY-AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2021
77
Moroccan lender Eqdom (#420) saw net credit production fall by 24% in 2020 compared to 2019, to stand at Dh1.99bn ($225m).
401 - 450 Rank 2019
Rank 2018
Diff.
Company
Sector
Country
Turnover (2019)
Net profits
Turnover change
401
403
2
Princes Tuna
Agribusiness
Mauritius
265.1
ND
ND
402
408
6
Golden Star Resources
Mining
Ghana
264.7
-78.0
-3%
403
477
74
Groupe Sipromad
Diversified
Madagascar
264.4
ND
ND
404
438
34
Société Minière de Dinguiraye
Mining
Guinea
263.5
ND
10%
405
404
-1
Onatel
ICT/Telecoms
Burkina Faso
263.4
51.4
-5%
406
-
-
ITY Gold Mine
Mining
Cÿÿôte d’Ivoire
262.0
ND
ND
407
386
-21
Cervejas de Moçambique
Food & drink
Mozambique
260.5
16.3
-11%
408
392
-16
Beachcomber Res. & Hot. (ex NMH) Tourism
Mauritius
257.3
4.2
-5%
409
363
-46
Sudatel Telecom Group
ICT/Telecoms
Sudan
256.5
8.0
-21%
410
401
-9
Zambeef
Food & drink
Zambia
254.5
-1.4
-9%
411
494
83
Umgeni Water-Amanzi
Utilities
South Africa
251.7
100.5
25%
412
-
-
Trident Steel
Metals
South Africa
251.1
ND
-34%
413
470
57
Edita Food Industries
Agribusiness
Egypt
250.5
22.5
19%
414
428
14
TGCC*
Construction
Morocco
249.5
23.6
-3%
415
469
54
Tanger Med Port Authority
Ports
Morocco
246.2
77.1
17%
416
451
35
RADEEMA
Utilities
Morocco
246.2
21.1
7%
417
454
37
SAPH
Agribusiness
Cÿÿôte d’Ivoire
245.8
5.8
9%
418
124
-294
Sun International
Tourism
South Africa
245.7
75.0
6%
419
453
34
Groupe Intelcia
Services
Morocco
244.2
ND
7%
420
447
27
Eqdom
Financial serv.
Morocco
243.9
13.9
5%
421
442
21
Guelb Moghrein Copper-Gold Mine
Mining
Mauritania
243.0
ND
3%
422
-
-
Royal Swaziland Sugar Corp.
Agribusiness
Swaziland
239.8
21.2
30%
423
449
26
Alteo
Agribusiness
Mauritius
239.0
-28.7
3%
424
437
13
Société des Brasseries du Gabon
Food & drink
Gabon
238.4
ND
0%
425
432
7
Orange Tunisie
ICT/Telecoms
Tunisia
236.7
ND
14%
426
463
37
Auto Nejma
Auto industry
Morocco
236.4
16.4
11%
427
490
63
British American Tobacco Kenya
Agribusiness
Kenya
235.1
38.0
16%
428
480
52
Afrimat
Construction
South Africa
235.0
33.1
14%
429
342
-87
Driefontein Mine
Mining
South Africa
234.9
-181.6
-34%
Coronation Fund Managers
Financial serv.
South Africa
234.1
85.1
-12%
Egypt Gas Co.
Utilities
Egypt
233.7
1.4
61%
430
414
-16
431
-
-
432
460
28
Airtel Tanzania
ICT/Telecoms
Tanzania
230.2
13.8
7%
433
489
56
Egyptian International Tourism Co.
Tourism
Egypt
229.9
1.8
24% 10%
434
473
39
Workforce Holdings
Services
South Africa
229.5
7.0
435
459
24
Hyprop Investments
Construction
South Africa
228.9
7.9
6%
436
485
49
SNMVT – Monoprix
Retail
Tunisia
227.0
0.5
15%
437
-
-
Consolidated Infrastructure Group
Construction
South Africa
225.3
-95.5
4%
438
440
2
Al Arafa Holding
Textile
Egypt
225.0
15.2
-5%
439
435
-4
IndianOil Mauritius
Petroleum
Mauritius
222.3
5.9
-9%
440
456
16
National Co. for Maize Products*
Food & drink
Egypt
222.0
4.0
168%
441
486
45
Honeywell Flour Mills
Agribusiness
Nigeria
220.4
1.8
8%
442
-
-
Namibia Breweries
Food & drink
Namibia
220.3
66.2
18%
443
-
-
444
458
14
Britam Kenya
Financial serv.
Kenya
219.8
ND
8%
UAC of Nigeria
Diversified
Nigeria
217.0
-25.4
12% 13%
445
-
-
ENTP
Petroleum
Algeria
215.7
ND
446
475
29
Nu World Holdings
Transport
South Africa
215.6
11.5
4%
447
491
44
Airtel Kenya
ICT/Telecoms
Kenya
215.3
-27.4
7%
448
350
-98
Alliances Dev. Immobilier
Construction
Morocco
212.6
11.0
-38%
449
499
50
Zambia Sugar
Agribusiness
Zambia
211.7
- 2.6
8%
450
-
-
CFM
Rail transport
Mozambique
211.5
34.9
9%
2019 results in millions of US dollars; *in italics 2018 results; ND: no data
78
THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 116 / JULY-AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2021
‘We can clearly see that the global economy is slowly emerging from lockdowns and the oil price is stabilising.’ MOHAMED ELGAMAL Maridive (#461)
451 - 500 Rank 2019
Rank 2018
Diff.
451
-
-
452
395
-57
453
479
454
472
455 456
Company
Sector
Country
Turnover (2019)
Net profits
Turnover change
Curro
Services
South Africa
209.4
13.3
21%
Transnational Corp. of Nigeria
Diversified
Nigeria
209.2
10.2
-27%
26
Phoenix Beverages
Food & drink
Mauritius
206.5
16.8
0%
18
Misr National Steel
Metals
Egypt
206.1
7.2
-1%
482
27
Airports of Mauritius*
Air transport
Mauritius
206.1
ND
1%
478
22
Petro Ivoire*
Petroleum
Côte d’Ivoire
206.0
0.1
13% 6%
457
-
-
458
484
26
459
-
-
Value Group
Transport
South Africa
204.8
9.1
Deneb Investments
Financial serv.
South Africa
204.2
-8.7
0%
EgyptAir Maintenance & Eng.
Air transport
Egypt
203.1
12.0
10%
460
-
-
CDC
Financial serv.
Tunisia
202.9
23.5
22%
461
474
13
Maridive
Petroleum
Egypt
202.8
12.9
-3%
462
498
36
MTN Zambia
ICT/Telecoms
Zambia
202.4
ND
2%
463
492
29
Gabon Télécom*
ICT/Telecoms
Gabon
201.7
ND
1%
464
-
-
MTN Congo
ICT/Telecoms
Rep. of Congo
202.1
ND
17%
465
500
35
466
-
-
Rössing Uranium Mine
Mining
Namibia
200.8
35.8
2%
EIPICO
Pharmaceuticals
Egypt
200.4
38.1
31%
Société d’Articles Hygiéniques
Chemicals
Tunisia
199.9
8.2
37%
Société Multinationale de Bitumes
Construction
Cÿÿôte d’Ivoire
198.8
0.1
-15%
467
-
-
468
446
-22
469
495
26
Compagnie Sahélienne d’Entreprises Construction
Senegal
197.4
4.8
3%
470
-
-
DRDGold
Mining
South Africa
196.4
5.6
14%
471
-
-
ABC Group
Diversified
Mauritius
196.3
11.8
3%
472
-
-
SGTD
Ports
Djibouti
195.8
108.1
ND
473
-
-
Lucara Diamonds
Mining
Botswana
192.5
12.7
9%
474
-
-
Agbaou Gold Operations
Mining
Cÿÿôte d’Ivoire
191.5
ND
6%
475
-
-
Agence Nationale des Ports
Ports
Morocco
190.9
7.9
3%
476
-
-
Nexans Maroc
Electrical equip.
Morocco
188.7
3.2
1%
477
-
-
EgyptAir Tourism & Duty Free
Tourism
Egypt
188.0
27.8
44%
478
-
-
SIVAC*
Agribusiness
Côte d’Ivoire
187.9
7.1
-27%
479
-
-
Buzwagi Gold Mine*
Mining
Tanzania
186.8
ND
-9%
480
-
-
Onelogix Group
Services
South Africa
186.5
3.3
-2%
481
-
-
Arabian Cement Co.
Construction
Egypt
184.9
1.9
5%
482
-
-
Petro Gabon*
Petroleum
Gabon
183.9
7.9
23%
483
487
4
PZ Cussons Nigeria
Chemicals
Nigeria
183.6
-19.8
-10%
484
-
-
Omatapalo
Construction
Angola
183.2
17.6
-21%
485
-
-
Empresa Nacional de Combustiveis
Petroleum
Cabo Verde
181.0
8.7
7%
486
-
-
Palmci
Agribusiness
Cÿÿôte d’Ivoire
178.8
-9.5
2%
487
-
-
E Media Holdings
Media
South Africa
178.2
-129.1
9%
488
431
-57
MRS Oil
Petroleum
Nigeria
177.9
-4.7
-28%
489
-
-
Majid Al Futtaim Kenya
Retail
Kenya
177.2
ND
31%
490
-
-
CFAO Automotive CI
Auto industry
Cÿÿôte d’Ivoire
176.6
9.0
4%
491
-
-
Jet Contractors (Ex-Jet Alu Maroc)
Construction
Morocco
176.5
12.6
2%
492
-
-
Les Eaux Minérales d’Oulmès
Food & drink
Morocco
176.2
1.2
6%
493
-
-
Sothema
Pharmaceuticals
Morocco
176.1
22.1
6%
494
-
-
Transaction Capital
Financial serv.
