We publish two separate tables of the Top 20 companies in Southern Africa – with and without South Africa – because a ranking of companies from across the entire region includes only South African entries and so provides no information on the wider success of Southern African companies. The 20th biggest South African listed company, Nedbank, has a market capitalisation of $8.4bn this year, still well ahead of the $3.9bn recorded by the biggest non-South African bank in the region, Malawi’s FMB Capital.
FMB Capital’s market value has nearly doubled from $2bn last year to $3.9bn in our 2026 table, underlying the growing strength of Malawian companies that first became apparent last year. Indeed, as with last year, there are seven Malawian entries in our regional table, a remarkable achievement for such a small economy. The four biggest listed Malawian companies, which all feature among the top six in our regional table, are all banks.
Despite inflation reaching 28% and continued foreign currency constraints, the total value of Malawi’s stock exchange rose an incredible 250% last year, making it the continent’s best-performing stock exchange. Such surprising growth is possible on bourses with few listings, where investment demand outstrips the supply of shares and investors seek a safe home for funds to protect them from inflation. While listed firms are performing well, the overall macroeconomic environment remains challenging. Nevertheless, the government has sought to build a free market economy with investor-friendly policies, and it will be interesting to see whether Malawi’s main stocks are as highly prized next year.
The number of Namibian and Zimbabwean companies in the regional Top 20 stays at three and four respectively, with just a single Mauritian entry, down from three last year, and one from Botswana. Zambia is the big winner, with four companies, up from just a single entry in last year’s survey.
None of the four Zambian entries are mining companies, but the Zambian economy as a whole is benefiting from record copper prices – in the range of $13,000 to $14,500 a tonne in the early months of 2026 – on the back of supply shortages and surging demand for data centres and electrification. This is supporting wider growth in the Zambian economy, with the IMF projecting growth of 4.3% this year.
The threshold for entry to our regional table has greatly increased, with Namibia’s Capricorn Group requiring $797m to take the final position in our Southern African ranking. That is $283m more than Mauritian industrial conglomerate IBL recorded to take the same position last year and $428m more than Zambia National Commercial Bank recorded for 20th place in 2024.
To see the complete rankings of the Top 250 Companies in Africa 2026, click here.