Kenya’s listed telco Safaricom topped the region as the largest company by market capitalisation and net earnings yet again this year, even as the Covid-19 pandemic hit listed firms, wiping out shareholder earnings and pushing away foreign investors.

A survey on Africa’s top 250 companies by South Africa’s African Business Magazine had 17 East African companies valued at $20.2 billion (3.4 per cent of total market capitalisation of the companies surveyed).

Last year, the list had 21 companies from the region, valued at $26.3 billion; four per cent of total market capitalisation.

Kenya had 11 companies in the top 250 companies on the continent, three less than last year, and with their combined market capitalisation dropping to $16 billion from $21 billion.

According to an analysis by Tom Minney, the chief executive of Mauritius-based consultancy firm African Growth Partners Ltd, capital outflows from Africa’s frontier and emerging markets as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic have crushed market valuations for many of the listed top 250 companies.