South Africa
175.8
56.0
18%
495
-
-
Sun Resorts
Tourism
Mauritius
175.7
-50.1
-8%
496
-
-
Unga Group
Food & drink
Kenya
175.0
5.3
-10%
497
-
-
Illovo Malawi
Agribusiness
Malawi
173.8
13.5
-10%
498
-
-
ASEC Holding
Construction
Egypt
170.0
ND
12%
499
-
-
Water Utilities Corp.
Utilities
Botswana
169.5
7.0
1%
500
-
-
OACA*
Air transport
Tunisia
169.1
15.0
3%
2019 results in millions of US dollars; *in italics 2018 results; ND: no data
THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 116 / JULY-AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2021
79
AIRLINES
Ethiopian goes from strength to strength While others have suffered huge losses, the continent’s leading airline embraced flexibility and innovation during the Covid-19 crisis to come out on top By LOZA SELESHIE
conscious decision to develop both its passenger business and its cargo business. So even before Covid, Ethiopian’s cargo business was solid and growing very fast,” says Raphael Kuuchi, consulting director for legal, industry and government affairs at the African Airlines Association (AFRAA).
Ethiopian Airlines (#33), which celebrates its 75th anniversary this year, is one of only three airlines in the world to have made a profit in 2020 (fiscal year ending in June). The sector has been hit hard by the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic. Global cumulative losses have reached €103bn ($125.9bn), €1.6bn of Vaccine hub for Africa which are by the continent’s airlines. Ethiopian’s CEO, This model has enabled the airline to transport Tewolde GebreMariam, says the company “demonmedical supplies, and it continues to be a partner of strated agility, quick decision-making and resilience choice for the World Health Organisation, the United that have helped us” in the face of falling passenger Nations and the Chinese giant Alibaba in the global traffic, which, in Africa, registered a 69% drop in 2020 distribution of Covid-19 vaccines. compared to 2019 figures. “By the start of May 2021, Ethiopian At the peak of the crisis, the company Airlines had transported more than 20m prioritised its air cargo business: 25 refitted doses of vaccine to more than 20 countries,” passenger aircraft joined the existing fleet says Chiedza Madzima, a research and of 12 cargo planes, Tewolde told The Africa operational risk manager at Fitch Solutions. of Ethiopian’s passenger Report. This is a growing subsector, and “Ethiopian is also developing an in-house aircrafts were refitted demand is already 9% higher than before dry-ice manufacturing facility that will seek for cargo to transport the crisis. “Ethiopian Airlines took a to address the need for additional medicines and goods
TIKSA NEGERI/REUTERS
25
Medical equipment donated by Jack Ma arrives at Bole airport
80
THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 116 / JULY-AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2021
9%
Ethiopian already has stakes in Chadian coolants and ultra-cold environments Airlines (49%), Zambia Airways (45%), for the storage and transport of vaccines.” whose relaunch has been postponed until at Madzima points out that these developments least the end of 2021, Malawi Airlines (49%), “will also provide long-term benefits for the rise in demand for air which is facing liquidation, and Ethiopian development of domestic and regional cold cargo services since Mozambique Airlines (99%), which has been chains – benefitting sectors such as horticulbefore the Covid-19 forced to suspend flights. Asky Airlines, ture, agribusiness and healthcare”. pandemic based in Lomé, Togo, appears to be less Romuald Ngueyap, founder of the website compromised, but it has turned to Ethiopian and its NewsAero, says Ethiopian “is positioning itself on the other shareholders (Ecobank, Banque Ouest Africaine corridor between Asia and the African continent, where de Développement and ECOWAS Bank for Investment it has the largest share of traffic. That makes Ethiopian and Development) to ask for financial assistance. strong.” In 2020, the company transported 54,400tn of “Some companies will go bankrupt, others will cargo to or from Guangdong airport in China, including recover with difficulty, but we are also seeing the medical equipment, industrial products, electronics and creation of start-ups,” says Ngueyap, the aviation computer equipment. journalist. “Currently, the price of aircraft is low, “It’s a triangular operation: Africa, Europe, China, and airports, whose traffic has declined, have taken and then Africa again, mobilising more than 50 planes initiatives to encourage companies that want to come per week,” says Tewolde. “Covid has had a positive to them. This is the case in Nigeria, for example.” impact [on Ethiopian’s activities in Asia].” Ethiopian’s maintenance centre and aviation academy The airline also flies cargo from West Africa to could thus see new customers arrive, in addition to South America, and from Europe to the United States, those preparing to return to service. including clothes made for Zara (Inditex).“Ethiopian was already carrying out logistics from South America to Asia. They’ve done similar operations from Asia to A digital future Europe and from Asia to Africa. It has broadened their Ethiopian, which announced in 2018 that it had reached scope, and this has made other business partners look the goals of its ‘Vision 2025’ plan seven years ahead of at it as a solid partner,” says AFRAA’s Kuuchi. schedule, has been working on digitising its operations. According to its CEO, the company has gone through The company invested more than $40m between 2015 the worst year ever experienced by the airline industry and 2020 to increase its online sales. After launching “without layoffs or salary cuts”, meeting all its financial its mobile app in 2018, the airline is now the first on obligations – maintenance loans, aircraft leasing, the continent to test the International Air Transport salaries – without additional support from the Ethiopian Association (IATA) health passport. state, its 100% shareholder. On the continent, renewed competition could come from Egypt. EgyptAir (#68) has invested heavily in its fleet, with the purchase of 15 Airbus A320s in 2020. It Fingers in many pies also signed a $6bn contract to buy 54 Boeing aircraft in Bouyed up by its performance during the crisis, 2018. Although the Egyptian company is experiencing Ethiopian Airlines is on the lookout for new opportufinancial difficulties, it obtained a $130m loan from nities in Africa. In some cases it has come to the aid Cairo in January. Eager to develop its African activities, of other airlines. Last October, it offered operational it recently signed an agreement with Sudan Airways assistance (pilots, maintenance and aircraft) to troubled (operational assistance), as well as with Ghana for the national carrier South African Airlines (SAA) in a joint creation of a national airline. It remains to be seen how venture. SAA has since received a government grant Ethiopian and EgyptAir, both members of the Star of $641m and is reportedly close to concluding an Alliance, will manage this competition. agreement with an investor.
. HIGH-STRENGTH STEEL WITH CE MARK . MORE THAN 300 000 M² SOLD IN AFRICA
1 st Q U A L I T Y K I T S H E D
0 I 24
in e r
4 0 ’O
² *
T
8m
20,6m
www.africa.easysteelsheds.c om
~1 10 0
$50 7 m 51
1 Con ta
I 360
steelsheds
+ ROBUST + QUALITY + AFFORDABLE
sales@easysteelsheds.com
54m
Tel : 00352 20 20 13 13
*Price valid until June 6, 2021, container not included
: 00352 691 412 088
Advertorial
ctedre e n n o c SuperMbps everywhe 0
0 Up to 1
Konnect satellite Internet, for everyone, everywhere Internet, for individuals and professionals wherever you are Thanks to the latest satellite technology, Konnect (Eutelsat Group) is participating in the development of the African continent by acting to reduce the digital divide. Konnect has created a range of services and packages to provide Internet connectivity, even in areas not covered by any other technology. Konnect is the promise of high-quality, affordable Internet for all. Konnect provides public institutions, individuals and businesses with flexible, affordable Internet packages. Satellite Internet from Konnect is accessible nationwide, even where there was no reliable connection before. Konnect offers a wide range of fixed Internet packages. This range includes connection speeds of up to 100 Mbps and prices from 14$/month, offering a package for all needs and means. Thanks to our Happy Hours, users data consumption is not counted between 10pm and 6am, so data hungry downloads and updates can be scheduled overnight without counting towards data consumption.
At the same time, we are developing our Express Wi-fi service to provide a quality Internet connection for people with limited financial means or needs. Express Wi-fi from Konnect offers internet access to even the most isolated areas. Our Wi-fi “hotspots” provide connectivity with a 100-metre radius. Flexible Wi-fi vouchers provide access from 1 hour up to 1 month and many options in between. They are available for as little a 0,25$. These hotspots can be located at shops, schools, town halls and farms to name a few. Konnect is always on the lookout for retail partners, installers and small businesses looking to diversify their income and connect their community with the help of our Express Wi-fi solution. Anyone interested in setting up a hotspot can contact the Konnect team (https://africa. konnect.com/fr/nous-contacter) to find out more. Finally, we enable everyone to connect their family to the world or to develop their business, regardless of their geographical location. Today, nearly 40 African countries can benefit from Konnect services. Key benefits of Konnect include:
These services are available on a prepaid basis to meet the needs of the African market.
High speed – A first for Africa with speeds up to 100 Mbps.
Connectivity for development
Affordable – Starting from 14$/month.
Konnect regularly works with African governments and public institutions to bring quality connectivity to remote areas. These actions make it possible, among other things, for public services to continue even in the event of crises or extreme conditions, they allow isolated hospitals to benefit from telemedicine, and they connect thousands of schools and teachers to knowledge.
Quality – Video streaming up to full HD-quality.
