Top 10 Companies in Ghana 2013
Marcopolis.net presents a list of ten leading companies in Ghana. The top ten list should be regarded as a general overview of the main players from different sectors of the Ghanaian economy.
Ghana’s
Top 10 Companies
Marcopolis.net presents a list of ten leading companies in Ghana. The top ten list should be regarded as a general overview of the main players from different sectors of the Ghanaian economy and includes companies from different sectors, such as telecommunications, agriculture, oil and gas, banking, food and beverages, among others.
| Rank | Company | Country | Sector | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ghana | Telecom | In Ghana, telecommunication service is big business for early entrants, especially those that have been able to innovate to match the changing trends of customers and the industry in general. Scancom Ghana, operators of the South African-based telecom network, MTN, in the country, is one such company. The company’s annual turnover was about six per cent of Ghana’s GDP in 2012 and continues to increase on annual basis. It is the telecom company with the largest market share in both voice and data telecommunication services. In addition to operating the voice and data services, MTN also engages in allied telecom services such as its MTN Mobile Money, MTN Business Solutions and Internet services and products. Intense competition is, however, gradually shrinking MTN Ghana’s market share, customers and by extension its annual earnings. MTN has also always resisted pressures to list on the Ghana Stock Exchange. | |
| 2 | Ghana | Agriculture | This is the Ghana unit of the global agriculture products exporting company, Olam. The company started operations in Ghana with the exportation of shea nuts but later diversified into cotton, cashew and coffee. It has also added cocoa, sugar and rice. In each of these products, the company enjoys an enviably high market share in the export trade. It has district offices nationwide where the items are bought directly from farmers, processed and later carted to its warehouses for processing and export. Olam Ghana has contributed significantly to the development of Ghana’s agriculture dominated economy. It is not listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange. | |
| 3 | Ghana | Oil and Gas | Total is not just a big company in the world and a market leader in the integrated oil and gas business. In Ghana, the company is a force to reckon with in the entire economy. Its annual turnover is well over 3 billion Ghana Cedis and it has accumulated assets in excess of 300 million cedis as of December 2012. The company, which is a member of the Total Group, has been operating in Ghana for the past 50 years. It started operations in the country with the name Total Products in the 1950s but has since gone through some mergers, name changes and acquisitions. The most recent one was when the French oil giant acquired Mobil Ghana and subsequently rebranded it to Total Ghana Petroleum. Total Ghana now has over 220 service stations nation-wide and sells a series of road transport and aviation fuel products in addition to the retailing of allied products and services. The company is, however, facing harsh competition following the coming of dozens of companies into the fuel products business. The company is listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange with the trade name Total. | |
| 4 | Ghana | Banking | Banking in Ghana is very profitable and that has reflected quite well in the annual postings of banks in the country including Ecobank Ghana. The bank is the local unit of the Pan-African bank, Ecobank Group, which is headquartered in Lome, Togo, and operates in other 33 countries in Africa. The bank started operations in Ghana in 1990 and has since grown its branch networks across the country. In 2011, it successfully acquired the then TTB (The Trust Bank) at about GHC 220 million, after the industry regulator, the Bank of Ghana, approved the sale. The acquisition caused its assets and branch networks to jump, sending it to the number one position in the banking sector by way of assets. It is currently listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange and trades with the symbol EBG. | |
| 5 | Ghana | Agriculture | BOPP is a publicly traded company that is into the production and processing of oil palm. The company produces oil such as RBD palm oil, RBD palm olein, and vegetable oil mills. In addition to dominating the palm oil market in Ghana, BOPP controls a large part of the market in West Africa and exports a sizable amount of its product line to the European Union, America, Asia and now China. BOPP is also involved in the refinery of fats and oils refinery and blending. The company is in the possession of patented technology that it uses to convert wasted food into nutritious food. It provides small holder farmers with fertile lands on which they cultivate the palm, harvest it and prepare for onward processing. The company is owned by the Government of Ghana and fast moving consumer goods manufacturer, Unilever Ghana. | |
| 6 | Ghana | Food | Ghanaians like ice creams and that is reflecting in the fortunes of the Ghana unit of diary and fruit-based products manufacturer and distributor, Fan Milk Ghana Limited. The Dubai-based equity investor, Abraaj Capital acquired a 56.6 per cent stake in Fan Milk Ghana after it had bought Fan Milk International’s global operations. The takeover has made Abraaj the new majority shareholder in FML and is expected to help meet the market leadership position in the country. The company’s products are categorized into two: milk-based and fruit-based. Its milk-based products consist of a range of ice cream and yogurts and include brands such as FanYogo (yogurt), FanChoco (chocolate), as well as FanIce and FanGold which are ice creams. The fruit-based products include Tampico, a citrus fruit drink, and its iced lollies. Although Fan Milk is the market leader in its category of business in Ghana, the frequent popping up of ice cream companies in the country threatens its market share and revenue portfolio. | |
| 7 | Ghana | Telecom | There are series of companies that are making it big in Ghana but have rather remained on the quite side. One such companies is I-zone Ghana, the sole distributor of MTN products in the regional capital, Accra. The company has the sole ownership rights to distribute mobile phones in all MTN sales outlets in the country and was selling about 1,000 devices a week before a 20 per cent import duty on the handsets reduced its fortunes. It also operates telecom related services such as internet solutions. | |
| 8 | Ghana | Banking | GCB traces its roots to Ghana’s pre-independence era when the country was known as the Gold Coast. It was founded in 1953, then as the Bank of the Gold Coast, but later renamed Ghana Commercial Bank with a mandate to provide commercial banking services to the population. The Ghanaian government currently holds about 21.36 per cent stake in it, leaving the rest to institutional and individual investors in and outside the country. GCB currently has the largest branch network with over 150 branches spread cross the entire country. Its shareholders in May 2013 passed a resolution changing its name from Ghana Commercial Bank Limited to GCB Bank Limited. The name change marked the celebration of its 60th anniversary. It is listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange and trades as GCB. | |
| 9 | Ghana | Beverage Industry | Ghanaians love their social life and that is eminent in the fortunes of the country’s beverage industry. That also reflects in the fortunes of brewing companies such as the Ghana subsidiary of brewing giant, Diageo Plc. The company has grown in size and reputation over the years, following the merger of the then Guinness Ghana and Ghana Breweries. The coming together of the two brands gave Guinness an urge over its competitors in the market, causing its revenues to soar on the back of consistent rise in customer base. It brews assorted range of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages for sale as wells as imports various hard liquor for local consumers. It is popularly known in the country by its flagship beverage, Guinness, which has gained popularity and patronage over the years. The company operates from two points; the Kaasi and Achimota brewing points in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region and Accra in the Greater Accra respectively. | |
| 10 | Ghana | Waste Management | Zoomlion is a member of the Jospong Group of companies, owned by Ghanaian business magnate, Dr Joseph Siaw Agyepong. The company is into waste management services. It was established in the early 2000s but has since gained popularity throughout the country as the company with requisite expertise in waste management. Zoomlion is one of the few Ghanaian-owned businesses that are making it big in and outside the country. It has offices in five African countries and is now working at becoming the most preferred waste management company in the whole of Africa. It employs over 800 people in Ghana in addition to those employed under the waste management unit of the Ghanaian government’s youth employment program, which is run by Zoomlion. |