As of November 2022, Nigeria has approximately nine companies worth at least one billion US dollars.
A unicorn is any company worth more than one billion US dollars in the valuation world. This is also due to their scarcity, particularly in the startup world.
There are privately owned unicorns in Nigeria, but private investors rather than the market determine their valuations. We must use a different metric for publicly traded companies.
As a result, entrepreneurng base their valuation on the market value of quoted companies that operate in Nigeria but are listed on any global stock exchange. We do not use venture capital or private equity valuation.
- All the companies except one are quoted on the Nigerian Exchange, while none is valued above a billion dollars quoted in a stock market outside Nigeria.
- The companies also have sizeable Nigerian ownership.
The Nigerian Equities market, represented by its All Share Index, closed in November with a total market capitalization (or value) of about N25.9 trillion or $58.3 billion.
- It was a good month for many stocks as they collectively posted a net monthly gain of about 8.72% a huge reversal from the 10.58% reported in October 2022.
- The gains recorded during the month also spread across some of Nigeria’s most valuable equities (MVE), including manufacturing companies, telcos, banks, etc.
- The major driver for the valuation growth was Nigerian companies valued at over one billion US dollars.
What the data is saying
Nigeria’s top ten MVEs had a combined market valuation of N21.1 trillion or an equivalent of $47.5 billion, assuming the official exchange rate of (N445/$1).
- Among them are 5 stocks worth over one trillion.
- Combined the SWOOTs are worth about N18.1 trillion or $40.7 billion or a whopping 70% of the total market cap of $58.3 billion.
- The SWOOTs are Airtel, Dangote Cement, MTN Nigeria, BUA Cement, and BUA Foods.
- Companies are often revered when they attain unicorn status, which means they are worth over $1 billion.
- Based on our data and using the official exchange rate, all but one of the companies on our list are worth over one billion dollars.
Billion-dollar stocks
Airtel led the pack for another month as Nigeria’s most valuable company posting a valuation of N5.4 trillion or $12.2 billion.
- Airtel alone gained 13.7% in November alone and contributed significantly to the gains posted by the top 10.
- Next up is Dangote Cement, owned mostly by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote at N4.46 trillion or $10.04 billion. The stock gained 19% in November.
- MTN Nigeria closed the month with a market cap of N4.44 trillion or $9.9 billion. It also posted an 11% gain this month.
- BUA Cement and BUA Foods, both owned mostly by billionaire magnate Abdulsamad Rabiu posted a valuation of N2.6 trillion ($5.8 billion) and N1.1 trillion ($2.5 billion), respectively.
Who lost?
Nestle and Seplat shed some of their valuations at the end of the month, losing 20.7% and 12.5% res[ectively.
- For Nestle they are now out of the SWOOT list, having fallen below a trillion naira in valuation.
- In dollar terms, Nestle and Seplat are valued at $1.7 billion and $1.3 billion, respectively.
By market capitalisation, Zenith Bank, GTB, and FBNH make up the top ten largest companies.
- However, only Zenith and GTB are worth over $1.5 billion and $1.3 billion, respectively.
- All three banks posted gains at the end of the month, which helped boost their valuation.
- Geregu Power Plc, Nigeria Breweries, and Stanbic IBTC are valued at about $731 million, $775 million, and $889 million, respectively. They are companies to watch in the coming months.
- Jumia, a company in Nigeria listed on the NY Stock Exchange, is valued at $457 million.
See the chart below;
Zenith, Seplat, and GTB would not have made the list of billion dollar valuations if we used the unofficial exchange rate of around N740/$1.