All inclusive package – Rental of the equipment is from 79$. To find out how you can benefit from super-fast broadband wherever you live visit: www.konnect.com.
konnect.com
C. BIBBY/FINANCIAL TIMES-REA
Strive Masiyiwa: resurgent and raring to go
TELECOMS
Striving and thriving Zimbabwe’s Econet is betting on Africa’s digital future with its huge fibre-optic network and new data centres. Yet another example of CEO Strive Masiyiwa bouncing back By OLIVIER MARBOT
Botswana to Lesotho, from Rwanda to Nigeria and Burundi, and to other continents. Masiyiwa continued to believe in the idea of not sticking to one specialisation, of being one step ahead. The group launched itself into satellite, terrestrial and submarine cables, subscription television (Kwese TV – its biggest failure to date) and, more recently, data centres, which it describes as “a revolution that will mark a new era for the technology sector”.
Zimbabwean telecoms billionaire Strive Masiyiwa has not yet run out of ideas. He recently helped to raise more than $1bn to ensure the growth of his group, Econet. Masiyiwa, who celebrated his 60th birthday on 29 January and is well-known as a philanthropist, is also a member of the task force set up by the African Union to fight Covid-19 . No thanks from the motherland Masiyiwa is the only billionaire from Zimbabwe. Masiyiwa’s journey has not been without mistakes, and For more than 30 years, he has been one of the main that is what makes it exciting. He won his entrepreneurs leading the continent’s digital transformation. Famous for ending the state legal battle with the Zimbabwean authorities monopoly in Zimbabwe’s telecoms sector in over opening up telecommunications to competition, but he paid a high price for it as he the 1980s, the now London-based engineering graduate has, since his early days in business, had to leave the country, where his relations Africa Data Centres in with the political authorities remain tense. shown an uncommon capacity to bounce back. six countries will be In 2019, the Harare authorities’ decision to Masiyiwa quickly built an ecosystem around open by 2025, with a his Econet Group that extended beyond ban the use of foreign currencies on their combined power of Zimbabwe’s borders and invested massively soil and to authorise only the Zimbabwean 54MW and 24,000m2 of white space in South Africa. Subsidiaries spread from dollar almost brought him to his knees.
9
84
THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 116 / JULY-AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2021
4"-0!5"'"/30).' 6./" 73'%)'1 #,!0"( *** 2./ 93'%! 0+30 &"(3'& 0+" 9"!0 2./ 0+")/ 8$!0.("/!* #fintech #digitization #financialinclusion
https://tagpay.fr/en/
St Kitts and Nevis Citizenship by Investment
Why does Africa’s business elite need a second passport?
To stay competitive on a global scale To diversify wealth Ease of travel around the world To provide stability to family and future generations
Protect your legacy with the St Kitts and Nevis Citizenship by Investment programme. Visit our website: ciu.gov.kn
(It also caused Econet, ranked 125th last year, to fall off this year’s Top 500). Between market mistrust and inflation, the local currency lost 95% of its value and the businessman, whose assets are still listed in Zimbabwe, saw his wealth plummet. In a few months, his fortune fell from $2.3bn to $1.1bn. Weakened by the failure of Kwese TV, financed via a $375m loan, Masiyiwa had to sell 8% of Liquid Telecom for $180m to relieve his group’s cash flow. The Covid-19 pandemic and the related economic crisis have come at the worst possible time for the Econet Group and its boss. However, it managed to resurge in spectacular fashion during 2020. Its subsidiary Liquid
TSVANGIRAYI MUKWAZHI FOR TAR
EcoCash: mobile money for Zimbabweans
Telecom, renamed Liquid Intelligent Technologies, raised $840m on the markets in February 2021 to restructure its debt and continue its development. Managed by Nic Rudnick, it is now Africa’s leading fibre-optic operator, running a network of more than 70,000km of fibre-optic cables from Cape Town to Cairo, with a recent link to Moanda on the coast of DRC (see box). At the end of 2020, another of its companies, Africa Data Centres (ADC), attracted the attention of the International Development Finance Corporation. The US institution, which supports investment in developing countries, invested $300m.
Control of African data
ADC, which already manages five data centres on the continent (in South Africa, Kenya and Togo) and is currently building one in Lagos, with plans to expand to other countries, is both promising and strategic. At a time when the supply of digital services – in particular cloud storage – is exploding on the continent, this is a decisive move. While the US has no intention of abandoning the field to Chinese companies, Africa itself must get involved if it hopes to retain control over the management of its data. The billionaire’s impressive address book is no doubt a factor in his success. With former US president Barack Obama’s support, he has set up a programme to send young US citizens to work in his Africa-based companies at the beginning of their careers. He is also close to Chinese billionaire Jack Ma, to whom he helps open the doors of presidential palaces across the continent.
Connecting Congo Kinshasa, Kikwit, Kananga, Moanda, Mwene-Ditu, Kolwezi, Lubumbashi... What do all of these cities have in common? They now have access to the 2,500km fibre-optic network laid by Liquid Intelligent Technologies (LIT) in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This group, previously known as Liquid Telecom, is a subsidiary of the Zimbabwean group Econet Wireless, owned by Zimbabwean tycoon Strive Masiyiwa. “Its new name confirms the strategic shift of the company, which has added IT and cybersecurity to telecommunications,” said LIT’s CEO for DRC, Michel Hebert, during a face-to-face meeting with the press in Kinshasa in March.
86
A second line is under construction. It will be 4,000km long and will link the central-southern part to eastern DRC. With these two lines, the DRC will become the 14th member country of the One Africa Network, which totals more than 73,000km of fibre optics on the continent, from Cape Town in South Africa to Dar-es-Salam in Tanzania, or to Lubumbashi in the DRC. The communication infrastructure is legally the responsibility of the stateowned Société Congolaise des Postes et Télécommunications. However, the Congolese minister of post, telecommunications and new information and communication technologies, Augustin Kibassa, made it known at
THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 116 / JULY-AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2021
the inauguration of the new network that the government had granted a waiver to LIT to allow it to build the backbone of the network. “The DRC has only 4,000km of network whereas the need is for 50,000km. We have made the choice to move the country forward,” said Kibassa. With its 2.3m square kilometres and 90 million inhabitants, the DRC ranks only 145th in the world for internet access. It has a penetration rate of less than 50% for cellular telephony and an estimated 30% coverage across the country’s territory. LIT’s fibre-optic network is therefore a game changer.
By STANIS BUJAKERA TSHIAMALA
ADVERTORIAL
Celebrating 45 years of Success The OPEC Fund for International Development (the OPEC Fund) is the only globally mandated development institution that provides financing from member countries to non-member countries exclusively. We work in cooperation with partner countries and the international development community to stimulate economic growth and social progress in low- and middleincome countries around the world. Our work is people-centered, focusing on projects that meet essential needs, such as food, energy, infrastructure, employment (particularly relating to SMEs), clean water and sanitation, healthcare and education. To date, the OPEC Fund has committed more than US$22 billion to development projects in over 125 countries – including 48 countries in Africa. Together we drive development, strengthen communities and empower people.
Connecting Kenya The OPEC Fund dedicated US$12 million in financing towards upgrading Kenya’s Nuno-Mogodashe Road, which connects the towns of Garissa and Wajir, and to the North East region and neighboring Ethiopia and Somalia. The completed road has enhanced the population’s access to social services and eased travel to some of Kenya’s top tourist destinations, thus helping boost the tourism sector. Total project costs of US$78 million were co-financed with The Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa, The Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, the Saudi Fund for Development, the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, and the Government of Kenya.
US$1.3bn finance facility for Ghana’s cocoa The OPEC Fund contributed US$45 million to the major finance facility for Ghana Cocoa Board (Cocobod). Cocoa is one of the largest foreign exchange earners for Ghana and the cocoa industry is a major source of employment, with around 800,000 families active in cocoa farming. The pre-export facility provides a total of US$1.3 billion to finance the purchase of Ghana’s main and light cocoa crop for the 2020/21 season. The West African country is the second largest cocoa exporter worldwide with a 20 percent market share.
Boosting Cameroon’s Energy Capacity The OPEC Fund provided EUR 50 million to Nachtigal Hydropower Company (NHPC) for the development, construction and operation of a 420 MW hydropower plant in Cameroon. The plant is expected to be the country’s largest generator of electricity, meeting about one-third of Cameroon’s electricity needs. The Nachtigal Project is being developed as a public private partnership by a joint venture between the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Electricité de France (EDF) and the government of Cameroon, with support from the World Bank Group. Please visit us at opecfund.org
Photo: Francisco Marques/Shutterstock.com
THE POWER OF PARTNERSHIP IN AFRICA
INTERVIEW
Ralph Mupita
‘We are creating WeChat for Africa’
The CEO of MTN talks about the company's plans for growth, which involve a ‘superapp’ and supporting the growth of e-commerce on the continent
Despite its loss to Kenya’s Safaricom in the May bidding round for a telecoms licence in Ethiopia, MTN (#5) has grand ambitions. The South African group hopes to grow its offer into a payments and communication ecosystem that rivals those of China’s WeChat or the US tech giants. This will require raising new funds from investors, taking on other rivals in Africa like Orange, and investing heavily in fibre-optic infrastructure. The firm’s CEO, Ralph Mupita, explains how MTN will exit from its Middle East markets, which have brought it an entanglement with the US Justice Department. You chose to separate mobile money from your other operations? Why? RALPH MUPITA: Mobile money represented 46 million subscribers at the end of last year, 8% of group service revenue and $152bn of transaction value in our MoMo (Mobile Money) system. The business is expanding and we believe that a structural separation is needed going forward. The second thing is that these businesses are actually very valuable. The current share price does not reflect the inherent value of the infrastructure or the platform assets of the fintech. We will create an opportunity, in due course, where investors can put money directly into this operation to reveal the value.
