Nigerian CEOs lead Dangote Cement and Airtel Africa as Africa’s stock market hits $2 trillion

Africa’s stock exchanges have grown into a roughly $2 trillion market with over 1,100 listed companies, according to the African Securities Exchanges Association. South Africa remains the largest market, while Egypt, Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana also host sizeable exchanges. The OECD estimates South Africa, Morocco and Egypt account for about 80% of Africa’s total stock market capitalisation in 2025. Focusing on Nigeria, two of its biggest listed firms are highlighted: Dangote Cement, led by Group MD/CEO Arvind Pathak, has a market capitalisation of approximately N17.4 trillion ($13 billion) as of September 2026. Pathak, appointed March 2023, is an electrical engineering graduate from IIT Varanasi with prior leadership at Adani Enterprises and the Reliance Group. Airtel Africa, under CEO Sunil Taldar, holds a market cap of about N23.6 trillion ($17.9 billion). Taldar joined Airtel Africa in 2023 as Director of Transformation and became CEO in July 2024; under his leadership the share price rose from N2,270 to N6,300 year‑to‑date, a 177.5% gain. Both companies operate across multiple African markets and are key components of the Nigerian Exchange. For investors and professionals, these firms represent major pillars of Nigeria’s corporate landscape, with leadership backgrounds spanning banking, engineering and telecoms. With Dangote Cement and Airtel Africa together representing over $30 billion in market value, will you monitor their performance for investment decisions or draw insights from their leadership trajectories for career growth?

SOURCE: https://nairametrics.com/2026/09/06/meet-10-ceos-behind-africas-most-valuable-listed-companies/