It is no surprise that South African companies continue to dominate our Southern African regional rankings. The Johannesburg Stock Exchange JSE has market capitalisation in excess of 1 trillion and accounts for at least 60 of the total market cap of all African stock exchanges put together. Moreover, all 20 companies in our table rank among the 30 biggest companies on the African continent.
Despite the long-term frailty of the South African economy and consistently low levels of economic growth, the country's biggest companies continue to outperform their host economy. They include some of Africa's biggest banks, while some generate huge revenues outside the African continent. The rand strengthened to 16 to the US dollar in January, the highest level for three years, as higher mining exports buoyed the entire economy. Rising gold prices buoyed the country's miners, with Anglogold Ashanti and Gold Fields reporting sharp increases in market value and remaining top two.
Nevertheless, the IMF expects South Africa's real GDP to grow just 1 this year, as the economy struggles to keep up with demographic growth. One of the country's traditional big five banks, Nedbank Group, comes in at 7.4bn in 20th position, well ahead of the 5.1bn recorded by Pepkor Holdings to take the same spot last year. All five banks make it into the table but one of the most striking things about these listings is the diversity they represent in comparison with every other part of the continent. The mining, telecoms, insurance, retail, chemicals, restaurant and internet services sectors are all well represented alongside the banking industry.