88
THEAFRICAREPORT
So is the plan to have an initial public offering (IPO) for MoMo? We will pursue the avenue that best reveals the value. If it is through an IPO, then that is what we will focus on. Right now, we are not being prescriptive that the businesses need to be separately listed. You could have them unlisted and still revealing value. However, an IPO can also be the mechanism for this. With the Ayoba app, you are in competition with the likes of Google and Facebook. How do you plan to compete with WhatsApp? We have very bold ambitions with Ayoba. At the end of last year, we had 5.5 million monthly active users on the app. Over the medium term – three to five years – we will get to 100 million users. Ayoba is an African-developed app. We have taken cognisance of what we believe are the specific needs and requirements of our customer base, and where Africa is in terms of internet adoption. So, when we developed Ayoba we focused on factors that would make Ayoba unique compared to the other global instant messaging apps. One of them is recognition of the level of literacy on the continent, thus the need for local-language versions. Secondly, we created emojis that are relevant, centred on understanding local needs. Third, we acknowledged that a lot of the subscribers in our market still use
CHRIS RATCLIFFE/BLOOMBERG/GETTY
Interview by QUENTIN VELLUET
ADVERTORIAL
Towards sustainable energy for all Our effort towards a just energy transition combines the need to reduce carbon footprint with the need for community development The current economic and health crisis has heightened awareness of the strong interdependence between economic growth and the health of the natural and social environment, and also of the essential need to combine economic development with a careful management of natural resources and the generation of social value.
Fighting energy poverty Ensuring universal access to energy in an efficient and sustainable manner – UN Sustainable Development Goal n. 7 - is the main challenge for the energy sector in the transition process towards a low-carbon future.
It is also a driver to meet the primary needs related to education, health and economic diversification. This is especially true in Africa, where 600M people still lack access to energy. Eni contributes to this challenge in many ways. In many countries of operations including Algeria, the Republic of Congo, Ghana, and Egypt, 100% of the gas we produce is destined for local markets, and to fuel local power plants. In other countries, Eni invests in the construction of infrastructure for the production and transport of gas both for export, and for local consumption. These initiatives are fundamental to fight energy poverty and meet the primary energy needs.
Strengthening African power systems In Ghana, Eni is operator of the Offshore Cape Three Points project (OCTP), the only non-associated gas project destined for the domestic market in Sub-Saharan Africa, which since 2018 has been feeding the Country’s power plants with a reliable, stable and sustainable energy source. In addition, Eni completed the Takoradi-Tema Interconnection Project in 2020, which transports gas from the Western Region to the eastern part of the Country, while continuing to transport gas from Nigeria to Benin, Togo and Ghana. Thanks to this, in 2020, 98% of Ghana’s thermal power was generated by gas, more than 50% of which came from the OCTP project. These projects meet Ghana’s growing energy demands and reinforce Eni’s commitment to fostering employment, local training and sourcing goods and services from local suppliers. JAMG - PHOTOS DR
In this framework, Eni’s energy transition strategy aims at a significant reduction of the portfolio’s carbon footprint to be reached also through the contribution of gas, which in the long term will represent over 90% of our upstream sector. At the same time one of the fundamental objectives of our strategy is to enhance access to sustainable energy sources, promoting the use of locally produced natural gas in the transition to a low-carbon energy mix.
eni.com
2G phones. When you send a message on Ayoba from your smartphone to someone who has a 2G handset, it is delivered as an SMS. Are you following WeChat’s strategy with Ayoba? Yes. Over time, we are looking to integrate mobile money into Ayoba. We have a huge mobile-money base with which to try and create a composite of the two – a bit of a WeChat recap. We want to create an ecosystem of merchants where mobile commerce can take place. To be successful in creating this type of architecture for services and channels on Ayoba and link it to mobile money, we will ENGINEERING create a mobile commerce OPPORTUNITIES system that can accelerate 1972 Born in Zimbabwe the growth of the app and enhance that through the Early 1990s Civil Engineering degree at the concept of a WeChat for University of Cape Town Africa. 1996-1999 Worked as an engineer at Haw & Inglis
You say that you want to make selective acquisitions or mergers until 2000 MBA at UCT 2025. What markets are you targeting? 2001 Joined Old Mutual The selective mergers and South Africa acquisitions we are consid2012 Became CEO ering are those that “move for Emerging Markets the needle”: ones that can at Old Mutual change the profile of the group as it is today, with a 2017 Appointed Chief five-to-10-year horizon of Financial Officer at MTN growth. An example that would tick that box for us Sept. 2020 Appointed is to access opportunities Group CEO of MTN in Ethiopia. The country is a “‘needle mover”’ because we acknowledge the need to build the business for the long term. Today, Ethiopia represents probably one of the largest single-growth opportunities in Africa. MTN plans to invest $500m in fibre. Which markets will be prioritised? Internet adoption in Africa is at a very early stage, and, as the technology curve moves to 5G, we will see that even at a more nascent level. Data is what will underpin growth across markets in this continent. There is an incremental investment that will come in the near future, at least $1bn. We believe that $500m is what we would need to put in and we are very comfortable with that. At MTN, we largely do self-provision of fibre and very little is required from third parties. Going forward, the right model is an open-access one. We have the
90
THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 116 / JULY-AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2021
‘AYOBA IS AN AFRICANDEVELOPED APP. WE HAVE FOCUSED ON THE NEEDS OF OUR CUSTOMER BASE’ ability, within fibre, to sell some of our capacity to third parties at a commercially-agreed pricing. So you’re not particularly engaged in developing the fibre to the home? There is the “own the home” opportunity, but fibre will actually be a fairly small part of that. There will be some interesting technologies that get us to own the home, such as fixed wireless access. However, we plan to get at least 10m homes across the African markets over the next three to five years. A large part of that will be in Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa. Will the current legal troubles with US courts [over alleged payment of protection money to militant Islamic groups in Afghanistan] slow down the sale or impact the value of your Middle East businesses? We are very cognisant of the issues that we are dealing with in the Afghanistan matter in the US courts. They are not directly impacting how we are looking to exit either Syria, Yemen or Afghanistan. We are independently looking to exit the Middle East in a very orderly manner within the near to medium term. Our strategy is two pronged: first, we look to exit the consolidated subsidiaries – Syria, Yemen and Afghanistan – and then, over time, the Iran project. The latter will take more time as it is where there is a major store of value: it is a significant business and we will continue to engage with our partners there to develop and then exit. You are now the sole leader of MTN [after the end of the transition period with Rob Shuter in March 2021]. How would you define your your role? I’m super excited about the prospects for MTN to deliver on the growth potential that we see in Africa, as well as to unlock value that we believe is embedded in MTN group in particular. As usual, there will always be challenges. We are not starry-eyed, we are realists; but you know, what gets us up in the morning is a sense that we can make a difference in Africa’s progress. Africa has got a very unique opportunity to leapfrog industrially and economically by leveraging digital technologies. A lot of people say that 5G is only for the developed markets; but the counter view is that, when properly scrutinised, it has the ability to increase industrial capacity for Africa and economic growth.
ENERGY DOSSIER
A major energy transition
The global energy companies’ shift towards greener sources of power comes as a blow for oil-rich African countries. What’s good for the goose is not good for the gander
128 THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 116 / JULY-AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2021
By PIERRE-OLIVIER ROUAUD On the continent, Total, Shell and Eni are prioritising their gas developments. But their projects in renewable energies and carbon offsetting are still modest. This focus on gas is good news for some environmentalists, but bad news for African oil-producing countries that
BP
Senegal’s Grand Tortue Ahmeyim LNG project
benefit from the tax revenue and jobs that come from oil. Under pressure from public opinion and Western regulators, but also from their shareholders and financial partners, the oil sector’s majors, and especially the European ones – Shell, BP, Total and Eni – have begun an unprecedented change: their voluntary
and gradual withdrawal from the extraction of crude oil in favour of ‘greener’ energies. Shell’s CEO Ben van Beurden has said that the Dutch-British group’s oil production peaked in 2019 and is now declining by 1% to 2% per year. The stated goal of many oil majors, supported by the European Union and the United Kingdom, is
‘carbon neutrality’ by 2050. The European majors have no legal obligations at this stage, but they have set this target for all their activities, including the final use of the fuels they sell – which is by far the most important factor in carbon emissions. For example, Total’s direct emissions amount to about 45m tonnes of CO2 equivalent, but
THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 116 / JULY-AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2021
129
ENERGY / A major energy transition
SHARE OF INSTALLED RENEWABLE AND FOSSIL FUEL GENERATION CAPACITY IN AFRICA BY REGION IN 2019 Bubble size based on total installed capacity in the respective region Renewable energy Fossil fuels & nuclear
107,928 MW
No appetite for new projects
48,289 35,754 22,668
Natural gas
Coal
Hydropower
7,234
5,753
Solar
Wind
Diesel & fuel oil
transition is that developments will slow down. Jonathan Evans, BP’s director of new African projects, stated during Africa Oil Week, at the end of 2020, that, due to the carbon-emission constraints, BP will launch very few oil extraction projects on the continent. This trend is all the more pronounced since the majors’ Western financial partners are now more reluctant to invest in large extractive projects. Barclays and Credit Suisse have announced that they will cease financing the East African Crude Oil Pipeline in Uganda and Tanzania, which would
PRIMARY ENERGY DEMAND IN AFRICA Renewables Coal
Natural gas Biomass
Oil
2% 16% 45%
SOURCE: IEA
Half of Africa’s oil production is exported. However, when it comes to energy, the priority for Africa’s governments is first and foremost to improve access to it for their populations: 600 million people still lack electricity, and the massive use of biomass has devastating effects on health and the environment. The road to energy transition for the European majors will be long. A small consolation for their managers is that the US giants Exxon and Chevron – which are both less present on the continent than the Europeans and less convinced of the risks linked to climate change – and the Chinese companies CNOOC and Sinopec are much further behind. For the African national oil companies, energy transition is not their concern: their goal is to optimise the exploitation of hydrocarbon resources, of which they hold a large part of the continent’s reserves. Energy transition is a Western concept designed to solve a Western problem. The African deposits that have already been exploited should easily find investors, even if they are no longer led by the majors. In Nigeria, for example, Shell, Total and Eni recently sold 45% of the offshore OML 17 field to billionaire Tony Elumelu for $1.1bn. The risk for African countries from the sudden focus on energy
130 THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 116 / JULY-AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2021
23% 13%
1,940
1,626
Nuclear
Bioenergy Geothermal
830
have allowed Total and CNOOC to develop their Lake Albert fields. “Development agencies and even multilateral donors are increasingly reluctant to finance fossil-fuel projects, even gas,” says Stéphane His, senior consultant at the French research firm Enerdata.
