In 2021, women entrepreneurs contributed 37 percent of the global GDP, according to Mastercard’s Index of Women Entrepreneurs (PDF). In terms of women business leaders, Africa seems to be behind worldwide trends.
The first African nation to make it on Mastercard’s ranking of countries with the most women entrepreneurs is South Africa, at number 37 in a list of 65 countries. This is followed by Ghana at 48, Madagascar at 50, then Nigeria, Ethiopia, Angola, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Malawi and Egypt.
However, across Africa some of the largest and most profitable corporations are run by women. Case in point, Standard Bank Group and Africa.com have assembled a list of the 93 top women CEOs on the continent.
The list was created by data-driven research, with data provided by Bloomberg, says a press release from Africa.com. It is based on which companies led by women managed to gather the most revenue.
“This year’s list of 93 women represents 17 countries who have qualified based on either large-scale revenue or large-scale market capitalization. The list includes 40 women from South Africa, 12 from Nigeria, and 6 from Egypt, Ghana and Kenya respectively,” said Teresa Clarke, Chair of Africa.com.
Africa.com said it analyzed 2 020 companies listed on the 24 African stock exchanges. Of the 2 020 companies, it screened for those companies with revenue of $100 million or more, or a market cap of $150 million or more, which yielded a list of 787 companies.
The public websites of all 787 companies were examined to identify female C-suite executives. The Africa.com team then researched each woman to determine those who have the title of chief executive officer or managing director or president and conducted a review to confirm that these executives have a bottom line, profit and loss responsibility for the companies.
This resulted in 40 women CEOs in group 1. The firm then formulated two other groups of women CEOs with similar methodologies, leading to one final definitive list of 40 CEOs – which can be found here.
According to Africa.com and Standard Bank, these are the top 15 women CEOs in Africa:
Natascha Viljoen – CEO Anglo America PLC (South Africa)
$41.6 billion in revenue.
Nompumelelo Zikalala – CEO Kumba Iron Ore Ltd (South Africa)
$6.9 billion in revenue.
Mpumi Madisa – CEO Bidvest Group (South Africa)
$6.6 billion in revenue.
Bertina Engelbrecht – CEO Clicks Group Ltd. (South Africa)
$2.6 billion in revenue.
Dr Nombasa Tsengwa – CEO Exxaro Resources (South Africa)
$2.2 billion in revenue.
Albertina Kekana – CEO Royal Bafokeng Holdings (South Africa)
$1.1 billion in revenue.
Miriam Chidiebele – CEO Guaranty Trust Holding Company (Nigeria)
$1.1 billion in revenue.
Jane Karuku – CEO & Group Managing Director East African Breweries (Kenya)
$970 million in revenue
Ntombi Felicia Msiza – CEO Raubex Group Ltd (South Africa)
$781 million in revenue.
Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe – Managing Director & CEO Fidelity Bank (Nigeria)
$600 million in revenue.
Zanele Matlala – CEO Merafe Resources (South Africa)
$546 million in revenue.
Ramasela Ganda – Group CEO Zeda Ltd. (South Africa)
$518 million in revenue.
Ruth Zaipuna – CEO NMB Bank Plc (Tanzania)
$485 million in revenue.
Nasim Devji – Group CEO & Managing Director Diamond Trust (Kenya)
$370 million in revenue.
Dr Hend El Sherbini – Group CEO Integrated Diagnostics Holdings (Egypt)
$333 million in revenue.
South African women feature in the top six spots dominating the list, and have nine CEOs in the top 15. Anglo American Plc. is the undisputed leader of the pack, with massive revenues of $41.6 billion.
The top two spots belong to mining and or mineral companies. This is followed by a banking group in Bidvest. Nigeria is the first non-South African country to feature a CEO on the list. The West African country has among the highest GDPs on the continent, but only features in the top 15 twice.
Otherwise, Kenya features twice, Tanzania features once, alongside Egypt.
[Image – Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash]