Green and mean
The policy is not to everyone’s taste. Cameroonian lawyer NJ Ayuk, president of the African Energy Chamber, denounces the “demonisation” of the sector and the “anti-African” attitude of Western governments and environmental organisations like Greenpeace. An example of their influence is the recent decision of the British government’s foreign credit agency UK Export Finance (UKEF) to no longer support gas projects in Mozambique. In this context, how are the European majors reducing their carbon footprints in Africa? In addition to ‘operational efficiency’ (reducing methane leaks from wells or ending flaring and optimising well drilling), their plans are based
SOURCE: IRENA
the group estimates those related to vehicle fuel at 450m tonnes. In the global negotiations on CO2 emissions, the continent is more of a spectator than a player. It generates 9% of the world’s liquid petroleum (oil) production (7.2m barrels per day) and 6% of natural gas production. But it remains a modest emitter of greenhouse gases: with 17% of the world’s population, Africa accounts for only 2% of emissions.
SAIPEM
Egypt’s Zohr giant offshore gas field
around three strategies: gas, renewables, and nature-based carbonoffset projects. On the continent, if the majors are backing off from oil, they are pushing hard for gas with tens of billions of dollars in projects. “On a global level, the majors are switching over. Most of them already derive half of their revenue from gas,” says His. The reason is well-known: coal was used for 37% of the world’s electricity generation in 2019. Replacing it with gas would cut global CO2 emissions in half.
It’s a gas, gas, gas!
Gas is the ‘transitional energy’ touted by Patrick Pouyanné, Total’s CEO. This vision is strongly contested by environmental NGOs, which point out that gas production is still polluting, that it emits CO2 and that it is not a renewable energy. On the continent, while continuing to work in countries with a long experience in the gas sector, such as Algeria, the majors have established themselves in new production countries where major discoveries have been made.
$55bn
Combined planned investment in Mozambique’s three gas megaprojects: Mozambique LNG, Rovuma and Coral
In Egypt, Eni has changed the country’s energy landscape with the giant Zohr field. Mozambique has three gas mega projects totalling more than $55bn in planned investments. But the largest of these, Mozambique LNG, was suspended by Total following the attack on the nearby town of Palma at the end of March. The second project on the list, Rovuma LNG, led by Eni with the support of ExxonMobil, is still awaiting the final go-ahead. In West Africa, Shell (25%) and Total (15%) are leading a $4bn investment in a seventh LNG processing unit on Nigeria’s Bonny Island with the semi-public group NLNG. In Senegal and Mauritania, the offshore Grand Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA) field, led by BP in partnership with the explorer
Kosmos, is expected to produce its first gas in 2023 and to boost the economies of those two countries. Finally, in Angola, Chevron, Eni (operator), Total and BP, together with Sonangol, are currently developing a $12bn integrated liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Soyo. While the gas equation relies mainly on exports to developed countries or major emerging markets (such as China), the good news for Africa is that it can benefit local electrification projects. This is the case in Mozambique and Senegal with the GTA project, which is intended to supply several power plants. In Ghana, Shell has just invested in the Tema LNG terminal, which will make the country the very first south of the Sahara to import LNG. Total expects to do the same in Côte d’Ivoire and Benin. In Angola, the future Soyo terminal will supply a 750MW power plant. For the governments of these countries, the preoccupations of Western companies with reducing their carbon footprint could not be further from their minds.
THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 116 / JULY-AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2021
131
ENERGY DOSSIER
ENVIRONMENT
rivers, is expected to create a forest environment more resistant to bush fires, and to increase biodiversity. The project, which is fully financed by Total – around $230m over the life of the project – includes agroforestry crops developed with local populations for sustainable agricultural and wood energy production. By 2040, the responsible management of the forest using planted trees should enable the natural regeneration of local species and the supply of sawn timber and plywood to the Republic of Congo and its neighbour the DRC.
Green shoots To meet their goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050, energy companies are backing largescale reforestation projects, like Total’s in the Republic of Congo By CHRISTOPHE LE BEC Besides focusing on gas and renewables, the world’s major energy companies are also working on ‘negative CO2 impact’ solutions to offset the emissions resulting from their activities. In Africa, their efforts are focused on forestry projects, particularly within the UN’s REDD+ framework (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation in Developing countries). This initiative relies on a strict methodology and independent certifiers such as the US organisation Verra. Total has set up a subsidiary, Nature Based Solutions, dedicated to environmental projects. With a
budget of $100m per year starting in 2020, it aims to capture 5m tonnes of CO2 per year by 2030. With the specialised French consultancy Forêt Ressources Management (FRM), Total has signed a partnership with the Republic of Congo to plant a new 40,000 hectare forest on the Batéké Plateau. This forest is intended to be a ‘carbon sink’, accumulating and storing around 13m tonnes of CO2 over 20 years and thereby lowering its concentration in the atmosphere. The planting of acacia trees on this sandy plateau some 200km north of the country’s capital, near the Lefini and Congo
Local sustainability
FNC
Acacia seedlings for the Batéké forest project
132 THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 116 / JULY-AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2021
According to Nicolas Terraz, head of Total E&P Sub-Saharan Africa, this is the first project of its kind on the continent for the French group, which is aiming for carbon neutrality by 2050. Its environmental performance will be certified by independent auditors under Verra’s Verified Carbon Standard and its Climate, Community & Biodiversity standards. “We want to develop these projects alongside recognised partners, such as FRM, from whom we have a lot to learn, and in dialogue with local communities, in order to anchor our commitment over time and contribute to local development,” said Adrien Henry, vice-president of Total’s Nature Based Solutions, at the announcement of the project’s launch on 16 March of this year. British-Dutch firm Shell is developing its largest projects in Asia – in Indonesia, in particular – and is involved in reforestation projects in Ghana and Kenya. Meanwhile, Italy’s Eni is supporting the REDD+ Luangwa Community Forests Project in Zambia, which aims to capture 1.5m tonnes of CO2. The group promises other partnerships in Mozambique, Ghana, Congo, DRC and Angola.
A GAS STRATEGY IN AFRICA For over two decades Perenco, has been a significant producer of natural gas. Today, gas accounts for one third of Perenco’s overall poduction. The gas produced by Perenco is making a meaningful contribution across the African continent. It is generating electricity to power developing industrial economies and to enable manufacturing, whilst also being used in millions of homes, providing a clean and reliable form of energy for cooking and heating and, increasingly, as a low emission transport fuel.
THE INTERNATIONAL LEADING OIL AND GAS COMPANY Perenco is active in five African countries (Cameroon, Congo, DRC, Gabon, and Tunisia), as well as in Northern Europe, Latin America and South East Asia. Founded in 1975 by Hubert Perrodo, Perenco has expanded steadily through acquisitions, drilling and production enhancement. With a focus on mature and marginal fields, Perenco now produces 465,000 boepd and employs over 6,000 people globally.
ADVERTORIAL
MAKING A LASTING CONTRIBUTION Through its sustainable business model Perenco continues to make a positive contribution in its partner countries, to listen to their needs, and to form part of the energy solution. In Gabon, Perenco has been the country’s only commercial gas provider since 2006 producing 50mmscfd which meets the gas needs of the thermal power stations of Port-Gentil and Libreville. In Tunisia, the Company has cumulative production of over 30 mmscfd for electricity generation and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). In Cameroon, production of 30 mmscfd generated 250 MW of power at Kribi, and will allow the industrial development of the area. In Cameroon, Perenco has also successfully delivered the installation and operation of the first floating LNG plant, which has had a material and positive impact for Cameroon, producing 30,000 tonnes of domestic gas and reducing the country’s import bill by 40%. In the DRC, 3MW are provided to Muanda thanks to natural gas. INVESTING IN THE FUTURE Perenco is making a local resource available, in order to support growth and development in the countries in which it operates. Perenco works hand in hand with these nations to balance their energy and economic development needs with their energy transition goals.The Group continues to work on a number of innovative gas projects in each of the countries where it operates, including: gas-supply projects for thermal power plants that generate electricity, the development of local industries, as well as domestic gas production and the conversion of company cars to CNG. Whenever possible, these projects are completed by the production of LNG.
ENERGY DOSSIER
Essakane gold mine in Burkina Faso (15MWp). Shell is virtually absent from Africa as a project leader in renewables, as is BP, despite its 2018 partnership with Egypt’s Hassan Allam Utilities. LAURENT ZYLBERMAN/GRAPHIX IMAGES/TOTAL
Total’s Prieska solar park in South Africa
GREEN ENERGY
Oil majors are slow on solar and wind Administrative hurdles, poor infrastructure and the necessity for small-scale projects are all deterrents to the big players. That’s where partnerships come in By PIERRE-OLIVIER ROUAUD The oil majors are touting their global ambitions for renewable energy. France’s Total plans to invest $60bn in the sector within the next 10 years and is targeting 100GW of capacity on a global scale – that is 322 times the installed capacity of Africa’s largest wind farm at Kenya’s Lake Turkana. BP is targeting 30GW by the same date, while Shell has pledged to invest an annual $2bn-$3bn worldwide. But, for the moment, the investment of the majors in renewables on the continent remains small. While Eni is promising solar projects in Egypt and Angola (Solenova, a joint project with Sonangol), it currently only has small photovoltaic plants in Tunisia, Algeria and Angola with less than 40MWp each in capacity.
Total operates in the solar sector through various subsidiaries, including Total Eren and the US company SunPower, which has developed the South African Prieska plant (86MWp). After Uganda in 2016 (10MWp in Soroti), Total Eren commissioned a 126MWp photovoltaic park near Aswan in Egypt in mid-2019. The group has also signed a contract with Greentech to build a 35MWp solar plant in Angola, and has developed industry-focused projects such as the IAMGOLD
2030
Date on which Kenya’s Lake Turkana Wind Power Project is due to reach its full capacity of 310 MW.
134 THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 116 / JULY-AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2021
Risks and red tape
“The majors take a global approach to carbon-emissions reduction and are focusing their transition efforts on developed and large emerging countries. Because of the structure of these economies and their energy mix, the impact is more rapid and massive than it would be in Africa,” says Francis Perrin, associate researcher at the Policy Center for the New South in Rabat. A lack of will, or is it something else? The time it takes to set up projects in Africa and the poor electricity networks are obvious deterrents. In addition, there is the risk of cyclones to wind power in tropical areas, the lack of legislative frameworks in many countries, and ambiguity over land rights, which has proved a problem in Kenya. Oil companies accustomed to mega-projects are ill-equipped to handle a multiplicity of small projects, microgrids or M-Kopastyle solar energy. “The future of electrification in Africa depends in part on decentralised renewable production. But the majors still have very little presence in this niche,” says Stéphane His of the Enerdata consultancy. To speed things up, many of the companies are looking for partnerships. Through its foundation, Shell has provided $45m to a micro-electrification initiative supported by the US International Development Finance Corporation. In 2019, Shell and Japan’s Sumitomo bought a 15% stake in Powergen, a Kenyan microgrid developer. And Total has created Total Access To Energy Solutions (TATES) to develop pilot projects and support start-ups in East Africa.
ADVERTORIAL
Herbert Smith Freehills LLP
EXPERT ADVICE
66 avenue Marceau 75008 Paris - France Standard : + 33 1 53 57 70 70 rebecca.major@hsf.com
www.hsf.com
Green Energy in Africa: Accelerating energy transitions across the continent International investors need to reduce their carbon footprint globally and are being pushed by market forces, legislators, courts and shareholders to do so.
in order to protect the African economic environment with a healthy level of exports, and the social and economic domestic environment with an energy progression.
Africa needs an «energy progression» as well as an «energy transition». In many parts of the African continent, it is not a question of changing the way electricity or transport networks are used, but a question of making reliable electricity supplies and transport networks available for the first time. Africa’s natural resources also need to be used to provide revenue for African citizens.
There will be enormous investments in Europe in these areas in the next few years, by private companies, national governments and the European Union. African governments and African businesses need to position themselves now to capture some of these investments and encourage sustainable investment in the African energy sector going forward.
We think that the African continent can use the global «green business revolution» to its advantage. African governments and legislators can harness this green revolution to facilitate access to electricity for African populations and encourage exports that suit the needs of international investors. The challenge will be to find a happy balance
Some international companies are seeing Africa as a good testing ground for innovative technologies and business models. For example, we are seeing investments and potential investments from Europe (and elsewhere) into off-grid solar, battery storage, improved hydroelectric technology and various uses of blue and green hydrogen. Africa could become an attractive place for using
Rebecca Major, Partner, Head of Energy and Natural Resources, Paris
technologies such as hydrogen and renewable sources to make existing and new natural resources projects greener and therefore more marketable in the future. We have been talking to our clients about greener mines, greener gas and LNG production, greener ammonia production and greener refining and beneficiation processes generally in Africa. We hope to see African policy and legislation continue to evolve to take account of this game-changing revolution and look forward to continuing to advise international investors and governments on these exciting challenges.
AGRIBUSINESS DOSSIER
Kenya’ s hot cuppa
climate change
136 THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 116 / JULY-AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2021
The optimum tea-growing areas in Kenya’s Rift Valley are shrinking
Activists and farmers warn that the sector needs to act fast before changes in temperature and weather patterns hit the leading black tea producer’s production hard
SVEN TORFINN/PANOS/REA
By VICTOR AMDALA in Kericho “Twenty years ago, a visitor to Kericho would gladly ask for an extra blanket and not a swimming pool – especially at 6pm,” a guard at the Sunshine Hotel told me when I enquired about the possibility of taking a dip. Rolling a black button in his right hand, he laughed nervously for few seconds before launching into a lesson on the climatic history of the region: “I was born not far from here 62 years ago. The region was three times greener. Forests were thicker; you could barely see beyond two kilometres. Rain and cold was part of our lives. […] Now we have prolonged dry seasons and diminishing forest cover.” It may have been a roundabout way of saying that the hotel didn’t have its own pool, but the man had given me a first-hand account of the changes affecting both smallholder tea farmers and multinationals in Kenya’s Rift Valley. A recent study on the effects of climate change on the tea sector in Kenya by British charity Christian Aid confirms that the sector is facing a host of climate-related problems including rising temperatures, erratic rainfall, droughts and insect infestations. The authors forecast that by 2050 the rapid climate shifts will slash Kenya’s optimal tea-growing area by 26%. Mediumquality growing areas could also shrink by 39% in the next 30 years.
THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 116 / JULY-AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2021
137
AGRIBUSINESS DOSSIER / Kenya’s hot cuppa climate change
Kenya is highly vulnerable to climate change, with projections suggesting that its average annual temperature could rise by up to 2.5°C between 2000 and 2050. Going forward, rainfall will become more intense and less predictable. ‘Even the slightest increase in droughts will present major challenges for food security and water availability,’ the Christian Aid report warns.
“Our plantation is on 7,000ha. We have maintained the forest cover within our area of operation. James Finlay takes responsibility for any tree felled within [that area],” Kirui says. The largest plantation in the region, covering well over 10,000ha, belongs to Unilever Kenya, which has been working on reducing its carbon footprint. In 2018, Unilever East Africa partnered with fair-trade waste-management company Mr. Green Africa for a ‘U-Turn waste project’, creating a circular economy for its packaging materials by providing an end use for the recycled plastics.
session organised by James Finlay Kenya, which employs 7,000 people on its tea farms in Kericho. Sammy Kirui, the corporate affairs manager at James Finlay, explains: “We plant at least 3,000 trees known for their waterconserving power around potential water sources. The company has noted unchecked dilapidation of indigenous Mau West Forest cover, which has been the source of rains that sustain multinational tea firms and smallholder farmers.” The company’s approach combines precision agriculture, the use of biological energy in production and community involvement in conservation of forest cover.
Clean cookstoves
TEA PRODUCTION IN KENYA (in 1,000tn)
600
570.5
500
493
472
458.8
439.8
400
399.2 300 2015
138 THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 116 / JULY-AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2021
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
SOURCE: KENYA NATIONAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS
Another recent study, carried out by the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation for the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, surveyed 700 growers in Kenya’s seven major tea-growing regions. At least 40% of respondents said they had noticed changes in rainy and dry seasons, which had led to shifts in the planting season, while 35% cited drought. These trends are worrying tea farmers. Some are considering uprooting the crop for short term alternatives such as maize, beans, potatoes and vegetables. Others are determined to keep growing tea, and are taking cues from large plantations that already have mitigation measures in place. Ezekiel Kibet, one of 10,000 smallholder farmers working with the firm James Finlay in Kericho, told The Africa Report that he had cut all the eucalyptus trees down and planted indigenous trees across his fragmented four-hectare tea farm in Kipsolo village. “There has been a slight decline in tea production due to erratic rainfall in this region. I have been growing tea for the past 40 years. The negative change in production which I have experienced in [the] past decade is a result of prolonged dry [weather],” Kibet said. Apart from tending to his own production, he religiously takes part in the community tree-planting
TONY KARUMBA / AFP
Trees conserve water
Smallholders produce almost 60% of Kenya’s tea
More locally, the firm has supported the provision of ‘clean’ wood-burning cookstoves to tea-growing communities. The stoves are designed to replace the traditional smoky open fires, which cause air pollution and can lead to respiratory diseases. In addition, the tea processing plant in Kericho is now powered by a 619kWp solar park in partnership with CrossBoundary Energy, an investment fund that finances off-grid projects for companies.
The irony of rich nations’ profligacy affecting the very people who grow their basic foodstuffs is not lost on Unilever. In its 2019 sustainability report it said: ‘There has been an astronomical change in climatic patterns, not just in Kenya’s Rift Valley but everywhere in the world. While Africa is producing less carbon, the continent is highly impacted.’
Tailored support
The UK-based firm Twinings Tea, which works with smallholder farmers globally, including Kenya, calls its sustainability programme Sourced with Care. In addition to reducing its own carbon emissions with the target of being carbon neutral by 2030, it develops ‘tailored interventions’
in tea-growing communities by listening to the growers themselves. Training on sustainable agricultural practices, women’s empowerment programmes and support for additional income-generating activities all increase farmers’ resilience in the face of climate change. According to Twinings Tea’s 2021 social impact report, Sourced with Care has reached up to 8,000 smallholder farmers in Kenya, and several tea centres have received international quality certification.
Some are considering uprooting the tea crop for short-term alternatives like maize
While the fact that large and multinational companies are taking social and environmental responsibility seriously can only be a good thing, local traders and environmental experts argue that the government must improve its environmental conservation policies. Philip Rono, chairperson of Fintea Growers Cooperative Union, representing five cooperatives in Kericho and Bomet counties, says the state should come up with incentives or better policies to complement what farmers and multinationals are doing. “It makes no sense for multinationals to invest resources conserving the environment only for another firm to release its waste in water[ways] and go unpunished or [be] handled with baby gloves,” Rono says.
PERFORMANCE
Africa – Fertile ground for the future of food security It seems ironic that the world is pinning its food security hopes on a continent better known for famines and feeding schemes than for the abundance of fresh and nutritious produce. Yet, with around 25% of the world’s arable land, some say Africa has the potential to contribute to global food security. OCP Africa is set on growing that potential by literally working from the ground up and is playing a fundamental role in the transition of Africa’s farmers from subsistence farming to value-creating agriculture.
OCP Africa Extension Agent , Agripromoter programme.
Mobile soil Laboratory, OCP School Lab.
O
n a long, dusty road in Kaduna State in north-western Nigeria, a bright green three-wheeler motorcycle, mounted with a square cargo box, buzzes along before turning off onto a track leading to a small settlement of modest houses and flourishing fields. This is an OCP Africa Extension Agent from the Agripromoter programme, just one of the programmes specially designed and run by OCP Africa to contribute to developing Africa’s integrated agricultural ecosystems. A subsidiary of OCP Group, the world’s largest phosphate mining and leading fertilizer company, OCP Africa has been on the ground and in the field for five years, gaining invaluable insights into smallholder farmers’ evolving needs while sharing lessons learned, strengthening cooperation, creating partnerships and developing solutions. It is well-positioned to provide advice, support, “best practices” and innovative agriculture through new technologies, thereby playing a role in achieving a green revolution in Africa, which goes way beyond its core business of supplying suitable fertilizers. R&D is a strong component of OCP Africa’s sustainable agricultural development, integrated soil fer-
tility management and climate change approach. It provides fertility mapping and soil analyses and develops new customised formulas adapted to specific soils and crops.
Large-scale programmes for small-scale farmers Africa’s smallholder farmers are the backbone of its agricultural sector and the focus of OCP Africa’s projects and programmes which, since 2016, have benefited over a million farmers. With its African roots, tremendous agronomic knowledge, experience and agri-tech developments, OCP Africa’s large-scale programmes set out to impact not only the smallholder farmer but the entire value chain, with the aim of increasing yields and incomes. OCP Africa’s action is supporting small farmers through a wide range of partnerships, services and capacity building programmes to optimise their land’s potential so that they can thrive, favouring the development of ecosystems that lead to innovative financing, insurance and markets, thereby securing farming activities and building the foundations for a sustainable future.
MESSAGE
OCP Africa developed Agribooster, an inclusive development model that provides farmers with support at every step of the agricultural value chain. Agribooster focuses on the urgent need for African smallholder farmers to improve their productivity and yields, locate buyers and markets and access financial services, including loans. Through the Agribooster package, OCP Africa has so far provided around 630,000 farmers in four countries with access to quality products and inputs (fertilizers, plant protection products, hybrid seeds), technical and business training sessions, access to potential buyers on the market, personal support, and access to financial services (including loans). Farmer House is a comprehensive last-mile distribution solution rolled out in Nigeria to address the availability and accessibility of agricultural inputs by bringing together all basic agricultural inputs, Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) training and extension services under one roof in proximity to smallholder farmers in rural communities. Each Farmer House is equipped with a classroom, a storage room, office space, a borehole well, one or more three-wheeler motorcycles, a digital soil analysis laboratory, a greenhouse, and a smart fertilizer blender, amongst others. To reach smallholder farmers in their communities, each Farmer House employs one or more Agripromoters. These are OCP Africa extension agents, all equipped with a three-wheeler motorcycle mounted with a cargo box and a tablet that deliver agricultural inputs and training to farmers. In the past five years, OCP Africa’s holistic, end-toend ecosystem and farmer-centric approach has empowered and improved the lives of African smallholder farmers. This was achieved under the strong conviction that Africa can become a world leader in sustainable farming and help feed its growing population and ultimately the world.
Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) training , Farmer House.
OCP AFRICA STRIVES TO: Improve the fertility and productivity of African soils through appropriate products. Secure the production of competitive fertilizers near the largest farming areas. Contribute to the development of new local distribution networks, serving the entire agricultural sector. Improve farmers’ access to quality inputs, financing, markets, training and technology.
OCP School Lab +420 K African farmers trained in 9 countries Agribooster: 630 K farmers supported in 4 countries, >30% yield increase on average Farmer House: 29,250 smallholder farmers supported through 51 outlets in 18 states in Nigeria Agripromoter: 7K smallholder farmers supplied and trained in Nigeria, 40K jobs to be created by 2040
JAMG © D.R.
OCP Africa’s School Lab, one of the most innovative programmes, raises awareness about the importance of soil testing. A mobile soil laboratory travels to meet farmers where they are and, using the latest innovations (X-rays, big data, and machine learning) and real-time information on soil needs, helps them test their soil then makes free fertilizer application recommendations specifically for their soil and crop mix. School Lab also provides interactive training sessions with live demos on Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and animated videos for higher impact. To date, School Lab has already helped over 420,000 African smallholder farmers across nine countries.
AGRIBUSINESS DOSSIER
EGYPT
Fresh orange exports are squeezing out other citrus crops Producers say that the sector needs more diversification and processing in order to grow and protect farmers when there are major price swings By SHERIF TAREK in Cairo Having leapfrogged Spain, Egypt is steadily edging closer to achieving its full potential as the world’s top orange exporter. But that may eclipse opportunities to diversify into other high-quality citrus crops. Since the 1980s, agricultural producers have increasingly channelled their resources into improving orange production, while pushing for the opening of new markets. Brazil and Japan have been added as export destinations in recent months. Oranges account for approximately 80% of Egypt’s total cultivated citrus area today, and according to official data, made up more than 86% of exported citrus fruit in the 2020/2021 season (December 2020 to 30 April 2021).
at exporting company, the Egyptian Growers Organisation. Hesham El-Naggar, CEO of the fresh fruit and vegetable producer Daltex, says that citrus exports will witness no more quantum leaps, only climbing marginally in the coming years, before plateauing in a decade. “We used to see increases of 20% or 15 % annually. Now we will be going up 2% or
No more quantum leaps
The Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) – a US Department of Agriculture agency – projects Egyptian orange production to rise by 6.2% year on year to reach 3.4m tonnes in the current marketing year (MY), which began last October. FAS Cairo also forecasts that orange exports will hit 1.5m tonnes in MY 2020/2021, up from 1.37m tonnes the previous year More markets are set to open up, yet exporters are close to reaching saturation, says Hussein Marei, a board member of Egypt’s Horticultural Export Improvement Association and a managing partner
Loading up in Beheira province, Egypt
142 THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 116 / JULY-AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2021
3% at most,” El-Naggar tells The Africa Report. Some producers worry that poor statistics are clouding a view of what is happening on the ground. They point out that official data does not reflect citrus oversupply, especially of oranges, because they are only based on agricultural plots that are registered at notary offices, Marei explains. Unregistered
in Egypt, comprising 60-70% of Egypt’s citrus production. Growing them is much less demanding than other citrus crops like mandarins, which require more technical know-how. Their harvest season extends from January to March or April, a period that corresponds to “a gap in the international market” – a prime opportunity for Egyptian exporters, Marei says. Marei wants to see the sector strengthened through diversification. He is introducing new seedlings through his company, MAREI Orchard & Nursery. “I have been exhorting many growers not to cultivate the summer [oranges] anymore, and to plant mandarins, grapefruits and lemons to mix it up,” says Marei. Only then “will our reputation as citrus exporters” improve, he adds. El-Naggar agrees and says there is growing demand for citrus products, including grapefruits and lemons, which Egyptian exporters could tap into to beat fierce competition from Morocco, Israel and Turkey. “Going industrial” could reduce the overabundance of Valencia oranges, which are widely used in juice production, says Marei. “There is a massive market in Asia and Europe,” he says. “There is potential in different areas […]. Dubai procures its juice products from the US and Poland and pays a lot of money for them. If they imported them from Egypt, they would be delivered faster and at a better cost.” Marei says Egypt has a head start in exporting not-from-concentrate (NFC) juices, which are fresh and pasteurised. AHMED GOMAA/XINHUA/REA
parcels of land are mostly in the desert and were seized by farmers who invoked a law introduced by the late agriculture minister Youssef Wali, particularly during the 1980s and 1990s. “A rough analysis indicated that while the government would say we produce 4m tonnes, [actual citrus production] “is closer to 6m tonnes,” Marei tells The Africa Report. According to projections based on similar analysis, “we are supposed to be producing anywhere from 6-8m [tonnes of citrus fruits],” which is significantly higher than Egypt’s domestic consumption and exported citrus fruits combined. This caused local prices to plummet in the past year, with losses incurred by producers, Marei says. Valencia oranges, also known as summer oranges, are the most cultivated and exported citrus fruits
1.5m
tonnes of Egyptian orange exports are forecast for 2020-21, up from 1.37m tonnes in the 2019-20 season
Unlike the concentrate, NFC juice can diminish in quality while being transported to far-flung destinations, and its price is higher due to its more costly transportation. Brazil is the main player in this sector, and Egypt could also be a strong NFC juice exporter to Asian countries.
Tariff-free trade
Khaled Medhat, from food and beverage company Döhler Egypt, says the country’s main advantage is its free-trade agreements as a member of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, the Greater Arab Free Trade Area and the EU-Egypt Association Agreement. Offering juice products that are cheaper than Brazil’s to countries that exempt Egyptian imports from customs would give Cairo a lead, he says. Medhat says he would like to see a better system for regulating the relationship between farmers and juice makers to ensure sustainable procurements and fair prices: “The agro-industrial sector is not sponsored by a certain body in Egypt. There are no crops that are cultivated to be allocated for manufacturing,” he says. Egyptian fruit producers of all scales therefore primarily target fresh consumption, and juice makers receive what is left. What facilitates procurement for juice makers is that their specifications are less demanding than those of the fresh market, since they just need to focus on the internal quality of the oranges. With orange prices fluctuating, a regulator should support either side when needed. “This already exists in Egypt for some items, such as raw milk, whose price is determined by the Egyptian Milk Producers Association,” Medhat says. “We always say we want contract farming in Egypt, but it can only be achieved with an arbitrator,” he concludes.
THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 116 / JULY-AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2021
143
AGRIBUSINESS DOSSIER
INTERVIEW
Mostafa Terrab
To feed themselves and others, African nations need to boost their agricultural production by using fertilisers and other techniques, says the chief executive of OCP Interview by ESTELLE MAUSSION and JULIEN CLEMENÇOT The chairman and chief executive of Morocco’s OCP Group explains its strategy for 2021-2030. The phosphates company is focusing on a more environmentally friendly approach. It also plans on expanding its operations on the continent to tap into the large Nigerian and Ethiopian markets. Fertilisers are still not widely used in Africa. Is this changing? MOSTAFA TERRAB: You know that the continent has the potential to feed the whole world, right? Most of the arable land is in Africa. The continent will double its population by 2050. This is why our commitment in Africa is not as a fertiliser supplier but rather as a partner in the development of public policies in agronomy, rural development and, where appropriate, industry. This is how we view our industrial commitment in countries such as Ethiopia and Nigeria,
which have one-third of the African population. Our university [the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University in Ben Guerir] is also committed to this and, as such, presents itself as an institution for training African talent. How should we interpret the decline in recent years in OCP’s exports to Africa, from 27% of your total in 2017 to 21% in 2020? You seem to forget that our Africa strategy is not even 10 years old. In 2013, we were capping at 50,000tn of exports per year to Africa, and today, our volumes are at around 3m tonnes per year. If you judge performance by volume alone, you won’t have the right indicator. In some countries, including Nigeria, we have invested in blending units where products are customised locally to suit the needs of the soil and crops. I would like to point out that the OCP Foundation was involved in drawing up a soil fertility map in certain African countries, with the precise purpose of carrying out this customisation.
144 THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 116 / JULY-AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2021
HOC
‘The continent has the potential to feed the world’ In March, you signed an agreement with Nigeria to build a $1.3bn fertiliser plant there. Several groups, including Dangote Industries, also have major projects there. How do you intend to establish yourself in this huge market? This agreement was signed following a decision made during His Majesty King Mohammed VI’s visit to Nigeria in December 2016. It brings together Morocco’s phosphate resources and Nigeria’s gas resources for the benefit of Nigerian agriculture and this great country’s immediate neighbours. Are you going to increase the number of your factories in Africa? Wouldn’t this be to Morocco’s detriment? To the contrary! A company that wants to be global increases its opportunities for growth whenever the interests of the parties concerned are clear. Proximity also makes it possible to adapt our products to farmers’ needs, thereby reducing the cost of inputs. It’s also important to remember that this growth, which is made possible by investing in the markets, increases the value of phosphorus, which is then available to all! This is the main reason for our approach.
Africa, covered. NEW OFFER
Join the top African and world leaders who read The Africa Report every day.
SUBSCRIBE NOW! SPECIAL OFFER
Enjoy 30% discount
on your annual subscription with the coupon code: OFFER30TAR116 Join us: www.theafricareport.com/subscribe/ This offer is available until 23/09/2021. Cannot be combined with other offers.
WHAT’S INCLUDED TheAfricaReport.com Full access to all The Africa Report digital content, including our ranking of Africa's top 200 banks and top 500 companies, and 54 country reports.
Exclusive newsletters AFRICA INSIGHT, Our daily Editor's picks, featuring the best of our reporting and analysis.
Digital edition
Special events
Get to read our print edition first; access our latest edition 2 weeks before it hits newsstands.
Discounts & priority access to a selection of Jeune Afrique Media Group events including The Africa CEO Forum + Every quarter, a dedicated Slack channel to put your questions to our journalists and editors.
Any question ? Please contact us: customer.care@theafricareport.com
LAST WORD
FUN NMI ADEBAYO Digittal entrepreneur, nomad, writer, avid solo traveller, menttal health advocate, spoken word poet, public speaaker and ex-finance professional
To say I’m disappointed in Britain would be an understatement. I think for many British Africans, we have got to a point where we are either questioning our place in British identity or ready to completely denounce it. It feels to me that Britain is wedded to its nostalgia of empire. Its sense of greatness and British identity now clearly feels predicated on holding onto the delusion that it can an be a geopolitical kingmaker. ‘Global Britain’ may at first appear to o be an innocent attempt at being open to building trade partnerships with the world. On closer inspection, though, it is far more nefarious. So much so that it isn’t a sleightof-hand nod to colonialism but rather the reemergence of a new, modern colonialist venture. I am not only talking about what Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said, but rather the ‘Global Britain in a Competitive Age’ government report that is a manifesto to this end. They may as well have dubbed it ‘Project Colonialism 2.0’. Johnson has laid his jingoistic intentions bare: ‘The fundamentals of this Government’s approach to national security and international policy are
146 THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 116
Britain's government sees Africa as the centre of its ‘Global Britain’ policy. The government report ‘The UK and Sub-Saharan Africa: prosperity, peace and development co-operation’ published last year is a 164-page document focused entirely on how Britain plans to engage. Its mere positioning as a power equal to four-fifths of a continent expresses its perspective on Africa. It would never so boldly publish such a report about Asia. Describing Britain’s soft power, the report defines it as, ‘rooted in who we are as a country: our values and way of life, and the vibrancy and diversity of our union. It is central to our international identity as an open, trustworthy inte and d innovative country.’ Museums are listed as central. So any hopes that the British Museum Act of 1963 will be revoked – and the Benin Bronzes returned, for example – are clearly pipe dreams. Britain’s government sees its museums as just as important in maintaining its sense of power and identity as trade relationo ships. This firmly positions war, theft and colonialism as central to the British identity. It’s important that Africans and British Africans hold this government to account and decide if the greatness of Britain relies on the weakness of Africa.
L. FLEISHMAN/NYT-REDUX-REA
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
COLONIALISM 2.0
reflected in the actions we have taken since the 2019 general election. They demonstrate an active approach to delivering in the interests of the British people: sustaining the UK’s openness as a society and economy, underpinned by a shift to a more robust position on security and deterrence. This runs alongside a renewed commitment to the UK as a force for good in the world – defending openness, democracy and human rights.’ Anybody with a decent grasp of history would shiver at this brazen declaration of Britain First ideology. British colonialism in Africa was built on this approach: that Britain’s ‘force’ for good comes with increased spending on ‘security and deterrence’ – in other words, violence.
At the crossroads of Africa, Asia and the Arab World
The future is on the move
A diversified economy A regional logistics and transport hub International standard infrastructure and services New tourism opportunities
A home port for investors
© V. FOURNIER for J.A. - and DR
An environment conducive to innovation
WITH AFRICA FOR AFRICA M O B I L I T Y
H E A LT H C A R E
C O N S U M E R
INFRASTRUCTURE
With a revenue of over €5.8 billion, access to 46 of the 54 countries on the continent and almost 21,000 employees, the CFAO Group contributes to the growth of the African continent, its industrialization and the emergence of the middle class, drawing on its in-depth field knowledge and local expertise. The Group partners with leading international brands and covers the entire value chain – import, production, distribution – in line with the best international standards.
www.cfaogroup.com